Struck Gold Again! Great Day On The Water!

[trophy trout]

The water in the White River remained low throughout the day, but the number of fish caught was sky high. Throughout the day-long trip, my client caught a total of 43 trout. Most were above average sized rainbows, though a few small browns and a beautiful 17 inch golden rainbow were also boated. A handful of fish came on crankbaits but the majority were taken on my special jig rig. The big fish of the day was an 18 inch rainbow though a much larger brown was on the line early in the day only to throw the hook.

[Quillback]

The Golden is pretty cool, must be a survivor from last fall's stocking (I think that's when they stocked them).

[taxidermist]

It is not a golden, its a palamino. A golden trout is a from out west.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_trout

http://www.google.com/search?q=palamino+trout&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Yep you can see them in the river.

[trophy trout]

It is not a golden, its a palamino [sic]. A golden trout is a from out west.

Golden trout (oncorhynchus aguabonita) live in a limited number of waterways in California. The fish pictured is a golden rainbow trout. It's just a color variation of a rainbow trout (oncorhynchus mykiss).

Golden rainbow trout originated as a single morph in a hatchery in West Virginia, not far from where I grew up and learned to fish for trout as a child. Through extensive selective breeding, a true breeding golden rainbow trout was eventually developed. I've literally caught hundreds over the years. They're much more common in Pennsylvania and West Virginia than they are here.

Palomino trout are a cross between a golden rainbow trout and a rainbow trout. Palominos have typical coloration and markings along with some gold. Golden rainbow trout have much more brilliant gold coloration.

For that reason agencies typically produce golden rainbow trout, rather than palominos.

The Golden is pretty cool, must be a survivor from last fall's stocking (I think that's when they stocked them).

My clients and I have caught 6 this year. I've seen several more, but didn't attempt to catch any. Most were small in size.

[trophy trout]

This identification chart helps. People in PA typical mistake golden rainbow trout for palominos, but palominos haven't been stocked there for a number of years.

[taxidermist]

Which was first, the hatchery crossed fish or the real and true golden trout.

The ones you are talking about were developed by breeding.

Just like your picture, they are and will always be a rainbow trout. See the Latin name.

They are not and will never be a true golden trout.

Maybe you should have said golden rainbow to have been correct.

These can be anything from lemon color to a brilliant orange.

http://www.google.com/images?q=palomino+Trout&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=NMHiS4jvFZDC9QS9vfj4Ag&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CA8QsAQwAA

Same fish, just called different names in different areas.

Here is the PA link.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/pages/qa/fish/trout_golden.htm

Golden rainbow trout and palomino rainbow trout are not sterile hybrids, they are simply color variations of rainbow trout Golden rainbow trout and palomino rainbow trout are not sterile hybrids, they are simply color variations of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and should not be confused with the golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) native to a few drainages in California.) and should not be confused with the golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) native to a few drainages in California.

Under stand the palomino is crossed with a rainbow of normal coloration. All or of the species Golden rainbow trout and palomino rainbow trout are not sterile hybrids, they are simply color variations of rainbow trout.

Yes we have caught several in the White River. Just another trout.

[trophy trout]

I did say golden rainbow in the first post. Read it again.

"Throughout the day-long trip, my client caught a total of 43 trout. Most were above average sized rainbows, though a few small browns and a beautiful 17 inch golden rainbow were also boated."

They are the same species, but different color variations, as the link you provided states:

"The golden rainbow trout originated from a single rainbow trout that was spawned in the fall of 1954 in West Virginia. This trout's body color was a chimera of golden and normally pigmented tissue. When this fish was crossed with a normally pigmented rainbow trout, the offspring (what we have come to refer to as palomino rainbow trout) were lighter in color...

"Golden rainbow trout and palomino rainbow trout are not sterile hybrids, they are simply color variations of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)...

"Typically, these fish are more of a brilliant golden color than the palomino rainbow trout, which has a color phase intermediate between the golden and normally pigmented rainbow trout...

"In Pennsylvania, the rise of the palomino rainbow trout stemmed from obtaining fertilized golden rainbow trout eggs from West Virginia. Subsequently, when these golden rainbow trout reached maturity, they were crossed with normally pigmented rainbow trout and the offspring resulted in the development of the palomino rainbow trout."

From the PFBC's "Pennsylvania Fishes":

"Golden rainbows and palominos grow larger and faster than regular rainbows. They have 'hybrid vigor,' a trait often seen in crossbred plants and animals."

Wikipedia states the same thing in more concise terms:

"Golden rainbow trout are bred from a single mutated color variant of Oncorhynchus mykiss. Golden rainbow trout are predominantly yellowish, lacking the typical green field and black spots, but retaining the diffuse red stripe. The palomino trout is a mix of golden and common rainbow trout, resulting in an intermediate color."

I'm very familiar with both. I've had this conversation many times before, because as I've said a number of people in Pennsylvania (and elsewhere) confuse the two. Palominos haven't been stocked there for years. Hatcheries stopped producing them once they had a reliable breeding stock of golden rainbows. West Virginia hatcheries never produced palominos, nor were they stocked in state waters. West Virginia stocks a large number of golden rainbows. The WV DNR fish identification guide lists them as game fish: http://www.wvdnr.gov/Fishing/Regs10/SportFishIdentification.pdf No mention of palominos appears anywhere in their literature or website.

There's a reason Petersburg, West Virginia is know as the "Golden Rainbow Trout Capital of the World" and not the "Palomino Capital of the World."

I have pictures of palominos around. But I'd have to dig them up and scan them. They were caught before the arrival of digital cameras. It's practically impossible to Google an image of one because of all the golden rainbows mistaken for, and thus mislabeled as, palominos.

As is the case with many species, there is a lot of variance within Oncorhynchus mykiss. There are color variations (eg. golden rainbow, palominos, blue rainbow), subspecies (eg. steelhead, kamloops, redbands, eagle lakers) and hybrids (eg. cutbows).

[Quillback]

Geez, sorry I said "Golden" instead of Palomino - I do know the difference.

[flytyer57]

Anyhoo...

Thanks for the pics.

Never knew those "golden rainbow" trout existed 'till now.