Unknown Trout Species

by Jeremy Morrell
(Northern California, USA)

Went micro-fishing in a trickle of water that used to be a stream. It was dark by the time I got this bite. Had been catching mostly shiner species and a few small sunfish when I felt something different hit the worm- hard. Missed the first try but he immediately went for it again when I put the bait back in. I don't think I ever even got him fully hooked, but rather just lifted him from the water to dry land with the hook, where he promptly spit it with his first flop. Lucky break! He's the first trout I've caught while micro-fishing.

It was a drought year in California and the stream is never too full anyways. It's fed by a reservoir via a steep concrete slide (point being, no access to or from the lake part) and goes into the bay, with less than a mile of water in between. Most of the year the water doesn't reach anywhere near the bay and just drains down into the dry riverbed. Point being, I have no idea where this guy came from as it's really not the type of habitat that you could think trout would live, certainly not anything much larger than this little guy!

Pictures: with flash, without flash. Rig was daichi # 26 with some worm. Any ideas on the ID are appreciated.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.