Fly fishing
salmonidae
Trout 'N' About
Created by Joshua Maitland
T 'N' A
Target Species
Sea Trout ( morpha trutta)
The sea Trout is a migratory Brown Trout which migrates to sea much like the salmon to faten itself up. Sea Trout can exceed 30lb ( 13.61kg), this is due to the bountiful sea feeding. At sea the fish feed on: sprats, sandeels, young herring, other small bait fish, crabs, shrimps and prawns. The Sea trout undergoes the same process as the Atlantic Salmon( life cyle of salmon below). Sea Trout spend 2-4 years at sea gorging themselves, then return to spawn to their place of birth in rivers and and streams.
Atlantic Salmon ( salmo salar)
The Atlantic Salmon is 'King' of all freshwater game fish. Much like its counter parts the Sea Trout , they under go a life cyle process, which involves them migrating and returning to and from the sea.
After the fertillised eggs turn into eyed ova and hatch they then become Alevins. At this stage they feed from a temporary food store called the yolk sac. When they have used up this small supply of energy they lose the yolk sac and become fry. When at the fry stage they feed independantly. eating minute sized water inverterbrates. they can be around 3-4 inches. After this, they then become Salmon Parr where they can grow between 4-5/6 inches. At this stage in the cycle they feed on water born and land born insects. When the Salmon parr loses its markings this is a process known as 'smolting'. The fish becomes a bar of silver to help it camouflage in the sea. They can be anything from 15cm upwards. At this age and stage the Salmon Smolt
makes its way down the river, into the estuary and out to sea. The Salmon smolt will feed at sea from 1-4 years on sandeels. sprats, young herring, shrimps and prawns. Salmon returning after 1 year at sea are know known as Grillse, Grillse returning in may can be 2-4lb, fish retuning in july 5-8 lbs. The Autumn fish returing in september/ october can range from 9lb- 15lb depending on availabilty of food at sea. Salmon who hold off and remain at sea for 4 years can exceed 20lb- 90lb when given the chance. Fish that return to sea and run rivers rythmically can exceed grand sizes of 90lb ( very rare).This is a painstaking process.
Life Cycle of Salmon at bottom of page
Target Species
Tiger Trout (Salmo trutta X Salvelinus fontinalis)
The Tiger Trout is an intergenetic hybrid as a result from cross breeding a female Brown Trout and a male Brook Trout. The name comes from the tiger like stripe colouration. The Tiger Trout is a phenomenon in the wild and rarely occurs naturally. Hatchery's can now artificially produce this fish. This can be achieved by fertilizing brown trout eggs with brook trout milt and heat shocking them, which causes creation of an extra set of chromosomes and increases survival from 5% to 85%
Golden Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita)
The golden trout is a native sub species of the californian rainbow trout. The golden trout is commonly found at elevations from 6,890 feet (2,100 m) to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level, and is native only to California's southern Sierra Nevada mountains. Golden Trout can produced by Hatchery's which breed the fish at high alttitide. straining the eggs in sunlight. Native Golden Trout can be located in small creeks and streams in calafornia.Yellow phenotypes are caused by defects in the synthesis of melanin, the pathway of which is complex and not yet completely understood.
Blue Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum)
The Blue Trout is a variation of the Rainbow Trout.In blue variants, the iridescent blue colouration of the body is not caused by a chemical pigment but by a Tyndall scattering of incident light, resulting from the structural arrangement of integumental pigments. Blue Trout are successfully reared by Hatchery's throughout the world. They are then stocked to suitable enviroments like fishery's.
Arctic Char(Salvelinus alpinus )
The Arctic Char is a cold water species belonging to the Salmonid family.It breeds in fresh water, some populations can be landlocked or anadromous( migrating). The Char can reach weights of 20 lb (9.1 kg) or more in exeptional circumstances where the surrounding environment is perfect, and most favoured by the fish. Char can be found in deep, very cold lakes and Lochs from; canada, the U.S.A, scandanavia and a handful of european countries such as homeland Scotland in cold mountain lochs. They can also be found in cold water streams where they can migrate to and from the sea to feed on rich foods where they can reach exeptional sizes.
