OCR Text |
Show Rainbow is State fish The rainbow trout is not a native of Utah but probably our most popular sporting fish. It was adopted as our state fish by the 1971 Utah State Legislature. Rainbows were first stocked in the state in 1883 from California's McCloud River. The rainbow trout is olive to greenish blue above and silvery below with a prominent reddish pink streak along each side, thus the name rainbow. This streak is indistinct or absent in young rainbow trout. I In early spring on a gravel-covered . stream bottom, the female fans out a nest, or redd, in the gravel with her tail and deposits her eggs. The male swims beside her ready to fertilize the eggs with his sperm. The gravel-covered ; eggs hatch about 50 days later. Our state fish thrives in cold water usually not warmer than 65 to 68 degrees fahrenheit. |