Quinte Fishing

Recently I was invited on a fishing trip by a friend of mine whose husband owns a hunting and fishing camp about 6 hours north of Montreal. He has a territory with exclusive rights about 100 square KM that includes about 50 lakes and countless rivers and streams. Game species in these include lake trout, speckled, red trout and walleye. Some of these lakes have not been fished in years and some are very difficult to access unless you have a Polaris. He only opens for a handful of regular clients during the season. The trip was amazing and we caught some great fish.

The owner, who’s owed the camp for over 30+ years, told me a story that I found quite interesting. There’s one of his remote lakes that produces amazing 7-10 lb specked trout in the spring up to about mid-June. However, after that, they won’t bite. He marks them on his sonar. They’re in the lake but won’t hit on anything. He’s tried just about everything imaginable including a myriad of flies. In 30 years, he’s never caught a fish there past June. He’s always wondered how this could be. He suspects that they might be vegetarian and eat the vegetation that grows in the summer. I found this pretty strange. Any theories as to what’s going on here?

Don't think I can buy the vegetarian theory but have no idea as to why they wont hit. I would guess their feeding on insect larvae or freshwater shrimp.

Red trout? Or aurora trout?

In Canada, the vast majority of Quebec Red Trout is concentrated in the Province of Quebec. The Quebec Red Trout is a distinctive first cousin of the Eastern Brook Trout or Speckled Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis). It is a rare colour phase of the Speckled Trout usually found in high mountain lakes and streams. This Speckled beauty has distinctive orange markings that rise above the lateral line as well as the red dots with the blue halo, which are also above this line.

In Canada, many anglers confuse the Arctic Char with the Quebec Red Trout. Although the Quebec Red Trout is a member of the Char family, it does not enter salt or brackish seawater to feed. Much like the Char, the Quebec Red Trout turns a brilliant red-orange colour in the fall during spawning, but is also retains this amazing colour throughout the year, unlike its cousin the Speckled Trout.

Although my recent Brook Trout trip(Central Ontario) didn't produce so much as a sign there were fish in the lake,I have caught them mid summer....ALTHOUGH...my favorite time is the fall....always have a trip planned for Sept 30 every year.....as for
" Reds"... if its seperate,or a Landlocked Char,or Brook Trout ,...I thought the following post was interesting,note the fish in these pictures,...are not brilliant red throughout the year?(PERHAPS THEY ARE FEMALE?)
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14437

Here's one I caught in one of the other lakes at this outfitter.

Nice looking fish,the markings are quite intense, and very well distributed

That's very interesting. I always thought out west had the most trout species, ie, golden, cut throat, bull trout etc. Maybe I'm wrong? Thanks for sharing.

We caught (and released) so many like this one...most in the 5Lb to 7lb range. The colours are incredibly vibrant. These are all natural, not stocked lakes too.

That is a beautiful trout Rickmeister.

With the trout not biting I've seen it often. I fish white lake / marathon area once a year for specks, biggest I've ever seen but after 2nd week in June there is no point. Up there it's just the water temp, they are there but won't hit anything during the day in the heat.

Looks like an amazing trip, I've done the aurora trip 3 times but never gone easy for reds. Hope to next year

One idea might be to think scud or chironomid.

I have not heard of a red trout outside of Quebec. The one place that is purported to have a once stocked location is called Block Lake if I recall correctly in Banff National Park.

As for golden trout, think Baranaby Ridge, Corral, Rainy, Michelle. That is it as far as I know; these were the result of golden trout brought in from the Kern River basin in the late 1950's, with the first stocking being in Barnaby if I remember right. All other locations stocked have failed to date as my understanding, with brood stock from one lake supplying fingerlings for most of the lakes listed.

Other unique strains do exist in western Canada, be it the small Athabascan rainbows (only rainbows naturally occuring on the east side of the Rockies they used to say). There are also westslope cutthroat trout, brown trout (no searun to that I hear about) searun cutthroat trout, a few strains of rainbows (Pennask, Blackwater?, etc), bull trout in both fresh and saltwater strains, lakers, dollys (there are some interesting discussion if these and bull trout are the same). Note- trout and char are lumped in together here.

I fished with a gentleman a few times from Calgary, that had a rec room with many outstanding examples of the various trout, char from many parts of North America, with a blueback, apache, aurora being amongst them. I have fished for a few, but have never came close to this fellow, who I lost touch with, having had to move with work.

I like my trout be it at home in Ontario or in western Canada.

Napanee

Well, let me comment on this since I think I know what's going on here. You've been catching speckled trout, not Quebec Reds.

And Quebec Reds are indeed landlocked arctic char Salvelinus alpinus ssp. oquassa, not "close relatives" of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis. They do inhabit lakes in Quebec but are also found in the New England states, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Thus the reason they are sometimes called Canadian Red Trout, much to the dismay of Quebecers, who liken them to a Quebec nationalistic icon.

Anybody who calls a speckled trout a red trout is a newcomer to the fishery. Even some Quebec outfitters are complicit with the deception since their livelihood depends on offering this exotic fish species. Who are clients to differ.

Here's spring 2015's catch of landlocked arctic char aka Quebec Red Trout in western Quebec. Springtime fish do not exhibit typical fall spawning colouration.

http://www.fish-hawk.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47567

Or, Google it.

Maple

_________________
So many fish. So little time.

Maple

It sure looked like a specked trout to me but the owner of the camp referred to it as a "red trout". Frankly, I had never even heard the term red trout before that. Here's another pic.

In those dog days of summer the pine trees let off pollen and sap then it rains and runs in to the lakes this puts fish in a let's say a sleepy sort of state if u do get a fish they don't fight hard and are normally quite slimy.a family member of mine is a ranger in Algonquin park and is very involved with the stalking and counting of trout we talked about this last summer talking about why back lake trout lakes slow down in July and August. So all that said if there is alot of pine and spruce around this lake in Quebec
That's possibly why they won't bite. Heading for Quebec in 3 weeks can't wait