The Brook Trout
(Salvelinus fontinalis)
HISTORICAL
To every angler living east of the Rockies the word "trout" signifies the eastern brook trout - the little charr of the fountains. This is the trout of song and story so far as America is concerned and he deserves all the praise and admiration he has received.
The first settlers of New England were quick to discover the "troute" in the brooks but the scientific history of the fish is disappointing. Dr. Bethune, writing in 1847, said: "The history of the trout and salmon is as yet very obscure, especially in this country. Dr. De Kay describes but three species of salmon and two of trout." Even to this day there is disagreement as to the exact scientific status of certain species and subspecies. This confusion is not surprising to any one acquainted with the variations met with in the salmon family.
RANGE
"The Manual of Fish Culture" of the United States Department of Fisheries says: "The natural range of the brook trout in the United States is from Maine to Georgia and westward through the Great Lakes region to Minnesota, and in Canada from Labrador to the Saskatchewan. Owing to its hardy nature and ability to adapt itself to new surroundings it may be successfully transplanted into streams and has been extensively introduced into waters in which it is not native; in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, many of the waters of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast, the eastern states and the creeks and rivers of the Alleghany range of mountains."
DESCRIPTION
No artist can paint nor writer describe adequately the beauties of a freshly caught brook trout. As the old fashioned advertisements say, he "must be seen to be appreciated"
In form the brook trout up to two or three pounds is the ideal fish - trim and neat. Larger specimens become aldermanic, with cruel looking, undershot jaws.
The eye is placed high in the head as one would expect of a fish that might be called "insectivorous."
In coloration the brook trout is truly a thing of beauty. A recently caught male fish of fifteen ounces lies before me as I write. Looking down on the back it appears to be purplish in color, the lighter vermicula-tions or worm marks mottling the back almost like the so-called mackerel sky; the dorsal fin is similarly marked. The sides, in the middle, are covered with spots much lighter than the green-gray ground color. Many of these spots - seemingly haphazardly - are themselves decorated with tiny dots of brilliant red, most of these red spots being below the distinct median line and none of them behind the anterior end of the anal fin. The tail fin is mottled red, bordered with black. The belly is light colored with just a suggestion of pink and azure, the tiny scales giving it a silken sheen, most beautiful to behold. The lower fins are red, slightly flecked with dark spots and with a black and white edging.
Male fishes always carry more red than females and are most gorgeously colored during the breeding season. The environment has much to do with coloration. I have taken fish above a dam in dead water with muck bottom that were velvety black on the back and much darker throughout; below the same dam, where the bottom is sand and gravel, I have taken fish so much lighter and brilliant that a novice would be tempted to believe them of a different species; from a deep lake I have taken brook trout that were almost azure, dusted with bronze flecks, and sea run trout are silvery white.
Click here to learn more about the brook trout
Other fish:
The rainbow trout
The brown trout
Other trout
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