Difference in trout?

adventure · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 7:49 am

We caught a few trout on the weekend out from Wellington and was wondering why such a difference in shape of the two rainbows. Neither fish had clipped fins, both were 21" long, the thin one weighed 4lb and the little tank weighed 6lb. The 4 lb came off a flatliner in 140 f.o.w. and the 6 lb came off wire line in about 60 f.o.w. We caught a 5lb brown as well that was shaped like the 6lb and it did have a clipped fin. I was wondering if maybe the 6lb missed getting clipped and the 4lb was a native trout...
Any thoughts?

adventure · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:58 am

I always thought a steelhead is a rainbow trout that migrates to a larger body of water (IE. Pacific ocean in B.C. or Lake Ontario here) and a rainbow trout stays in it's native stream. As both were caught in Lake Ontario would that not make them both steelhead...

DanElliot · **Joined:** Mon Apr 08, 2002 8:59 am **Posts:** 4324

I dont know the answer but quite the difference between the 2 Wonder is the smaller one is sick maybe?

adventure · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 12:50 pm

It sure didn't look sick, nor did it taste it after it was cooked up with the usual butter, onions, garlic, lemon juice and a pouch of apple chips smoking away on the BBQ...

zslnk · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 5:03 pm

Because one is a salmon? Black mouth? Salmon have rainbow colours to the body but have a more 'aggressive' mouth that is black inside.

adventure · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:38 pm

I thought the skinny one was an Atlantic salmon at first, but it checked out, white mouth and spots on tail, Atlantic salmon don't have spots on the tail.
Everything I read on the difference between steelhead and Rainbow trout is they are the same fish, but one migrates from it's native stream to the sea water or in our case, Lake Ontario.
I was thinking the chubby one was a stocked fish as it had the same football shape as the brown trout with the clipped fin and the skinny one was natural.

West Lake Willows · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:00 pm

Congratulations on getting some fish out in the Big Lake. Good Work!! Gotta love trout on the bbq. MMMM MMMMM Good!!

Crazy to see the difference in shape in them. The short guy certainly had a brown trout shape, but from the picture it does look like a rainbow by the colours, although it isn't real clear. Are you sure it was a rainbow? I think there are variations in size and shape just like in humans. Is a wierd looking Rainbow though.

As for the Rainbow vs. Steelhead. There is essentially no physical difference (sometimes a little colour variation) between a Rainbow and a Steelhead. They are the same species. A Steelhead is a rainbow trout that migrates out of a stream and into a big lake or ocean for 2 or 3 years until it matures and then returns to a stream to spawn. A rainbow trout "land locked" and does not migrate out to a big body of water to mature.

Any Rainbow caught in Lake Ontario is a steelhead, but its still a rainbow. :lol:

Scott

adventure · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 9:40 pm

Thanks Scott,
We saw you out there last Tuesday I think it was. Nice boat and clearly it handled the waves well. You posted you got a brown same day I got mine.
That was my first brown from the lake. My son caught his first trout from the lake which was the chubby guy, and my cousin visiting from England caught his first skinny Canadian trout both on Sunday. Thanks to our friend in Wellington at the tackle shop for some great help.
As for the fish, no question on the chubby guy, the pink lateral line was clearly visible. I would have thought the skinny one was an Atlantic salmon just because it didn't look like a trout to me somehow. But, the identification said the Atlantic had no spots on the tail, and this one clearly did. It had a pure white mouth so no chinook or coho there. Definitely not a Laker or Brown. I guess I could just chaulk it up to simply being different and that's it, but the brown with the clipped fin shape keeps me thinking he was stocked and the same shape as the rainbow.
No thoughts on the stocked fish vs natural fish?

West Lake Willows · **Posted:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:07 pm

If you see me on the water again wave or give me a call on ch71. Feel free to swing over for a hot coffee. I usually have a pot on and I don't mind passing a cup over. LOL.

I don't think a stocked fish would have a significantly different shape then a natural fish. I don't think we stock a lot of rainbows in this area, although I have caught many clipped bows here. They used to clip the right pectoral if it was stocked in Ontario and the left if it was a NY fish (or vice versa). I have caught both. They don't do that anymore and just clip the adipose fin. In order to track the stocked fish better they are now putting little identification tag on some of the fish. I'm not the best to speak on the stocking programs though. I'll send an email to Al Vandusen (Trannyman) he has a passion for the Lake Ontario fishery and has done a tremendous amount of work towards it. He knows the numbers of stocked fish off the top of his head.

Scott

polliwog · **Joined:** Thu May 01, 2008 9:12 pm **Posts:** 160

Is that what they call a ....I'll spell it wrong for sure...a skimainnian rainbow. I got one off Nicholson and it tail walked about 50 feet, real long fish and scrappy, but dead in 60 seconds once in the boat because it fights so hard.

matdbz29 · **Joined:** Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:51 am **Posts:** 649

could be a male/female thing. the one looks like a skinny male..

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Difference in trout?

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