Washington State Record Tiger Trout

[MartinL]

DAM!

State record shattered with 24-pound tiger trout caught in Eastern Washington

OLYMPIA – A massive tiger trout pulled from Loon Lake in Stevens County in late June has set a new state record, state fishery managers have confirmed. The 24.49-pound tiger trout broke the previous record by a full 6 pounds, according to Bruce Baker, an inland fish biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Angler Caylun Peterson caught the monster tiger trout on June 26, 2021, fishing in the early-morning hours in part to escape the triple-digit heat forecast for the day. Peterson said he’s been fishing Loon Lake -- located about 30 miles north of Spokane -- ever since he was a kid.

WDFW stocks a variety of fish in Loon Lake, including about 85,000 kokanee in late spring, several hundred jumbo rainbow trout in March/April, and 10,000 tiger trout in the fall. Tiger trout are a sterile hybrid fish produced by crossing a brown trout with a brook trout, produced almost exclusively in hatcheries.

[Scott N]

that thing is a toad

[bezzola]

I bet it tastes nasty

[Adrien Schnee]

Thanks for the post. A tremendous fish by any standards, it was taken on a large live nightcrawler.

In respect to the angler, he did say he attempted a release, but that it was apparent the fish was not going to make it and he was told it would easily qualify as a state record.

Will be interesting to see what size specimens show up in Alberta in the next couple of decades.

[58thecat]

Wow factor size wise and double wow factor as in how ugly it is.....dim the lights please

[MartinL]

Originally Posted by Adrien Schnee

Thanks for the post. A tremendous fish by any standards, it was taken on a large live nightcrawler.

In respect to the angler, he did say he attempted a release, but that it was apparent the fish was not going to make it and he was told it would easily qualify as a state record.

Will be interesting to see what size specimens show up in Alberta in the next couple of decades.

Yes it will be very interesting to see how large they will grow to in AB, half that size would be a crazy fight! I caught one of the 29" brood Tigers spring of 2019 they had let go in a few lakes in fall 2018. That old brood jumped out of the water and fought like a coho thought my 6wt was done for lol.

[Douglas N]

Originally Posted by MartinL

Yes it will be very interesting to see how large they will grow to in AB, half that size would be a crazy fight! I caught one of the 29" brood Tigers spring of 2019 they had let go in a few lakes in fall 2018. That old brood jumped out of the water and fought like a coho thought my 6wt was done for lol.

Not doubting you caught a large trout, however if it was a Tiger, it wasn’t a “brood trout”. There’s no such thing as a “brood tiger”. They are a sterile cross between brown and brook trout. Tigers are sterile.

[MartinL]

Originally Posted by Douglas N

Not doubting you caught a large trout, however if it was a Tiger, it wasn’t a “brood trout”. There’s no such thing as a “brood tiger”. They are a sterile cross between brown and brook trout. Tigers are sterile.

Yes I know they are sterile, poor choice of words but they were called that by people at the time.

From the biologist:

So we stocked those large Tigers this fall because we are doing major renovations at the Allison Creek Brood Trout Station so we needed to thin our big adults we had. So we stocked those big Tigers they were six years old. The reason we had the big Tigers was to confirm that Tiger Trout are a sterile fish and cannot make babies. The females were checked from age 3 to age 6 for eggs (zero) and males were confirmed to have very poor testes. We also spawned male Tigers with female Brook Trout and all eggs were non-fertile (dead). I don’t anticipate us doing this again. We have kept a few of the big ones at Allison Creek to confirm how long they will live. I want to see if they can live past 8 years.

[Douglas N]

Originally Posted by MartinL

Yes I know they are sterile, poor choice of words but they were called that by people at the time.

From the biologist:

So we stocked those large Tigers this fall because we are doing major renovations at the Allison Creek Brood Trout Station so we needed to thin our big adults we had. So we stocked those big Tigers they were six years old. The reason we had the big Tigers was to confirm that Tiger Trout are a sterile fish and cannot make babies. The females were checked from age 3 to age 6 for eggs (zero) and males were confirmed to have very poor testes. We also spawned male Tigers with female Brook Trout and all eggs were non-fertile (dead). I don’t anticipate us doing this again. We have kept a few of the big ones at Allison Creek to confirm how long they will live. I want to see if they can live past 8 years.

I don’t doubt they said that. It’s also the same people that stock triploid and other sterile fish to protect “native bull trout” instead of stocking fish that can reproduce and help sustain our lakes and rivers. Also the same ones who quit stocking brook trout in certain lakes in fear they will compete with the incredibly sensitive bull trout. Alberta is a joke when it comes to management of our fish and wildlife. All hail the holy bull trout.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Douglas N

I don’t doubt they said that. It’s also the same people that stock triploid and other sterile fish to protect “native bull trout” instead of stocking fish that can reproduce and help sustain our lakes and rivers. Also the same ones who quit stocking brook trout in certain lakes in fear they will compete with the incredibly sensitive bull trout. Alberta is a joke when it comes to management of our fish and wildlife. All hail the holy bull trout.

But it is our provincial fish!!

Anyhoo...that is one mighty tiger trout. Not really fat either, just big. Great fight I'll bet.