DeWayne Smith

Special For The Republic

Arizona anglers looking for a new world to conquer won’t have long to wait.

Tiger trout, a cross between female brown trout and male brook trout, are currently being raised at the state’s Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery north of Payson and are expected to be planted at the end of May in time for the Memorial Day weekend or in early June, when they reach 8 to 12 inches long.

According to Andy Clark, the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s assistant chief of fisheries for sport fish management, the new fish, a gift from Utah, will initially be introduced in Willow Springs and Woods Canyon lakes on the Mogollon Rim and in Becker and Carnero lakes in the White Mountains.

“We’ll study the ones we initially introduce before we make any plans to add them to additional lakes or continue to stock them in the four lakes we’ve chosen,” Clark said. “Fishing regulations on the Rim lakes are sort of wide open and the rules at Carneo and Becker are more restrictive.”

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Tiger trout are not anything new to other parts of the country. Sixteen states offer them to anglers, including such Western states as Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, Nevada and Oregon. Utah’s tiger trout program began modestly 15 years ago, was stepped up about 10 or 12 years ago and the fish are now in more than 40 waters, according to Paul Birdsey, Utah’s cold water sport fisheries coordinator.

“We really like them as they provide a diversity to the fishery,” Birdsey said. “Size and table fare make them a good sport fish and I’m guessing that once Arizona anglers get a taste for tigers, their preferences will shift.”

Technically, tiger trout are sterile hybrids, meaning they don’t reproduce on their own. The eggs are fertilized in hatcheries where they are hatched and raised until they are large enough to be planted in lakes. They do get quite large. The world record is 20 pounds, 13 ounces from Lake Michigan. The Utah record stands at 19.21 pounds and was caught in 2013 at Schofield Reservoir.

The fish are highly piscivorous (fish eating) and Arizona biologists hope that that trait will help rid their home lakes of unwanted minnows and rough fish that compete with game species. Mike Lopez, Arizona regional fish manager stationed at Pinetop, says tiger trout act more like a brown trout in that they readily strike lures, spinners and bigger flies such as wooly buggers and streamers.

“We have higher expectations for Becker and Carnero lakes since those lakes have a history of growing larger trout because there is abundant food,” Lopez said. “Woods Canyon and Willow Springs are a bit more sterile with not as much food available. Anglers should fish for them like they would a brown trout.”

The tiger trout name is derived from the fish’s unusual markings, which some say are akin to the stripes on a tiger. In actuality, the markings are more worm-like and there is a wide variation in patterns and from fish to fish. Generally, each fish has a dark maze-like pattern over its brownish-gray body. The belly is yellowish-orange as are the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins.

“They will exhibit all kinds of color variations,” Birdsey said. “And often they will take on colors similar to brown and brook trout.”

Anglers won’t have to worry about learning new fishing regulations in order to catch the new trout. According to Clark, the fish will fall under the current rules of six-fish limits at Woods Canyon and Willow Springs. In addition, no trout may be kept at Becker and anglers are limited to using artificial flies and lures equipped with single barbless hooks. At Carnero, there is a two-trout limit and only artificial flies and lures may be used.