Tigers are on the prowl in Rotoma

Above: Fish & Game Officer Lloyd Gledhill with a big tiger. Below: A juvenile tiger trout; it is not hard to tell how the fish gets its name.

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Tiger trout,rather than the four-footed kind, have been released into lake Rotoma and they are keenly sought by anglers.

Some 150 fish were released by Fish & Game into Rotoma, the only one in New Zealand that’s stocked with these handsome looking fish.

The release is a move to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of acclimatisation societies – set up in the 1800s – which preceded Fish & Game.

Tiger trout can’t breed – they’re a sterile hybrid, a cross between a brown trout and North American brook char, says Eastern Region Fish & Game Officer, Mark Sherburn.

The hatchery began its tiger programme about ten years ago. The aim was to “produce something special, unique to the lakes and, from an angler’s point of view, providing a unique challenge,” Mark says.

The programme faded somewhat when Fish & Game stopped getting much feedback on the trout from anglers, Mark says. “But we’ve stepped it up again in the last couple of years in response to a wave of angler support and interest.

It’s been about four years since the previous release of 200 tigers into Lake Rotoma. Given the level of interest from anglers, Fish & Game plans to continue the programme, releasing another few hundred next year. If the programme ceased, the tigers would simply die out in time.

The fish live for a long time – longer than rainbow trout – and can put on more weight, growing to about 8kg (18lb), Mark says.

As young trout, the fish appear to behave like their brook char mothers. But when they grow bigger they seem to behave like brown trout, the fathers, mooching around in a similar manner. “They skulk around the bottom of the lake and ambush their food or prey.”

Well-known Rotorua trout taxidermist Ray Port has stuffed more than dozen of the fish over the years, mostly three or four pounders, but one was a magnificent 12.5lb (5.6kg) fish, he recalls.
Ray says the tigers are often caught fly fishing with a size eight Green Orbit fished very deep.

- © Fairfax NZ News