Wow - just wow
 

I am excited!
For many years it seems like the trout lakes in Alberta have been stocked based on tradition. Starting with Mitchell Lake and an angler request for a fall spawners [browns or brookies] to complement the spring spawners [rainbows], Brown trout were stocked in 2003. Angler acceptance of the mixed species resulted in a further experiment in Birch Lake with Brook, Rainbow and Brown trout stocked in 2013.
At the request of many anglers, after either experiencing the Tiger Trout fishing in Manitoba or seeing the pictures, Tiger trout are now being stocked in several places throughout Alberta.
After many years of catching Brown Trout from Europe, Brook Trout from some bog from in a New England state and Rainbows from British Columbia or the US, we are now on the cusp of a brand new mostly made in Alberta Rainbow.
In conversation with Craig Copeland, Fish Culture Manager of Alberta Environment and Parks, I learned that a different Rainbow Trout is now being cultured for stocking . These Rainbow Trout, which are near 95% purity of Athabasca Trout, are one of the Native Trout of Alberta. The brood stock came from an end pit lake in an active coal mine. Clearly, as the trout are not 100% purity, they cannot be called Athabasca Trout for the purposes of identification. To reflect their mixed linage, they are designated as PLPL species in the stocking reports. Mr. Copeland also related that some of the PLPL strain have been added to East Pit Lake near Stoney Plain. He anticipated that somewhere between 100,000 > 150,000 PLPL trout would be stocked by 2020.
Personally, as a third generation Albertan, I’m excited as hell to get a chance to catch a Rainbow raised in Alberta from Alberta stocks.
My thanks to all involved to make my dream come true.

Don Andersen

See the link below for pictures of the trout.
https://imgur.com/a/Yi36X5B

That is a feel good story! Thanks for bringing that to light.

BW

Good story. Thanks for the share Don

And, nice looking trout to boot. Those are some beauty colors and variety to them. Thanks for the update.

Very cool, thank you for sharing .

Thanks for sharing & good on the group developing this strain.My question; Is if there going to be stocked,will they be 3n or af3n.I'm not trying to be a s ass,just concerned over,crossing several strains etc.

Tallico,

As the Athabascas are going into trout lakes of which few have outlets to other water cources or suitable spawning habitat 3N or 2N really matters little.
Presently, Alberta hatcheries do not use the AF3N technology. They buy AF3N eggs from private sources and raise them for stocking.

Don

Thanks for the information Don, beautiful trout! Anything to make trout fishing better in Alberta is welcome. :)

Interesting stuff.

Very curious to see what their growth rate and life span will be going forward.

thanks Don
 

that's great news Don - a beautiful almost native fish. My first rainbow was a 16" Athabasca from a beaver pond in the Athabasca headwaters many years ago.

Sun....

I expect the growth rate to be somewhat slower as they are from the hardscrabble part if Alberta.
According to a retire bio. from the area, when groceries are plentiful, they can get large.

Don

I would imagine food abundance will trump any genetic issues.

The original trail was danadrun pond west of Edson
They grew over 3 pounds before the locals fished them out.
The next step was two bigger bodies of water. The one lake was only stocked
With around 500 fish and the second lake had brown trout
And athbs the fish in the mixed lake grew to 21 inches
The second lake the fish grew to 24+

Good to hear of more "homegrown" trout in our future. Now if we could just figure out a way to manage the numbers of fish eating birds like cormorants, osprey and herons that tend to be frequenting our stocked locations. Stocking bigger fish might eliminate some of the losses to birds.

With stocking of previously barren waters comes the predators. I would suspect that predators other than legal fisherman likely take more fish than we do. As there is few legal mechanisms to control predation, it will continue. Predation, I guess, is the price paid for stocking.
Fish stocking has resulted in a much larger predator group. Cormorants were a common sight at Police Outppst Lake when tbe stocking numbers were high. Reduce the stocking, the cormonants disappeared.

Don

I'd rather catch a big fish then a small native fish but maybe that is just me.

And you are not alone. Look at tbe people chasing brooders and winning prizes.

Don

I just like to catch:)

:lol:

Sometimes you have to look past selfishness..

Nice
 

Having caught hundreds of Athabasca Rainbows the second picture captures them best. However on certain tribs i Jasper the first one is the norm. They are precious and should be protected at all costs. To have a reproduced close clone is very exciting indeed and the opertunity to catch them in stocked fisheries should make protecting wild stocks even more of a priority. There is a group of jet boaters from the Edson /Hinton region that poach them regularilily using bait ( worms). Because they have such great access to secluded areas they are a major threat to these remarkable Alberta natives.

Do you know said group and will you report them? Athabows are so delicate.

Wow just wow
 

I only knew one of them and he is dead. I reported them at the time and got the old we are stretched to thin to check out all complaints.

Wow just wow
 

Yes i did report them the only one i knew is dead.

X 2

When I catch a fish do I know if it is "native"? No.
Do I care? No.

Don't see a "wow factor" here. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

ahhhhhhhh! Good to be back after a 3 month exile.

.......Hahahahahahahahaha, nailed it, but I ain't picky I like big fish, small fish, smart fish, dumb fish, fat fish, skinny fish, ugly fish, pretty fish, stocked fish, native fish, wild fish.........but the thought of catchin and a native alberta rainbow really, really interests me...........

Some of you on this thread may enjoy the book “An Entirely Synthetic Fish” by Anders Halverson. It references the Athabasca Rainbow as a unique strain. The majority of the book details the proliferation of rainbow trout globally for sportfishing purposes. I found it quite interesting.

X 3...

The wow factor for me is being out on a quiet piece of water, lake or river, enjoying a great pastime....

I follow, 100% "careful" catch and release

great story!

Its interesting your bring that up, Im reading that book right now! So far, so good