RAINBOW TROUT (Oncorhynchus mykiss)  

Color:	Reddish-pink and silver sides, black spots Dark to light green top and white belly	Famous for being acrobats, rainbow trout are powerful fighters when hooked; often taking to the air during relentless struggles with excited anglers.  Just as stunning as they are combatant, rainbows are named for their beautiful side colors of reddish-pink and silver.  Sea-going rainbows are better known as steelhead salmon.
Size:	3 to 10 pounds average, depending on population and habitat Up to 30+ pounds
Method:	Cast and retrieve, bait
Gear:	Spinning and fly rods
Range:	Southcentral and southeast Alaska Peninsula
Season:	May - October
Taste:	Pale, reddish meat similar to other trout Tasty pan-fried or baked Recipes
Record:	42 pounds, 3 ounces, Bell Island by David White, 1970
Back Issues:	September 2002 September 2003 April 2004

Appearance

Rainbow trout share the similar, streamlined shape of salmon.  However, their vibrant side colors of red and pink are a trademark that sets them apart from the ordinary.  Coloration along the back is usually darker and ranges from blue-green to olive.  The belly is white and the lower sides darken into silver.  Like many other trout species, rainbows also are speckled with small black spots that appear on the lateral line, upper fins and tail.  In some populations, adults also have spots on their lower sides.  The color and overall body shape of rainbows are determined mainly by age, sex, and habitat.  Populations found in streams have the most vibrant coloration as well as the most spots.  During spawning season, body color tends to darken.

Location

Natural populations of rainbows occur throughout the Alaska Peninsula, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island and the Copper River and Kuskokwim River drainages.  They can also be found in the river systems of the Naknek, Kvichak, Illiamna, Nushagak, Alagnak, Susitna and Togiak.  The trout have been stocked in some Southcentral areas and as far north as Fairbanks.  The largest rainbows belong to native populations.

Diet

Fish growth is almost always regulated by the availability of food, size of the habitat and the temperature of the water.  Rainbows in mountainous streams are subjected to less food and shallower, colder water.  They grow at a slower rate and reach smaller sizes than their counterparts located in rivers and lakes of less elevation and of larger size.  Also, trout in smaller waters have a diet of mostly insects, which makes them grow slower than those that eat primarily fish.

Angling Methods

Fishing is usually the most productive during spring and fall months.  Catching a rainbow can prove more difficult during large salmon runs.  Medium-action spinning and fly rods with cast and retrieve methods usually works best.  Rainbows will take several different types of tackle including baits, lures, wobbling spoons, weighted spinners, flies, streamers, muddlers and egg patterns.  Fluorescent colors can sometimes work the best and some populations will prefer certain colors over others.  As with other trout, their diet will determine the gear.  Depending on the depth of the water, fishing near the bottom can be the most effective.  Remember, rainbows prefer colder water. 

Rainbows are excellent swimmers that will travel hundreds of river miles upstream to spawn.  Some of the best rainbow fishing can only be reached by floatplane or an extensive boat ride. 

Life History

Rainbows prefer cold water and reside in streams and rivers that are fed by springs or snowmelt.  Populations found in lakes prefer the deeper, colder water.  Some individual adult rainbows will live in both habitats by following sockeye salmon migrations from rivers into lakes.  Rainbows that migrate will typically grow larger than those that remain in the same streams and ponds where they were hatched.

The spawning season of rainbows is harder to predict than other trout, which routinely spawn in autumn.  However, populations of rainbows spawn months apart and usually between mid-April and late June.  Yet, in some areas, rainbows may spawn as early as November or December.  Difference in water temperature and habitat are considered primary factors.

Spawning times may differ from other trout, but the act itself is very similar.  First, females dig the common redds about 4-10 inches deep and 10-15 inches in diameter.  The female will deposit 200 to 4,000 eggs in the redd, which are then fertilized by the male and afterward covered with gravel.  Rainbow eggs are larger than those of most other trout and are therefore more easily found by predators.  The length of incubation is determined by water temperature and can range from three weeks to four months. 

After the eggs hatch, the individual young fish are still not independent.  They remain in the redd and subsist from an attached egg sac for several weeks.  When they are strong enough they will dig themselves from the gravel and enter the current of the stream.  The small rainbows remain together in small groups and stay in shallow water.  Instinctively, and throughout the rest of their life, rainbows constantly watch for the movement of predators both below and above the surface.

The first food they will actively consume includes plankton, crustaceans, vegetation and insects.  As they move into deeper and larger water, they will begin eating eggs and salmon carcasses.  Within two to three years they will begin eating other live fish.  Rainbows that eat mostly fish rather than insects usually grow the fastest.

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