I just rescued a baby trout or bass, Anyone with fish experience?

[JP33]

That's definitely a trout of some sort.


...JP

 

[RedHead]

yeah, general consensus on the fish site is that it's a rainbow trout. Not sure where a rainbow trout would have come from here, the only one's I've seen in my area were either gray or speckled.

 

[sonew123]

I know the pictures are cloudy but I am a huge fisherwoman and that looks like a trout of some sort-If I had to guess rainbow trout-They need fresh running water with lots of O2-a constant flow of water like a stream-they will not survive in a tank unless you put alot of time and $ into it.. They will eat corn kibbles-worms and smaller fish-like feeder fish from a per store- oh and cool water-not room temp their bodies are healthier in cooler water

 

[patandchickens]

That doesn't look right for a trout, to me. The tail of a trout is somewhat forked, the fish in your picture *appears* to have an oval, rounded tail with no indentation or fork. (e.t.a. - also, your fish is only a few inches long, yes? trout at that size do not have adult coloration, and usually have some degree of vertical barring or a string of smudges down the side. I think the coloration of this fish is a red herring, here, so to speak, and am not sure it's a juvenile at all)(and look at the dorsal fin, that is absolutely NOT A TROUT)

It is ringing some bell in the back of my head I think, from when I took ichthyology in like 1989 (in NC), but I just can't place it and don't have a fish picture manual here, sorry.

There is no point in trying to grow it up to eating size even if it *were* a bass or trout, anyhow. The money, time and energy you would waste (to get it not REALLY to eating size anyhow, b/c it'd require a much much larger container and much much better water quality and food than you've got any real likelihood of providing - you can't raise gamefish to eat in a fishtank or small stock tank) would be MUCH more sensibly spent elsewhere and then GO FISHING if you want an eating-size fish

Honest, realio trulio. Also this would be far, far kinder to the fish itself.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[JP33]

Pat, great catch (no pun intended) I looked at the pics again and have to agree, the fish's tail in that picture is not reminiscent of a trout's. Although the body and head in the last pic looks troutish.

Wish the pics were a little clearer.


...JP

 

[RedHead]

like I said, if I can't find a good tank for him then I'm just going to release him, I've been doing research this past hour or so and found a few places I could let him go. It wouldn't just be for eating, that would be the bonus when it finally reached a decent size, I just think it would be neat to have one. I might try to track down another 80 gal like I used to have, if I can't find one he's going back into the wild. Don't get me wrong I'd rather go fishing, honestly. I grew up in a fishing area OBX, NC look it up if you need to.. I used to go fishing almost every day growing up with my grandmother. I just didn't see the need to let the little guy die, when he could grow up to be a nice sized fish. He's pretty healthy from what I can tell, he's eating and his slime is intact which leads me to believe he got stranded or jumped onto the deck from the water that's still in the yard. And considering his slime is still intact and my puss of a dog was keeping his distance and barking at it, I'm sure he didn't catch it. He barks at moths and turtles for Christ's sake and acts scared of them when you bring them closer to him. He lets me know when critters are around, but he keeps his distance from them too. The only thing I've seen him try to go after was a rabbit. The fish does have a fork in the tail, the pics are just crap lol I can't seem to get a good shot of him. One of my friends has a man made lake with a bunch of bass in it, I'm just leery about putting him in there until he's at least a bit bigger than he is now. Right now he's bite sized to those bass and the other fresh water places I can't get to at the moment because a lot of this area is still flooded right now. The water he's in is about 52 degrees and from what I've been reading is actually optimum for this fish, he seems satisfied for the moment. When hubby gets home at 3 we might try to go and a. find a tank and filter set up or b. drop him off at our friend's lake and hope for the best. At least with the water as cool as it is right now, he might have a chance there because the bass go to their holes in the deeper part of the lake when the weather is like this.

 

[backdoorchicken]

he does look delicious tho

 

[redhen]

Carp?

 

[RedHead]

well if it's not a trout I have absolutely no idea what it is lol that was just the general consensus on the fish site I found, it's kinda similar to this one in setup ect.. Most of the people on that one though raise large fish, so I thought it was my best shot at identification. it's www.monsterfishkeepers.com if anyone was interested lol. If it's a carp, then it looks like I'll be making that pond I've been wanting sooner rather than later lol Also at first the thought crossed my mind that it was a small striper aka rockfish, very common and popular in this area, though I don't recall hearing anything about them being in fresh water. Either way I'm pretty sure it's a decent sized breed considering the head/mouth area. I've never seen a minnow with a head like this one and the body is different than any minnow I've ever seen as well. I wish I could get a better pic to show yall exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[twister]

trout are so delicate and from the story of being fetched up by a dog, there is no way a trout would survive that. they can not survive a human's touch, either.
They need very very cool, cold water in addition to it being the water being spring fed and oxygenated.

I personally would not atttempt to 'grow it up' and would release it soon or it will die eventually.