Colorful tiger trout coming to some Arizona lakes

Colorful tiger trout, a hybrid of brook and brown trout, will be stocked in some Arizona lakes in the spring — marking their first stocking in Arizona waters.

“They are a golden color with somewhat tiger-like patterns,” said Nick Walter, spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “They look different than trout people have seen in Arizona in the past.”

Walter said the department received about 18,000 tiger trout fingerlings at no cost from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in July.

“Right now, they are at the Tonto Creek Hatchery near Payson,” he said. “We anticipate stocking them in late April or early May. We have never stocked tiger trout in Arizona, and most people are pretty excited about it.”

The trout will be placed in lakes in the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains areas — including Becker, Carnero, Willow Springs and Woods Canyon lakes.

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None will be stocked in Southern Arizona lakes, Walter said.

Fishing for the trout will require a valid Arizona fishing license.

Mike Lopez, the department’s Pinetop region fish program manager, offered some tips to anglers.

“From what I’ve read, people typically fly fish for tiger trout, and they’re pretty aggressive,” Lopez said. “They’re probably more like a brown (trout), so lures and flies should work well — something imitating a small fish.”