Friday, July 30, 2010

Sea-Run Brook Trout

Scientific Name: Salvelinus fontinalis

Common Names: Brook Trout, Speckled Trout, Brookie

General Info

In our area, the Brook Trout is found on the Hayes River. In fact, North Star Resort offers non-stop fly fishing action for these remarkable fish. The species normally spends its entire life in fresh water, but some individuals - colloquially called "salters" or "sea run" - spend up to three months at sea in the spring, remaining within a few kilometres of river mouths. The Sea-run Brook Trout on the Hayes River spend time in Hudson Bay and swim upstream to spawn.

Description

The Brook Trout is of dark green to brown basic colouration with a distinctive marbled pattern (called vermiculations) of lighter shades across the flanks and back and extending at least to the dorsal fin, and often to the tail. There is a distinctive sprinkling of red dots, surrounded by blue haloes, along the flank. The belly and lower fins are reddish in color, the latter with white leading edges. Often the belly, particularly of the males, becomes very red or orange when the fish are spawning.

The species reaches a maximum recorded length of 86cm (33in) and a maximum recorded weight of 9.4kg (21lb). It can reach at least seven years of age, with reports of 15-year-old specimens observed in California habitats to which the species has been introduced.

Evoluntinary wise, the Brook Trout (Salmons) is an ancient fish compared with the Walleye. You can determine this by the position of the pelvic fins. On a Brook Trout, the pelvic fins are down on the belly (similar to Pikes such as the Northern Pike). Through evolution, recent fish have incorporated pelvic fins right under the pectoral fins at the gills.

Sport Fishing

Brook Trout are abundant on the Hayes River. We have many master angler fish each year at North Star Resort. It if for this reason that our Hayes River fly fishing is world-renowned.

Sea-Run Brook Trout are probably one of the most aggressive trout species, both in feeding habits and fighting technique. After being hooked a Sea-Run will do whatever it can to break you off. This means long runs through rocks, heavy current, rapids and whatever else it can find. Lengthy fighting times, as we all know, can be fatal for a fish, especially those of trophy size. To eliminate this problem we use a minimum 6-weight combination with a fast tip and a 6 or 8lb leader and tippet. This will able you to keep the fish within a comfortable distance at all times and land the fish within a safe time.

Brook Trout populations are very susceptible to damage by the introduction of exogenous species. In many lakes to which Brook Trout were once native, they have been extirpated by the introduction of other species, particularly percids but sometimes other spiny-rayed fishes.

Because Brook Trout are popular with anglers, fishing for Trout is regulated by most natural resource agencies such as Manitoba Natural Resources. Management may include the use of quotas and length limits to ensure that populations are not over-exploited. At North Star Resort, we adhere strictly to conservation regulations and advocate catch and release fishing to ensure big fish for generations to come.

Reproduction

The fish return upstream to spawn in the late summer or autumn. The female constructs a depression in a location in the stream bed where groundwater percolates upward through the gravel. One or more males approaches the female, fertilising the eggs as the female expresses them. The eggs are slightly more dense than water. The female then buries the eggs in a small gravel mound. The eggs hatch in approximately 100 days.

Habitat

The species normally spends its entire life in fresh water, but some individuals - colloquially called "salters" or "sea run" - spend up to three months at sea in the spring, remaining within a few kilometres of river mouths. Brook Trout prefer cool, clear waters in lakes, rivers, and streams, being sensitive to poor oxygenation.

Feeding Habits

Its diverse diet includes crustaceans, frogs and other amphibians, insects, molluscs, smaller fish, and even small aquatic mammals such as voles. It provides food for seabirds and suffers attack by lampreys.

For more fish in our area, see Northern Pike and Walleye.

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