Austin Christensen / Idaho Fish and Game
Tiger trout records are dropping like flies in Idaho where an angler from Montpelier, Austin Christensen, set a new state fishing record for tiger trout just two weeks after another angler broke the record.
Tiger trout are amongst the coolest looking freshwater fish in America. They are a hybrid trout species that is a cross between brook trout and brown trout and they have characteristic yellow markings similar to ‘stripes’ that helped them earn their name.
Normally rare in the wild, tiger trout were introduced to the Montpelier Reservoir in Idaho back in 2016 by the Idaho Fish and Game agency. They can also be found in a handful of other bodies of water throughout the state according to the press release from Idaho Fish and Game.
Austin Christensen caught his record breaking tiger trout on June 1st while fishing the Montpelier Reservoir which is due East of Montpelier, a short drive up Montpelier Canyon Road. The reservoir sits at an elevation of 6500 feet which lends itself well to year-round trout fishing.
Austin Christensen / Idaho Fish and Game
After reeling in his fish and measuring it at 27.25 inches long, Austin Christensen thought there was a chance he had a new tiger trout record on his hands. So he sought out a certified scale where the the fish was weighed at 9.13 pounds and that beat the existing record of 8.3 pounds which angler Tyson Lutz had set just two weeks prior when he caught that fish on May 17th while also fishing on Montpelier Reservoir.
While digging into information about that reservoir, I found that Idaho Fish and Game stocked an additional 1,480 tiger trout into the reservoir just 11 days after Christensen set his record. The infusion of nearly 1,500 fish were listed as ‘catchable’ and at least 6-inches long.
The reservoir is a fisherman’s paradise with healthy populations of Kokanee, Yellow Perch, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Tiger Trout. A whopping 6,020 kokanee (salmon) fry were introduced into the reservoir at the end of May as well to bolster the stock.
Tiger trout are often stocked in lakes for two reasons: (1) they’re believed to be good at combatting ‘rough fish’ populations (undesirable species) and (2) they bring in anglers which in turn brings in money. This is a species that’s prove elusive to me. I’ve gone fishing for them in the past but have still yet to land one… One day!