the adipose fin is actually on the back (top) of the fish between the dorsal fin and the tail.  When it comes to hatchery steelhead i know they clip all of the adipose fins, and i think DFG does the same thing for some of the trout they raise.  Although ive deffinately caught a fair amount of planters that have their adipose fin in tact, i think its because DFG at times plants fish they receiv from various fish farms that dont clip the fins.  Cole is right about the duller colors.....their normally pretty ugly compared to a wild fish, and typically fight a little less.  Normally planters will have chewed up fins, and a chewed up looking tail, for whatever reason.

Last fall, Putah planters all had a rouded tail (and fins sometimes), with thick scars on the edges. I heard it's from the rubbing on the concrete walls of the overpopulated DFG hatchery tanks. I was new to (fly) fishing and it was the easiest way to tell for someone not used to seeing live trout. Sure they have duller colors, fight less and are much dumber than the wild ones, but these signs are not easy to pick up for a newbie without much of a reference frame. Especially if all you catch are the dumb planters...

But this summer I went to a couple places with planted fish and found much nicer and combative stockers, with nice colors and square tails. I knew they were planters only because I knew these places are heavily fished and stocked. And there was just too many of them willing. I didn't think about looking for the adipose fin, though, but I bet it was intact.  

According to Peter Moyle, UC Davis fish expert, freshly planted fish are pretty easy to ID for all the reasons listed above. Holdover fish often regenerate their damaged fins, but the fin rays are not straight due to uneven growth rates: they are wavy. Color becomes a less reliable differentiating feature over time.
Planting mat be down on PC so far this season, but it is not because there is a lack of fish.

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-- Edited by SK60 at 23:14, 2008-08-15

The shredded fins from the planters is normally due to them rubbing against the concrete holding tanks.I've also seen many pectoral fins being entirely rubbed off to little nubs,looks wierd.

Hi Folks:

I've got two new questions:

1) How do you tell between a male and a female trout?

2) What's the best way to take a picture of a fish if you are by yourself? I've seen some pictures on the board where people lay the fish on moss or earth in order to take their picture? Does this hurt them? Also how do you get them to sit still while taking a picture?

Okay more than a couple of questions, but you get the point.

cheers,

The difference between male and female to me is very hard to distinguish when the fish are on the smaller side 15" or smaller.But the larger the fish the easier it is to tell,mainly the head tends to be longer with a longer or larger jawline.This becomes more pronounced during the spawning season and also during the spawning season the males coloration is more vibrant than the female.There may be other ways to tell but I'm not aware of any. Taking a fish picture is tricky by yourself.First of all if you have to handle the fish make sure you wet you're hands first,never handle a fish with dry hands.I will gently glide the fish through the water in the net and then lay it on the bank keeping it in the water as much as possible.Then I pull back the net expose the fish take the picture,revive the fish if needed   and release.If the fish is too big for my net I will some times beach the fish and rapidly take the picture,carefull not to drag it through the sand/gravel or mud.And lastly if I think I cant take a picture quickly with minimal handling and exposure to the fish I just dont take the picture,no big deal. I think way too many anglers put way too much importance on bragging rights and trophy pictures than the survivability of the fish.

Just like Bono said, its hard for me to tell the difference between male and female when the fish are about 15 inchers or less. From my experience(wich isn't much) I find the heads are shaped different, the males have slightly smaller heads and a much more pointed appearance to the head, the females tend to have larger more rounded heads, especially the snout. Its really easy to tell the difference when there in spawning color. Pics....I stopped taking pics when i am alone, it is to much of a hassle. I think someone posted this awhile back but i am not sure, Think about this, run wind sprints as fast as possible for the amount of time you are fighting a fish, lets say about 3 mins, then immedietly try and hold your breath for the amount of time you were to have a fish out of water. I ain't sayin any names but i've seen personally people on this board hold fish out of the water WAY to long just to get a pic.