Triploid Identification

[raffensg64]

What Marc mentioned about Amber may very well be true....I'd also heard that it's triploids were purchased by the Inland Empire fly folks, and the clipped fins may be a way of protecting those fish. Hopefully Marc can get some answers from the experts. I still want to know why my partners and I are catching EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE rainbows at West Medical (23-plus inches), all with clipped adipose fins...no kidding, a dozen or so this spring and early summer. We catch some nice rainbows with adipose fins in the 18-22" range, but those that are 23" or better usually are missing that fin. Just one of life's great mysteries I guess!!!

[Marc Martyn]

The e-mail is sent, Raff.:thumright When I get a reply, I'll post it.

I was wondering how they clip fins, so I did a little research:study: . Apparently, they have this fin clipping thing down pat:

"One major milestone reached during the biennium was the mass-marking of virtually all hatchery coho salmon and nearly half of all hatchery chinook salmon released from state hatcheries. Using new, automatic fin-clipping machines, state hatchery crews marked more than 60 million fish in each year for release from state and tribal hatcheries, allowing for easy identification of hatchery salmon on the fishing grounds. As discussed in the Salmon Harvest section of this report, mass-marking laid the foundation for a new era in selective fisheries in which fishers are required to release wild, unmarked fish."

[Marc Martyn]

The following is the e-mail reply from Chris Donley at Region 1 of the Game Dept. on the triploid identification:

Mr. Martyn,
I will answer all of your questions as they appeared in your e-mail. Hope this is what you were looking for.

1. Do all triploids planted in lakes have the clipped adipose fin marking?

Only triploids planted in Amber have clipped adipose fins at this time.

2. If only Amber stocked triploids have the clipped fins, why were they
clipped?

Triploids in Amber have clipped fins so they can be identified and released by anglers. The intent was to retain these fish in the populaiotn so they could reach larger sizes by not being subject to harvest.

3. I have heard that the triploids planted in Amber were purchased by one
of the area fly clubs. Is this true? If so, was it a request by the
club to have the fins clipped for identification to prevent them from
being harvested?
The Inland Empire Flyfishing Club has purchased most of the triploids put into Amber Lake. The club requested that the fish be clipped to see if they could grow to trophy sizes if they weren't harvested.

My opinion of triploids: They grow pretty well but not to much larger sizes that diploid fish. I am still experimenting with them and I haven't come to any final conclusion as to whether they will work in Amber lake all that well. I think tripliods, to fully perform, need to be planted in very low density situations with a tremendous food base. Neither one of those two variables are at play in Amber Lake.

Have a Great Day,
Chris Donley

[Bodofish]

Nicely done! I guess we know about Amber lake now. Trying for the trophy....... ;)

[raffensg64]

Marc, thanks and well done! I kinda suspected you'd get an answer of that nature in reference to Amber. Now I've got to identify the parasite (just kidding) that is eating the adipose fins off those big monkeys we are catching in West Medical!!! No kidding, like I mentioned before, we caught several LARGE rainbows in that lake that were missing that fin!

[Marc Martyn]

:-sFew are showing up at Amber anymore. Flying Fish?:scratch:

[Rooscooter]

Just to add a little more intrigue to this post. Last week I went to Fish Lake twice after work for 3 hours each time. Both times (as well as a couple of times earlier this year) I caught Triploids without the adipose fin. I have caught similar fish in this lake dating back to last year, but never thought too much about it until I researched the planting records after reading this post the other day. I found that the State has not listed Fish Lake in any recent (5 years) plantings for Triploids.

Maybe Marc is right......we have some flying fish on our hands!!

Marc, I was at Amber Last weekend and caught a couple of Triploids in the 22" range. They are still there. I seem to find them in the "upper" portion of the lake near the "basalt rubble".

Tight Lines!

[Marc Martyn]

8-[O.K., where is Rod Serling? This is getting spooky! Triploid Rainbows in Fish Lake?! You are right, they have only stocked Brooks and Tigers in that lake for many years.

"Your are now entering the Twilight Zone":pale:

[raffensg64]

What.....triploids in Fish Lake???!!! That is spooky. And clipped fins, too. Upon my arrival in WA in 2002, I heard rumors about large browns in Fish, but I never caught any. Ditto for rainbows. Just brooks and tigers for me. It's possible though that maybe the WDFW had some extra fish and put them there. Reminds me of 2004 when some "extra" fish, 300 brooks to be exact, were planted in North Silver....no kidding! For one season we were getting some nice brookies but then North Silver went through a hot summer, the water levels dropped drastically and everything died. Unfortunately, it never recovered despite the WDFWs best efforts.

[Rooscooter]

Raff and Marc: I have caught maybe 10 rainbow/triploids in Fish Lake this year. I haven't caught a brown yet this year. Last year I caught 2 that I can remember. Both were in the 20" range.

From what I have been told by one of the residents at the lake the Browns survived the last "kill" of Fish Lake in the late 90's. The same person is the one that told me about the Triploids in the lake a few years ago.

What's been odd this year at Fish is the lack of Brookies there. I haven't caught more than 10 this year in 9 trips!! I'm hoping that the cooler weather brings them back this fall.

Tight Lines

[Marc Martyn]

I saw this fishing report on Fish Lake with the attached photo. I had thought that it may be some kind of mistake. But, with what you guys have said and the post and this photo of 6/23/07 by Derek, I am wondering what is going on. That is a Rainbow and that is taken on Fish Lake!

[Marc Martyn]

I knew it! I knew it!!! :bounce: I told those guys at the WDFW "You shouldn't be mess'in with Mother Nature and experimenting with those trout!" Now they are everywhere! There's one over there! Look! There are three over there! :shaking: We are being invaded by Monster Triploid Trout!!!!!:rambo:
Call the Army! Call the Marines! Call the National Guard!!!
What?! What?!! What do you mean they are all gone? They're overseas?!!!! Oh......Boy.......RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!

[raffensg64]

OK....and so the mystery thickens!!! I was beginning to think that I was seeing things, possibly losing my mind...ditto for my partners! Triploids (so we believe) in Amber, W. Medical and now Fish Lake due to clipped adipose fins. Yep, that is a rainbow and yep, that photo was taken at Fish Lake. Looks like that particular fish is not clipped, though.

I'm really lost like easter eggs now!

[Rooscooter]

I'll be out at Fish Lake on Sunday morning for a few hours.

If I catch a Triploid or Rainbow I will photograph it and send it in to the WDFW questioning how it got there based on the "published" planting records. They have been good enough to answer my questions in the past about many matters. Maybe I can find out what's going on.

In any event, having Rainbow/Triploids in Fish Lake isn't a bad thing at all.

Tight Lines!

[Marc Martyn]

I may be out there also on Sunday. It has been several weeks since I have been there.
I have yet to catch a rainbow out of Fish Lake, ever. This is a mystery to me that they are even showing up. Other than being transplanted from another lake(which I doubt), the only thing that seems remotely possible is that they are coming upstream from the Spokane River via Marshall & Minnie Cr. when the water is high in the spring. I admit that this is a very long shot.
I have looked at Google Earth and the Topo Maps of the area and under extreme circumstances, maybe this could happen.
Thoughts?:-k

Mike, let us know what WDFW says.

[bigastrout]

Hey Marc thats a great piece of research. Thanks for the info. I was unaware that they now clipped fins by machine.

[Marc Martyn]

Ya, clipping brings to mind a vision of a couple of guys with toe nail clippers in hand:geek: