What Fish is this ?

Chars routinely cross with trout - Brook/Brown for example.

Not impossible but definitely not routinely? Maybe in a lab but most definitely not in nature.

Birds and the bees say - it's just sperm and an egg.

That and brook trout and brown trout have a different number of chromosomes. Even in a lab it's not an easy process. The milt must be artificially heated and even then, egg survival is low. If it were routine, Alberta would be crawling with tiger trout. To my knowledge, we have none.

What so many people identify as crosses (hybrids) are really just colour variations. Hybridization in char is extremely rare in nature and from what I've read, non-existent between bulls and lakers.

Originally Posted by Pierre

Kyle McNeilly also wrote this on the old flyfishalberta forum back in 2005

“and BTW, ALL char X char hybrids are fertile, as are all Western trout X Western Trout crosses - RB X CT, CT X Golden, RB X Apache, whatever, all of ‘em are fertile – that’s why we have hybridization problems everywhere. It’s only the Char X trout crosses that are mules, as in the tiger trout – Brookie X Brown for example” – end quote

Yes, but natural reproduction of the char hybrids is very low....virtually non existent in most water bodies.

[fishing_flower]

Still say Dolly Varden BC has them, I've caught them out there in Windermere Lake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Varden_trout

[FisherPotch]

Ima have to get me a copy of that book. I never new that tr X tr crosses were fertile. I've wanted to catch the brook/brown char/trout cross ever since I learned of there existance, they are a very cool looking fish.

[McLeod]

head to Saskatchewan or better yet Manitoba.

[Map Maker]

here is kyles pic


I remembered this one i caught was similar.

I also remember when i caught it, i wasnt 100% sure if it was a laker or a bull, but now that i see the pic it seems pretty clear. The head compared to the body is quite small though and very similar ratio to kyles fish.

[Cal]

Head to body ratio on any given species can fluctuate between different lakes and the amount of food that is availible. Not realy a good way of identifying fish I would think.

BTW fisher potch, with an outburst like that it doesnt even matter what your arguing or if your right or wrong, you lost all credibility... and I'm not having trouble seeing the markings on the dorsal.

[bobbypetrolia]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

I beg to differ. The red colouring on the fins indicate char/brookie.
I bet i know the area this fish is from. I do have a picture of one recently i caught, but i havent developed the film yet. Ill try to get the pic up soon.

I think it is a laker and crossbred with char/brookie thoough it gene history.

Red coloring on the fins does not mean it is char, brookie, char/brookie cross, bull/brook/laker hybrid or any such combination. Lakers get red fins. Bright red fins, actually. The fins of lakers can be yellow, grey, white, black, red, brown, orange.......and everything inbetween. And, yes I have proof.


Red. Bright red. 100% Lake Trout.


yellow. Still a Laker.

white/grey.......still a Laker.
And so is the one in the original pic on the original post.

[McLeod]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

here is kyles pic


I remembered this one i caught was similar.

I also remember when i caught it, i wasnt 100% sure if it was a laker or a bull, but now that i see the pic it seems pretty clear. The head compared to the body is quite small though and very similar ratio to kyles fish.

I am not sure who Kyle is but do you have a second picture of your fish
Mapmaker ?

[Map Maker]

wow amazing fish there bobby.

I ve never seen lakers coloured like that. good to know.

I guess colouring has alot to do with environment. Do you know if those bright red fins lakers are native to that lake?


sorry mcleod, I thought your nickname was kyle when i typed the message.
I dont have a second picture of fish.

[bobbypetrolia]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

wow amazing fish there bobby.

I ve never seen lakers coloured like that. good to know.

I guess colouring has alot to do with environment. Do you know if those bright red fins lakers are native to that lake?


sorry mcleod, I thought your nickname was kyle when i typed the message.
I dont have a second picture of fish.

Hey Map;
I don't believe the coloring has alot to do with environmental factors....I believe its more of a gene trait thing....like black bears color phases (bad example, I know, but 1st thing that came to mind). I've actually been told the fin coloration and markings were due to different subspecies of trout, but I'm not sold on this. I do know that the really yellow-finned ones are rare, followed by the orange. I know the grey/white finned ones grow to the largest size, and the red finned ones were males during the fall spawn.
The red-finned ones were native; I've seen them in northern Sask and the pics were from a fly-in lake in the Yukon. I actually have a couple pics of a jet-black finned Laker too. I always thought it was neat to see all the different colors/markings of the same (species of) fish.

[ESOXangler]

its probably a flux capacitor and if you get it up to 88 miles an hour you'll be able to go back in time to the 50's. but a word of caution your mom might try to kiss you.

[Cal]

Out of zama and a few other lakes the lakers get really dark almost black, always thought it was an environmental factor. Never done a tone of laker fishing myself so let the heckling begin but... a couple guys I work with said that when you catch those realy dark fish in the winter you can notice that they leave some color in the snow like burbot sometimes do, sort of like the slime itself picks up a bit of color. Maby one of you experts could shed some light on this statement.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

I beg to differ. The red colouring on the fins indicate char/brookie.
I bet i know the area this fish is from. I do have a picture of one recently i caught, but i havent developed the film yet. Ill try to get the pic up soon.

I think it is a laker and crossbred with char/brookie thoough it gene history.

Film? People still use that stuff?

The only trout experience I have is a couple little brookies I caught a number of years ago, so I don't really have much to add to the ID portion of this topic.

All I can really say is wow...just wow. It's amazing how quick some things can get out of hand, and how minor those things can start out...

Can't we all just get along?

[baitfisher83]

Originally Posted by ESOXangler

its probably a flux capacitor and if you get it up to 88 miles an hour you'll be able to go back in time to the 50's. but a word of caution your mom might try to kiss you.

[1/2 oz Bucktail]

Nobody threw in the idea of a Spar?

I do a ton of bull trout fishing here in Grande Cache and the fish in question does not look anything like the Bulls up here. That being said I have never caught a bull from a lake.

The maxila of the fish in question does not, in my opinion extended far enough past the eye to indicate a Bull. Also the overall shape of the head does not suggest a bull trout either.

As for the comment that the Lake does not contain Lakers, a large Brown trout was caught in Dolberg this year (a lake that does not contain browns) so anything is possible.

For Fisherpotch: I do not mean any disrespect at all. As you catch more and more individuals of a species you will come to a point where there is no way that you will mistake one species for another. The only time that I have noticed char to be very simmilar is when they are juvies, once they reach adulthood the individual species morphology begin to show.

Potch, if you ever plan to come up north of Rock Lake, shoot me a pm and we will hammer a pile of big bulls. After catching a few you too will reach the decision that the fish in question is definately not a bull.

Also I do not know if this will get me any more credibility but, I have a university degree in Environmental and Conservation Sciences with numerous cl***** in fish and wildlife, and advanced fish and wildlife identification.

[1/2 oz Bucktail]

Here is a Bull. Doesn't really look like the fish in question.

[pontooner]

.

[pontooner]

Originally Posted by 1/2 oz Bucktail

Here is a Bull. Doesn't really look like the fish in question.

looks the same just a little darker.i might be wrong.