Tiger trout in Diamond Lake???

Raincatcher
Raincatcher
ROSEBURG, Ore. - For the first time ever, tiger trout soon will be swimming in Diamond Lake’s crystal-blue waters, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reported Tuesday.


Biologists hope these sterile trout prey on any invasive fish once they are large enough next spring. Tiger trout are a hybrid between a female brown trout and a male brook trout.
Diamond Lake will get 5,000 tiger trout in the six to seven-inch size range the week of June 6 with another 13,000 fingerlings a few weeks later.

ODFW purchased the trout from Cold Springs Trout Farm, a private Utah hatchery, through grant funding from the Umpqua Fisheries Enhancement Derby and Sport Fish Restoration.
Another 300,000 rainbow trout fingerlings also will be stocked the week of June 6 and should be legal-sized this fall. Rainbow trout fishing right now is excellent and the fish are biting well, officials said.
Tiger trout angling is catch-and-release only while the rainbow trout limit is five legal-sized (eight inches) trout per day, with two daily limits in possession and just one trout per day over 20 inches.
ODFW treated Diamond Lake with rotenone in 2006, ridding it of an estimated 90 million tui chub, an invasive bait fish that reproduces rapidly. In 2008, biologists discovered golden shiners, another illegally introduced bait fish in the lake. Late last fall, a single tui chub was found during routine monitoring.
ODFW worked with the Umpqua National Forest, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Douglas County to form a joint action plan for managing the lake and its fishery. The plan includes monitoring and a fish stocking strategy.
“We all felt tiger trout were the way to go,” said ODFW District Fish Biologist Greg Huchko. “Because these fish are sterile, there isn’t a risk to North Umpqua River native fish. And once they’re about 14 inches, they should begin to prey on golden shiners and tui chub.”
Huchko said he hopes the tiger trout will take advantage of shiners’ and tui chubs’ life history. Both are minnows that spawn at smaller physical sizes and prefer to congregate in large schools close to shore.
“Tiger trout aren’t afraid to hunt in just a few inches of water, particularly in the early morning and late evening, so we’re hoping they’ll follow the shiners, and any chub, into the shallows,” Huchko said.
On Wednesday, ODFW seasonal employees begin intensive fish species monitoring at Diamond Lake, with funding help from partners.
The two technicians will remove golden shiners and any tui chub via beach seines, fyke nets, electro-fishing, and trap nets. They will also monitor the tiger trout and rainbow trout populations by creel and diet surveys and operate a smolt trap near the lake’s outlet.
 
M
Mr.Joshua
Very interesting and informative post. Thanks for sharing!
 
E
espencer757
Never been to Diamond. That said, it sounds to me like these tigers will be quite the vicious fish. Catch and release yes, but I bet it will be a fun catch. The big question is how big do they get, and how will it affect the rainbow fishing.

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EOBOY
EOBOY
espencer757 said:
Never been to Diamond. That said, it sounds to me like these tigers will be quite the vicious fish. Catch and release yes, but I bet it will be a fun catch. The big question is how big do they get, and how will it affect the rainbow fishing.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

The Oregon Fishing club stocks all their ponds with Tiger's. They get big and when they do they have a mouth that look similar to a King. They are beautiful fish.
 
D
Diamond Lake Charlie
Diamond is a fantastic lake for trout fishing and can be somewhat challenging at times however it also has it rewards. Until the tigers were put in and until they reach a catch-able size the only fish in Diamond that is worth keeping are several species of Rainbow. Since there is no natural spawning for Rainbows they get them from different hatcheries and therefore there are I think 4 different strains in the lake. Some are very deep body while others are slimer like most of the rainbows people know. One of the really nice things is the fish are stocked in a fingerling stage and have a chance to grow before they are harvested...therefore the meat is no longer white and they don't taste like a hatchery fish. Depending on the fish and what it has been feeding on the color of the meat can be from a light pink/orange color to a nice medium to medium dark pink/orange color and much better eating. At present most of the fish caught will range from about 10-11 inches to 12-13 on average however there are larger fish there and can be caught using the same tactics. Yesterday we went up and hooked 14 fish, boated 11 and kept 10 as that was our limit. The wind was blowing nicely and even with 3 anchors we still swung a bit but we only fish a little over 2 1/2 hours for those 14 hook ups. Water temp was 56.7 according to my depth finder. All but one of the fish was planted in the lake in spring of 2015 and the biggest was most likely a 2014 fish. I won't say how big he was but I will tell you I could not eat all of it and that was all I had for dinner last night. The fishing at Diamond can be rather exciting and in the past, when I was doing better, I did close to 500 fish in 4 spring/early summer seasons with my shortest time for two limits was 1 hour. I'm looking forward to tieing into a tiger even if I cannot keep it.
 
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O
OregonOwl
Tiger trout are an exceptional fighting fish. Better than either of the parent fish.
 

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