The Colorful Brook Trout Makes an Easy Catch
The brook trout is one of the most popular game fish in Canada. Brook trout can be fished by artificial fly, spin casting or live bait. The average length of this trout is about a foot, but brook trout can be caught measuring up to two feet and weighing around five to six pounds. The largest brook trout on record was caught in 1916 in the Nipigon River in Ontario; it weighed in at 14.5 pounds!
The brook trout has also been known as , aurora trout, brookie, square-tail, speckled char, sea trout, common brook trout, mud trout, and brea.
The brook trout is native to the northern part of North America and is found mostly in clear, cool, well-oxygenated streams and lakes. They are colorful with a pattern of white spots on a dark background and worm-shaped markings on their upper side. Typical coloring is olive-green to dark brown on the back with silvery sides and pale spotting. Their fins have brilliant white front edges and the tail is slightly forked. Also, breeding brook trout males develop a hook at the front of the lower jaw and all colors are intensified at spawning time.
Brook trout spawn in late summer or autumn, peaking in late October and early November. They tend to spawn in gravel beds, typically found in shallow water at the heads of streams. The female will lay anywhere from 100 to 5,000 eggs which will hatch in about two to three months. The life expectancy of this trout is about five years.
Brook trout feed mostly on aquatic and terrestrial insects, and larger ones will eat small fish if they are available. The brook trout is an easy catch, especially in the early spring or late fall when cold water temperatures keep the fish very active. The type of bait used for this variety of trout is usually wet flies, small spinning lures and worms.
With the right information in hand, anyone can set out to catch a brook trout!
