GON will recognize the fish in their Georgia Lake and River Records list. Tiger Trout can be caught regardless of time of day or season using Magic Bait. It may also randomly appear in Krobus shop on Wednesdays for 200g, or at the Traveling Cart for 450-1,000g. “I don’t know how I came about it, but I got it,” said Bob. The Tiger Trout is a fish that can be caught in the river (in Pelican Town or Cindersap Forest) during Fall and Winter. So it’s a good thing Bob took this spur-of-the-moment fishing trip, or he might’ve missed out on this very rare opportunity. They’re known for having very distinct vermiculation, the same pattern that’s more subtly seen on the backs of brook trout. The tiger trout would’ve been unable to survive the summer due to the habitat, according to Jim. A fisherman who caught a huge tiger trout had tried to release it thinking it could grow to become a state record only to discover it was already of record size. As its scientific name, Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis suggests, the tiger trout is a sterile hybrid between the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and the brown trout (Salmo trutta). Occasionally, we do hear of tiger trout being caught elsewhere, but this is a first for Allatoona,” said Jim. “I’ve never heard of one being caught on Allatoona. The tiger trout weighed 2.8 pounds, but Jim and Bob are still not sure how this rare breed made its way into Lake Allatoona. The hybrid trout can occur naturally but are typically stocked. Bob’s trout had worm-like markings all over, which told Jim that it was a tiger trout. However, when Jim got a look at it, he knew it was not a brook trout.īrook trout have worm-like markings on their sides that end on a lateral line. “When I pulled it up, I thought, ‘Wow! This is a brook trout.’ Since it was a really nice-sized fish, I was concerned that it might be a lake record,” said Bob.īob met with Jim Hakala to weigh the fish and get more information on the suspected brook trout. But even after getting a better look, Bob still wasn’t aware of how rare his catch truly was. I really couldn’t see exactly what it was, but it had a little bit of gold color on the side, which made me think it was a walleye, but there are no walleye in Allatoona,” Bob said.Īfter wrestling with this fish and bringing it to the surface three times, Bob laid down on the dock and finally was able to grab it and pull it up. “I hooked onto this fish, and when I got it close to the surface, it was just thrashing and jumping around. The cross is completed with a female brown trout as attempts using a female brook trout by a male brown trout did not work very well and.

For those unfamiliar with these hybrid fish, a tiger trout egg is produced by crossing a female brown trout with a male brook trout. Angler Bob Geresti takes a photo with his rare tiger trout he caught in Lake Allatoona in the Victoria Harbor Marina area. Tiger trout are a cross between Brook char and Brown Trout caught only in Lake Rotoma, Bay of Plenty NZ, though a very small population of wild fish may. The Story Hatchery began producing tiger trout eggs in the fall of 2011.