I was fishing lake taneycomo tailwaters today and saw what I think to be a melanistic rainbow but I’ve never seen / heard of anything of the sort. Sorry the pictures are bad. I didn’t catch him just saw.
Posted by PigFarm94
4 Comments
scurry3156 on
Those are gashes. Caused by birds, boat motors, mishandling, disease, or other wildlife,
AverageAngling on
Yup, I’ve see it on fish like that in patches. Not sure if it’s technically melanism but wouldn’t surprise me as I’ve seen other species like bass and gar with similar traits.
Tsaomi on
I’ve seen that before on salmon and steelhead. Couple different things, but when it’s such a stark section like that it can be either natural genetic mutation or a form of scarring post-electrofishing. It’s natural, but not quite melanism.
Normal_Ad_8618 on
I caught a brown last summer with a black tail. I’ve heard it has to do with trauma, which makes sense given the gash
4 Comments
Those are gashes. Caused by birds, boat motors, mishandling, disease, or other wildlife,
Yup, I’ve see it on fish like that in patches. Not sure if it’s technically melanism but wouldn’t surprise me as I’ve seen other species like bass and gar with similar traits.
I’ve seen that before on salmon and steelhead. Couple different things, but when it’s such a stark section like that it can be either natural genetic mutation or a form of scarring post-electrofishing. It’s natural, but not quite melanism.
I caught a brown last summer with a black tail. I’ve heard it has to do with trauma, which makes sense given the gash