Searching for the Extinct Silver Trout

Join me as I explore the lakes of New Hampshire in search of a creature that hasn't been seen in nearly a hundred years!

Follow me on Twitter/X @theatlaspro

Sources:

[richiegon]

"Out of nowhere came milo"

Oh you beautiful coy bastard, never change

[llamapajamas]

I work for Monadnock State Park as a Park Ranger. This was news to me as my job mostly involves injuries and search and rescue. But this was very enlightening! I would add that we do have high trout populations in the area that F&G protects that I will not disclose where, but it is near the area of Dublin Lake. It is off limits to people and in the lake, there is an over abundance of trout and nothing else. Next time I hike there I will take some videos! Another thing to add that both trout populations are near mountains and could potentially live in the buffer zone between mountain stream and lake, which is a niche but a unique ecosystem for juvenile and smaller trout, but it could also serve as the silver trouts ideal habitat. Regardless I will ask F&G next time I see them and take a look myself. Thank you!

[fluffbottle]

Well, now I understand those odd shorts of "do you see any fish?".😅

[panda-peanut]

Atlas Pro and Milo Rossi in the same video. 😃 It's gonna be a great day.

[nbattey]

As a fish biologist who grew up in New Hampshire, this is probably my favorite video you’ve ever made. I’m in love with the ghosts of local endemics - perhaps the closest we get to cryptids in any real sense. Tales of thylacines, ivory billed woodpeckers, and New Zealand moose fascinate me for their defiant hope, without evidence, that our greatest crimes against our faunal neighbors might not be permanent. For there are examples of the takahe, and other stubborn survivors to show that it’s possible. Not to mention the Sunapee trout, a similar tale from the same neighborhood.

Perhaps when I visit next I’ll bring an underwater camera and make a trip myself. Something to scheme about until then, I suppose.

(I’d also venture what I hope is a reasonable guess that those smaller fish that you were unable to identify may have been juvenile smallmouth bass).

[aaraadhyaandaakayaata]

please do more of these finding exctinct species videos please ! i will watch all of them, start to finish at 1x speed no joke
fricking love them

[ryanthefilmmaker]

No way! I live right by Dublin Pond, just a couple towns over, and I never knew it boasted its own nearly-unique species of fish. Thank you for this awesome video about NH!

[sovereignspino]

Pretty much all of your "probably another sunfish" are Smallmouth Bass. Their prevalence pretty much confirms the lack of Silver Trout wherever you find a bunch, since they are very voracious eaters.

Also, I don't believe there's ever been a documented case of Rainbow Trout hybridizing with any variety of char (Brookies and Lakers are char species). That said, Brown Trout have been, so while your theory isn't implausible, the Rainbow is probably pure.

In spite of the unlikelihood of finding a Silver Trout, I really admire your dedication. I loved the video, this is exactly the kind of content I love to see and would totally go out looking too if I could. Nice job!

[kieranelliott]

I was skeptical of such a long video on this subject, but credit where its due, i was wrong, it was very absorbing.

[RyanGray]

I met a older gentleman 75-85 age could be older but a healthy old man while camping in around Mt. Monadnock in 2016. He showed me pictures of pictures taken of a catch him and his father had in the late 30s of 8 trout 3 of which were arguably silver trout. No doubt in my mind i wish i had service for him to send them to me. His father had the largest sent for taxidermy at the Bridgewater factory. I imagine there is some 50-60 year old with a silver trout on a walnut display sitting in their basement barroom being talked about to this day. The legendary day fishing with great gramps. Could be worse for an extinct species all in all.

[iancarpenter]

best chance of finding a silver trout is to look for isolated streams that are part of the greater watershed of that glacial lake. streams that due to waterfalls didn't allow for brook trout migrate up and dilute the gene pool. otherwise a gentically pure silver trout is unlikely to exist.

[ShihammeDarc]

I love the old books and magazines shown on this channel. Old obscure knowledge like the warden stocking stone pond that probably no human has laid eyes on in 50 years.

[jthomashair]

Your initiative to get out into world as an amateur naturalist and scientifically investigate seemingly obscure questions that pique your own curiosity, and to do so with such rigor is... inspiring. Proud to support this channel, keep it up!

[MrBattlecharge]

Drop a sealed camera box, with cameras, batteries, etc., near those spawn rocks from October 1st until October 31st. I bet you'll see all manner of trout come out.

[kronkwithagun]

From the footage you have, you saw Pumpkinseed and smallmouth bass, and in one shot there were some juvenile largemouth. And yes that was a rainbow trout.
Source - Fishing my whole life and memorizing fish species as a kid

[_rynnas]

i'd never thought fish could be cute but those pumpkin seeds were adorable ❤❤

[jacobellenbogen]

Genuinely one of my favorite channels on YouTube, this is awesome. Well done!!

[kalrandom]

Once you mentioned the lakes being stocked with other varieties of trout, the cross breeding question popped in my head. I am glad you addressed that.

[IbexWatcher]

The idea that there could be a ghost lineage of the silver trout hits really close to home! Humans ourselves contain some Neanderthal DNA, and it’s quite possible that we bred them out of existence in a similar manner

We’ve also found unique ghost lineages of red wolves in some Texas coyotes

[spiffyh]

I wonder if Outdoor Life would still have those original photos somewhere in its archives. The actual photos should be far better than the reproduction in a magazine.