I was recently fishing Bear Valley Creek at Bruce Meadows and caught a nice 16" Brown Trout. I was wondering if this is a species that Fishing Game planted or if this was just a fluke ?
Answer:
Years ago, we used to fish the Bruce Meadows area and had a "ball" catching cutthroat and brook trout. IDFG has never stocked brown trout in this area.
What I suspect you caught is a bull trout/brook trout hybrid. They can have the brilliant spots that look similar to a brown trout and have the "worm-tracks" on the dorsal fin that come from the brook trout side of the parentage. Bull trout/brook trout hybrids are incapable of producing viable off-spring.
Answered on:
Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - 8:16 AM MDT