Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Same Wild Tiger?


Last November I believe just after Thanksgiving, while fishing a stream with which I'm very familiar with I caught a wild Tiger trout. It was taken just a hundred yards or so from the first photo. I had been fishing streamers and wets without much success. Although the streams waters were cold I thought it would have been a better day. As I approached a very good holding area of water I let the wet fly drift. Suddenly the line tightened and I knew I had a hookup. The fish put up a good fight and as I moved my hand under its belly to lift him up I noticed it was not a brookie but a tiger.


This is the tiger that was taken in November. They are found in in streams where browns and brookies exist. They are very tenacious and they are not afraid to smack the same fly twice and three times.


While fishing the same stream this year in late April, just about twenty five yards from where I caught the tiger in November, I hooked a very strong fish. When it came to hand it to was a tiger. A photo was taken and the tiger was sent on his way.


When I got home, I looked closely at the tiger. It looked very similar to the one I had taken in November, only somewhat larger. I'm not a biologist so I could not say for certain if it was the same fish, but it sure looks like it to me.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE







24 comments:

  1. I'm still waiting to catch my first wild tiger. With any luck it will happen this season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RKM,
      Thanks.
      Hang in there, you know the streams they hide in.

      Delete
  2. I wouldn't doubt it could be the same fish. I once caught the exact same brown several weeks apart last year in the exact same spot on the stream. The only difference between catches was that I took him on a different fly the second time. There is something to be said for catch and release! Congrats on the tiger...I have never had the pleasure of catching one.

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    Replies
    1. Kiwi,
      Thanks.
      What I found impressive if it is the same tiger, is how much it grew over those 5 months.

      Delete
  3. The small stream looks great and must be healthy to produce such a nice fish.

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    Replies
    1. Savage,
      Thanks.
      It's in great shape. The mild winter helped these trout.

      Delete
  4. Wonderful stream! I can understand that it's a pleasure to fish there. Have never heard of tiger trout so I don't know if it's found here in Sweden but it sure looks nice.
    Have fun chasing brookies and tigers with a fly fishing rod,
    Mats Olsson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Jassid Man,
      Thanks. A tiger trout is the result of brown trout eggs being fertilized by a male brook trout. This sometimes happens in the wild where browns and brookies live in the same stream.

      Delete
  5. Hey Alan....the show Chronicle in Boston did a show on CT the other day. Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/ct6cur2

    It showed all the parks, trails, etc. in CT that people outside of CT probably never realized existed. Of course, I had an inkling because of your blog (thanks again).

    There was a book mentioned on the show that you might be interested in if you don't have it yet. My guess is you probably have been to many of these places but here it is anyway: “A Shared Landscape, A guide and history of Connecticut’s state parks and forests” by Joseph Leary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ed,
      Thanks.
      I'll check out that link as well as the book.

      Delete
  6. Nice fish and congrats on catching it twice :)

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    Replies
    1. G Lech,
      Thanks.
      It was quite a rare happening for sure.

      Delete
  7. I had a similar experience catching the same fish on the Poudre...funny when the realization happens.

    great fish...twice!

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    Replies
    1. Sanders,
      Thanks.
      It takes a look or two before it sets in.

      Delete
  8. Sweet tiger. Shows more brookie than brown. Weird. Still searching for one in SECT. Is that the tankerhoosen?

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    Replies
    1. Swamp Yankee,
      Thanks.
      No halos, and a buttery belly.
      The stream is in northwest CT.

      Delete
  9. I've been trying to catch a tiger for years. Nice going!

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    Replies
    1. Kevin Frank,
      Thanks.
      It took me a while to take one. Then it seems I caught several in a few years.

      Delete
  10. My gun club has a private pond with tons of fish, impaticular we have 4 photos of about 2 years apart, of guys catching 1 Largemouth about 4 pounds with a unique scar on his side and a good chunk out of his tail, maybe a snapper when he was a little guy. This was about 5 years ago and hes probably gone by now, but we even had a pool going to who would catch him next!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tony,
    Thanks.
    That's a great story, one of survival and of the same fish caught that many times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obviously, a gentle release is key with being able to play tug-of-war another day, even with bucket mouths like that guy! Great to see wild tigers, wish we had them in may part of the state south/eastern mass...or any wild trout for that matter.

      Tight lines!

      Delete