Splake are a hybrid trout resulting from the cross of brook trout and lake trout.Splake have been culturally produced since the 1870's.This hybrid trout is genetically stable and capable of reproducing.
Small vacation lake here in ny, in the very south adirondacks.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula(Iron Mountain) Posts: 4,742. However Im not too framiliar with colors during their spawning.Lakers have “wormlike” markings, Splake have more dots.Tail on lakers is a bit more forked, Splake not quite as much. The thumbnails below link to larger photos. Guess I needed Toms blades!!
caught a few lakers in the past, this fish was a dark brown. Very few fish are stocked for the purpose of creating wild populations.Maine currently has approximately 53 waters managed primarily for splake. Splake are a cross between Lake Trout and Brook Trout. Fourteen of these waters are in the General Management category, 29 are in the Quality Management category, and 10 are in the Trophy Management category. It was part of a comparative study between brook trout, rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, and splake. next Oct I’m gonna head back up after the bugs go away! Quote: Nice fish either way!
former home of ny state record laker way way back. I had 5 days off last week,(not my choice) got 2 days fishing in between Volleyball games. I would even guess male. Splake have more of a brookie tail, by no means an expert on splake tho- nice fish by the way!! Definately a Lake Trout…One of the Splake features is a “square” tail. I live on a rather small lake that is stocked annually with 2,500 to 3,000 splake.
Redfin lakers can have the same bright fin colors in the fall, but I haven’t seen any with that much white. In 1990, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began a pilot program to determine if splake could provide acceptable fisheries in waters where stocked brook trout had failed.In one study water, stocked brook trout rarely survived beyond age 1 and returns to the anglers were in the 2-8% range. Tail shape is one of the better indicators of which one you have caught. All my moneyis on lake trout. Splake tend to have a slight fork in the tail, a trait passed down from its lake trout parent, while brook trout tend to have no fork or "square" tails. I marked alot of fish near the bottom in 35-40 feet but couldn’t get them to hit a drop shot.
They rarely feed on other coldwater gamefish.This hatchery fish also provides expanded fall fishing opportunities in many lakes and ponds around the State.The Maine State Record splake was caught in Basin Pond by Dan Paquette. They start eating other fish much earlier than natural Trout species and grow much more quickly as a result. Those fish up north are very dark at times just like the one you have there. I tried for years… this one hit a rattletrap on a rocky point. In 1958, splake were stocked in Long Pond in T10 SD, Washington County. Since the introduction of smelts the population of brook trout has been declining.This hybrid trout is easy to catch and provides excellent winter fishing opportunity. Nice fish.To me it looks like a laker- it may be the pic, or angle, but the fish looks to have the deeper forked tail of a laker. Fish was very dark brown. Because of this, they have earned the sinister nickname “Wendigo Trout” after the ravenous beast of Algonquian folklore. Noboby fishes this lake in the fall, next year I’m gonna try more!I don’t think Splake get overly huge so I’ll take a shot at it being a Splake because of the spots and the predominate white and red leading edges of the fins. However, splake reproduction has never been documented outside of the hatchery environment.Splake are commonly stocked across the northern United States and throughout Canada for the purpose of providing fishing opportunity.
The lake is not fished heavily except for loons, osprey, mink, and otters. -Mark Bruzek beat me to it. I’m gonna add too that this lake was a very dark brown clear mountain lake. These fish are stocked in waters where there is insufficient spawning habitat.
I don't know anyone who has success catching splake...for that matter even finding splake during the summer.