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3. Rainbow--dorsal FIN ROT

I'd appreciate people's input. Does dorsal fin rot on a Rainbow trout reflect possible problems with the meat? Is it wise not to consume a fish with this condition? Thank you

It probably is safe, but very unappetizing. I dont think I could eat a diseased fish even if it were safe for consumption. To be on the safe side, call your State Wildlife Office, and ask for the fisheries biologist.

That's a great suggestion, thanks

In the Great Lakes tribs I used to fish a lot, furunculosis, a fungal infection largely due to stress is common during/just after the spawning seasons.

I never heard of it posing a problem in eating (around the infection), but never tried as such fish were not very appetizing to begin with, whether they had furunculosis or not. Stressed post-spawn fish, where the disease is most often seen, tend to be weak, soft fleshed, with dull colors. In some years, on some waters, and in some individual fish, come through the spawn just fine though.

What exactly are you meaning by "rot"?

It looks like the rainbow at the top of the middle photo: http://www.kleander.com/vatten/fiskodling/index_eng.html

It's similar to the dorsal fin of the top fish but my fish's webbing is an 1/8 to 1/4" more eroded and the spines look to have lost 40% of their length.

Yeah, after a google search for "furunculosis" I can see what you mean about how the fish are unappetizing. I don't think I'm dealing w/ furunculosis. Please see my reply and link to the post below yours, if you can identify my problem I'd appreciate an additional reply.

An additional piece of information. Rainbow had been recently stocked in the body of water. Could the dorsal fin erosion be from overcrowding in a fisheries farm? One problem w/ this solution is that the rainbow I caught was 13.5", isn't that much bigger than what would be the normal stocking size?

Couldn't it just be more simple effects of the fish being raised in a hatchery. I have seen some prrrretty messed up fins protruding out of hatchery bred trout.

That was my next thought, esp with the images from the link you offered. Fin wear is probably the most telling attribute of stocked trout, at least for those stocked larger than fingerling size. They usually heal, but warped. Yours might be recent stockies.

Stocking size is a target size not an absolute, and that target depends on management objectives. If you are shooting for minimum 9" fish (yearlings) you tend to get individuals running 8-3/4 to ... 11 1/2. Not uncommonly agencies, or clubs, will stock some 2yr olds too, which may be 13-15". These are generally too costly to raise, so they are a bonus for anglers. Growth rates can vary across diff years so some years the fish are generally on the larger or smaller size of that range. Also, bows tend to grow faster than browns, so they tend to be larger by stocking time.

Thank you for this information. In your experience do recently stocked trout taste strange--do to their diets in the farmeries?

How has your experience been with consuming recently stocked trout--do they taste "off"?

They tend to be white fleshed and not as tasty as streambred fish. But "strange"? Not sure what you mean.

Recently stocked fish taste quite bland compared to fish that have been eating a "wild" diet of insects and other creatures. Same is true of farm-raised trout - whenever my folks have bought some for dinner it always looks pale and has little flavor compared to one that's been living in a stream it's whole life. Of course, if they're stocked at sublegal size and allowed to grow up in the stream, that makes a big difference because the "wild" diet flavors them up nicely. I once fished a stream in south-central Michigan that was stocked with fingerling browns, and by the time they were 10-12" you couldn't really tell they weren't wild-bred fish, by either appearance or flavor.

Of course, this was years ago before I got into the catch-and-release thing...it's damned hard to convince myself to kill such beautiful creatures anymore. Especially since one of my favorite streams around here receives no stocking whatsoever and it's just brimming with beautiful wild rainbows and brookies.

Jonathon

That makes sense, thanks.

Thanks for that information. I too have a hard time harvesting trout, but I love the taste, and I do limit myself to a 1/3 to one 1/2 of the bag limit.

I found that it all depends on the cook... ;)