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iYak
Finger Mullet
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: San Antonio
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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:29 pm Post subject: Mutant Trout or Immigrant Weakfish? |
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Here is picture of two trout my brother caught at Packery Jetty in this July.
The one at the top of the photo is typical of every trout I have ever caught. The coloration on the bottom one is quite different.
There were more spots, they were bigger and they were not well defined (kind of fuzzy, almost faded). The eyes were different as well - larger and a little yellowish.
I'm fairly sure it is probably a mutant trout as we are pretty far off the beaten path for weakfish. However, strange fish do show up in strange places.
Any thoughts?
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ltorna1
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 17 Apr 2009
Posts: 3240
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:02 am Post subject: |
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Not a weakfish. They have much smaller, tightly packed spots.
I have a lot of variation on trout spotting, especially as they get bigger (some with almost no spots), but I have never seen anything like that leopard print towards the head. Very cool, and nice catch!
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obsessed
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 1200
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:05 am Post subject: |
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| ltorna1 wrote: | Not a weakfish. They have much smaller, tightly packed spots.
I have a lot of variation on trout spotting, especially as they get bigger (some with almost no spots), but I have never seen anything like that leopard print towards the head. Very cool, and nice catch! |
i was wondering about that as well, that big trout i caught a couple of months ago had almost no spots on the body, just the tail section and up top on the fins...hybrid or just old?
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Tyler
Site Admin
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 12865
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:26 am Post subject: |
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I know what you're saying it does look similar to the weakfish and certainly is the strangest I've seen. I will forward this to my TPW buddies. Now on Obsessed's trout with the lack of spots that sounds like those Baffin trout.
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gulftrout
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 20 Aug 2007
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:36 am Post subject: |
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I have caught a couple with the same spot patterns in Nueces Bay recently. The meat on the ones I caught was real white and soft to the touch, almost mushy. I figured the fish was stressed due to the hot, dry conditions we have had all summer.  |
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speckled.trout
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 30 Aug 2012
Posts: 1190
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:39 am Post subject: |
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We catch those fuzzy spotted trout from time to time and have for as long as I can remmber, alway thought if might be a trout that is "just a little different". 
But they still eat just like the one with regular spots.
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Central Scrutinizer
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Posts: 3583
Location: Flour Bluff
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| gulftrout wrote: | | I have caught a couple with the same spot patterns in Nueces Bay recently. The meat on the ones I caught was real white and soft to the touch, almost mushy. I figured the fish was stressed due to the hot, dry conditions we have had all summer. |
The reports of soft/mushy/spongy flesh this summer continue to trickle in, and I don't have a really good explanation for it. If someone does get a fish like that and wants to sacrifice a small piece of flesh for some closer examinations, please let me know.
Most of these reports have been from around Baffin, and it's mainly drum that are all heads and no real "meat", but I have also got a couple of reds and trouts that have been reported to be in similar condition.
As far as the "leopard print' trout, that pigment pattern is seen from time to time. Definitely not a weakfish. One of the characters used to differentiate the two is the presence of spots on the dorsal fins and tail (weakfish without, spotted seatrout with). Your fish has spots, although very diffuse, on the tail. |
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Gib
Member White Shrimper Boot Club
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 944
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject: Just know seeing |
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Just now seeing this thread.
I have caught about ten of these this year at BHP. First one I kept and when filleted, the meat was mushy and tainted looking like almost rotten. Threw it away and threw all others back when caught. Someone suggested they had recently spawned.
If I get another one, I will save it for Scrutinizer and pm him. |
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Tyler
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AcousTennis
Full Grown Flour Bluffian
Joined: 13 Sep 2010
Posts: 1319
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Central Scrutinizer wrote: |
The reports of soft/mushy/spongy flesh this summer continue to trickle in, and I don't have a really good explanation for it. If someone does get a fish like that and wants to sacrifice a small piece of flesh for some closer examinations, please let me know.
Most of these reports have been from around Baffin, and it's mainly drum that are all heads and no real "meat", but I have also got a couple of reds and trouts that have been reported to be in similar condition.
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YES! This has been happening! The trout ive managed have soft mushy meat and the drum got almost nothing on them, i dont keep anythng under 16" now and even then the fillet pay off is little for killing a fish. Thought i was just going a bit crazy
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| ltorna1 wrote: | | I can just imagine a prehistoric nomadic version of AcousticTennis, padding around in a dugout canou with long unkempt hair (not much a stretch lol), catching drum on some 3000 BC version of fishbites. |
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iYak
Finger Mullet
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:33 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the replies. I was definitely leaning to mutant "leopard" trout, and wanted to see if others had seen this pattern. But I have never seen a weakfish eye to eye and pictures are not very definitive, so you never know.
This one went into the fish fry with other normal trout, and no one could pick it out. If we catch another one, I think we will save it for scientific investigation... or at least a better picture. |
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Crazyhorse
Horse Mullet
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 135
Location: Olney Texas
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| Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, I will be the dummy here, but what is the actual difference between a spotted weakfish and a speckled trout?
The only difference I have ever heard of concerns the location where the fish are caught. East coast weakfish, Gulf, specks.
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R.Arnold
Member White Shrimper Boot Club
Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Posts: 765
Location: Calallen
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| Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| lots of surf trout this year in the teen range with soft fillets. Also lots of drum in baffin reported from a buddy of mine to have fillets with a jelly texture, he says lack of coquina shells for the drum...I say I don't know, but something is going on. I fish the surf quite a bit for trout and really pay attention to size and patterns. Starting spring/summer of 2011, surf trout got way smaller on average and more unhealthy ones were caught by me. Unhealthy meaning, skinny and mushy. |
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iYak
Finger Mullet
Joined: 29 Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Crazyhorse wrote: | Okay, I will be the dummy here, but what is the actual difference between a spotted weakfish and a speckled trout?
The only difference I have ever heard of concerns the location where the fish are caught. East coast weakfish, Gulf, specks. |
The speckled trout on the Gulf coast are properly known as spotted sea trout (cynoscion nebulosus) but according to the web, can be called spotted weakfish as well.
I was refering to plain old Weakfish (cynoscion regalis) when I asked if this is a weakfish. It is a related species found primarily on the Atlantic coast but can also be found in the southern Gulf. It is also spotted.
The reason my brother thought it might be a weakfish (c. regalis) is because he used to live on the Florida atlantic coast where the weakfish and speckled trout both lived, although it was at the southern end of the weakfish's range and they were rarely caught. He caught a fish around Jupiter inlet with this same pattern, and the locals there called it a weakfish rather than a trout.
It could be that the locals there called all trout-like fish "weakfish". |
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