Josh Powers (sabar)
Rainbow trout about to be cleaned
A catch of trout about to be cleaned.
These rainbows show characteristic white staining from being on ice. Where the ice touches the scales, the skin loses its color and turns pure white or silver. Rainbows usually have an olive colored back, a white belly, silver sides, and a pink stripe along the lateral line. Small black spots cover most of the fish.
Fish are usually catch-and-release, but these smaller rainbows are a delicate species and a deep hook set usually causes the fish to bleed out before it can be returned to the water. Circle hooks lower the rate of deep hook sets. Rainbows have a large tongue and a small gullet, which causes J-hooks to lodge into the tongue. The heart and gill arteries are located just underneath, leading to low survival rates on any swallowed hook.
Rainbow trout about to be cleaned
A catch of trout about to be cleaned.
These rainbows show characteristic white staining from being on ice. Where the ice touches the scales, the skin loses its color and turns pure white or silver. Rainbows usually have an olive colored back, a white belly, silver sides, and a pink stripe along the lateral line. Small black spots cover most of the fish.
Fish are usually catch-and-release, but these smaller rainbows are a delicate species and a deep hook set usually causes the fish to bleed out before it can be returned to the water. Circle hooks lower the rate of deep hook sets. Rainbows have a large tongue and a small gullet, which causes J-hooks to lodge into the tongue. The heart and gill arteries are located just underneath, leading to low survival rates on any swallowed hook.