Tiger Trout

Shadowcast

Member
So I have been cruising through some of the threads on here and viewing social media pics from The Fly Shop Co and have decided the Tiger is the trout I think looks the coolest. How does one catch one of these guys on fly? Is it possible to catch a rainbow/brown/brook/tiger slam in one day? Down here in FL we are big into our regional slams. In Tampa we go for the snook/red/trout slam....with a splash of tarpon if you are really good. I'm not looking for any locations as I do not have a clue. The only streams I've ever fished are in GSMNP near The Sinks....with no luck....yet. Thanks!!
 

jigman29

Senior Member
It depends on if you want a wild tiger or stock. A wild is the holy grail of trophies in my opinion for this part of the country. They are beautiful but the most rare of all. I have fished my whole life and never caught one. I only know a couple guys that have. But I heard they are stocking some in Cherokee, but not sure if this is true or not. Maybe hillbilly can answer that one. As for the other three on that slam I ave done it with deerhuntingdawg but its not the easiest thing to do but can definitely be done.
 

northgeorgiasportsman

Moderator
Staff member
What makes the tiger so rare is that it's a hybrid between a brown and a brook/speck. Therefore, it has to come from a stream that has a population of both, and there aren't very many streams in Georgia that meet that requirement.
 

Shadowcast

Member
A wild is the holy grail of trophies in my opinion for this part of the country. They are beautiful but the most rare of all. I have fished my whole life and never caught one.

Leave it to me to aim high and go for the toughest one of all. Makes me want one more! How do you tell the difference between a wild and a stock. Remember, I have one days experience trout fishing a mountain stream! LOL
 

jigman29

Senior Member
Leave it to me to aim high and go for the toughest one of all. Makes me want one more! How do you tell the difference between a wild and a stock. Remember, I have one days experience trout fishing a mountain stream! LOL

LOL! Basically the wild troud have all their fins, are colored way prettier than their counterparts and don't usually get as big. Hard to explain but once you see a few of each you get it. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions and I will try to help without giving away to many secrets lol.
 

deerhuntingdawg

Senior Member
Jigman29,
Just a matter of time until we hit pay dirt and catch one!! And a 12 inch speck!
 

jigman29

Senior Member
What makes the tiger so rare is that it's a hybrid between a brown and a brook/speck. Therefore, it has to come from a stream that has a population of both, and there aren't very many streams in Georgia that meet that requirement.

I know of one stream that has both but I have fished it at least 20 years and have never saw a tiger. Hopefully some day.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I have fished these mountain creeks for nearly fifty years, including several that hold both wild browns and native brooks. I have caught countless tens of thousands of trout; but I have never caught a wild tiger. Some years they throw a few doughbelly tigers in the delayed-harvest creeks, we caught a couple at Big Snowbird last year.

And, yes, there is a world of difference between a stocker doughbelly trout and a real one.
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
I`ve done it once when I was doing some fishing up in Avery County North Carolina. One morning I caught browns and rainbows in the Linville River and a 11 inch brook trout in Mill Timber Creek that afternoon.

I never heard of a tiger trout until I joined this Forum.
 

Shadowcast

Member
Feel free to pm me if you have any questions and I will try to help without giving away to many secrets lol.

I may hit you up on that. I have lots to learn....and am willing to trade bow time down here in FL.
 

WMA Man

Member
In my limited experience relative to most of y'all I've found a few streams in NC that hold brook, browns, and bows in the same stretch. Though I'm usually fishing for specks.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
In my limited experience relative to most of y'all I've found a few streams in NC that hold brook, browns, and bows in the same stretch. Though I'm usually fishing for specks.

I know of a few, but I've never seen a tiger.

Yep, a lot of the creeks I fish have all three. I know one that only has browns and specks. I've caught untold numbers of fish out of them, but no tigers so far.
 

Bream Pole

Senior Member
I appreciate you guys. You keep me vicariously trout fishing. I haven't waded a creek or river since the late 90's. Last trip was very successful--limit of wild or stream reared rainbows 8-9 inches long. Ultra light spinning not fly rod. But I live a long way from the mountains here in South Ga. When I would go up camping new grandchildren would keep me at camp and now with legs unstable because of neuropathy think it would be dangerous to wade. But thanks to this section I get to enjoy from the chair.
 

jigman29

Senior Member
If youre ever this way hit me up. Ill set that camp chair on a creek bank where you can still catch a few trout and enjoy my mountains im so proud of.
 

Anvil Head

Senior Member
What makes the tiger so rare is that it's a hybrid between a brown and a brook/speck. Therefore, it has to come from a stream that has a population of both, and there aren't very many streams in Georgia that meet that requirement.


Are you sure that's the "cross"? Browns are trout and specs/brooks are chars. Lot of genetic differences there for hybridization. Not challenging, just curious. Love to see docs on that.

I fished pretty much every foot of every trout stream in N GA and never caught or saw a "Tiger" trout. Not saying they don't exist, just always thought them a folklore myth. I was no slouch at catching trout either. Wasn't any big thing to trifecta a good stream back when I was a kid. Browns were the hardest to find back then, specs were everywhere there was fast water. I always targeted the hold-overs and stream born, just because (as mentioned above), they were much very colorful and better tasting for sure.
 

northgeorgiasportsman

Moderator
Staff member
Are you sure that's the "cross"? Browns are trout and specs/brooks are chars. Lot of genetic differences there for hybridization. Not challenging, just curious. Love to see docs on that.

Yep. Browns and brookies both spawn in the fall. More specifically, it has to be a female brown and a male brookie. And like all hybrids, tigers are sterile, so there is no natural reproduction in the stream. Just to show you how rare they are, even in controlled conditions, survival rates of fertilized eggs reaching fry stage is only about 25%. In nature, it's much less than that.

Catching a wild tiger trout in GA is probably about the same odds as getting struck by lightning.
 
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