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Tigers on the yak.

3K views 42 replies 23 participants last post by  suckegg 
#1 ·
A friend of mine was fishing the yak,teanaway confluence last week and caught a 17" fish that he described as having " paisley" markings. He didn't get a picture,but when he got home he did some research & found a picture of a tiger trout. He swears that the fish he caught was a tiger. He talked to several fly shops in the yak area & not one of them had ever heard of this. He contacted fish & game and got the same story from them. Anyone here ever heard of this?
 
#3 ·
Do they plant the Yak? If so, that may have something to do with it.

One day we were catching land-locked Atlantic Salmon in the Metolius and they are not supposed to be there. We first asked the zone biologist if they were planning to dump the salmon in the Metolius and he said no... there are no Atlantic Salmon in the Metolius.

So we asked one of the techs at the Wizard Falls fish hatchery if they raised Atlantic Salmon at the facility. They did. We told him that we caught some in the river and he said it was possible that some of the salmon may have escaped the hatchery and ended up in the river.

That made the most sense. So if they do plant the Yak, it may be possible a tiger trout was somehow mixed in with the rainbow planters.
 
#12 ·
I've heard of wash down lakers from the reservoirs with torn fins. I can definitely see confusing a lake trout for a tiger if I'd never seen one before. I've also caught a lot of brookies in the upper river, which are probably a little more obviously not tigers. It's just hard to imagine that there was a tiger in the yak. I can't think of any spot in the drainage where they've been stocked.
 
#15 ·
I'm in the camp thinking laker, but weirder shit has happened. People have caught browns in the methow. Hell, I've caught Chinook in Rufus Woods. There could be a lake stocked with tigers somewhere that drains into the yak, if only seasonally.
 
#16 ·
I caught a mystery trout on the Teanaway earlier this year (further upriver than the Yak confluence) and took the photos into Troutwater fly shop in Cle Elum. I spoke with the owner/manager and he did some research and deemed it a tiger trout. It fought like a rainbow. Here are some photos for proof...maybe your friend caught the same fish.
Fish Ray-finned fish Fish products Automotive parking light Tail
Automotive tire Glove Organism Fish Wood
Reptile Scaled reptile Terrestrial animal Fish Snake
 
#18 ·
I caught a mystery trout on the Teanaway earlier this year (further upriver than the Yak confluence) and took the photos into Troutwater fly shop in Cle Elum. I spoke with the owner/manager and he did some research and deemed it a tiger trout. It fought like a rainbow. Here are some photos for proof...maybe your friend caught the same fish. View attachment 46829 View attachment 46830 View attachment 46832
That's definitely a tiger. Wonder where they're washing out of.
 
#17 ·
Several years ago, close to where your friend was, I caught a similar fish. I was totally baffled and chalked it up to a brown or brook getting washed down from Cooper. Either way it is the coolest fish I've ever caught on the Yak.

EDIT: majpreal, that's the fish. Very cool.
 
#36 ·
Fish are instinctive, and creatures of unknown (completely) habits.

I caught a Mackinaw (a.k.a. Lake Trout) in the Clark Fork near the St Regis area, in the early 90's that was a 1/4" shy of 27".

Talked to three different fish bio's to confirm what I caught, and all three didn't hesitate to tell me where it came from - Flathead lake.

Look up on a map how that fished traveled, and you will have your "endless" possibilities of how that Tiger got in the Yak.
 
#21 ·
Left to her own devices, Mother Nature can do some profound things.

I have often wondered how a species of fish could end up in a farm pond far from other water sources. Yet each summer time, kids catch them. Must be the worms.

Maybe we fly guys are doing it all wrong and should try GARDEN HACKLE.
 
#23 ·
The second photo actually makes it look skinnier than it was...the net is covering part of its belly. It definitely looked well-fed in person, which is not well represented with my crappy picture taking abilities. I don't photograph too many fish just because I want to get them released, but this fish was way too unusual and good looking not to snap a couple quick shots.
 
#26 ·
There are both Brookies and Browns in Cooper Lake and the connected watersheds above. It is very conceivable that there are naturally occurring Tigers in Cooper that could have washed down into the Yakima. I am surprised it doesn't happen more often.
 
#27 ·
A brookie spawning with a brown? On purpose? One's a trout. One's a char. It would be like a mountain whitefish spawning with a wild cutthroat trout. I can't imagine a brookie and a brown would find each other so overwhelmingly attractive that they spawn in the wild. I guess anything is possible when it comes to the fish type critters but that's a weird one.
 
#35 ·
I was watching a video on Steelhead spawning in Alaska I believe. They showed the big fish spawning and then a sneaky little fish would jump in and throw some milt around, before the male would chase it away.

This could happen to the Brookies and the Brown's as they both spawn in the fall of the year.
Just saying.
 
#28 ·
There's a pool on the copper that has them they probably get washed down. It's not that far for a fish to swim.
 
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