ID Please

[Jon Warrener]

I caught this fish while grayling fishing at the end of Feb. From a midland river that definitely has a run of salmon and sea trout.

It looks nothing like any other brownie I've had from the river. They are all dark fish with yellow bellies and big red spots with white rings. This one as you can see is a very different colour. As soon as I saw it I noticed it looked different. So is it or isn't it? (A sea trout, that is) And is the a definitive way to identify a sea trout from a brownie?

 

[The Monk]

my understanding is that sea trout are basically brown trout that have gone to sea (adapted to the migratory variety), trout produce many different genetic phenotypes,

 

[Jon Warrener]

Thanks Monk - but I already knew that - what I don't know is what I caught is a common-or-garden brown trout or a brown trout that has been to sea and is therefore a sea trout. I was kinda hoping someone might be able to make an educated identification from my photo.

 

[Neil Maidment]

I reckon it's a seatrout, they can varyin colouration quite a lot especially if they've been in the river for a while. Here's a goodcomparison from the same swim on the same day from the Itchen:

 

[S-Kippy]

Very good comparison shots Neil but I'm not so sure.

I've seen [and caught] some very silver brownies that I'd have loved to have been sea trout but somehow I just knew they weren't.Colours no reliable guide as your shots show and that can vary enormously 1] anyway and 2] depending on the time of year.

In my own experience I've never had any doubt aboutthe sea trout I've caught.You just know in much the same way as you can tell a true roach.

Skippy

 

[Jon Warrener]

If it helps, every other trout I've ever caught from the river has been coloured like this one:

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

I would say sea trout. They tend to look a little leaner with larger fins than the resident trout. Must say that one as some lovely colours.

 

[PHIL FROGGATT]

YES IT LOOKS LIKE A SEA TROUT AND BROWN ARE MUCH DARKER NICE FISH ME NEVER CAUGHT ONE BUT A FRIEND HAD ONE IN SHETLAND LAST YEAR A THEY FIGHT HARD....

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Phil turn your caps of.

Capitals in forums indicate shooting.

And welcome to FM

 

[Jon Warrener]

Shooting!!! Also shouting /forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

Don't know if you can tell from the picture but it seemed very empty bellied. Looked like it was spawned out so it had accomplished its mission after its long journey.

Both me and my fishing partner felt it was a sea trout mainly because it looks so completely different to all the other brownies we've had from there but neither of us are experts (I've only ever seen sea trout on telly before)so I thought I would try and seek the opinions of those with more knowledge than us.

 

[Bryan Baron 2]

Sorry for that mate did mean shouting.

 

[S-Kippy]

Jon

Could be...the shape looks right but the yellowy fins dont.It could be a sewin that's been "in" for a while....or a "slob" trout if you're on the lower reaches.Hard to tell with the smaller fish unless they are very fresh...once they get a bit bigger there's really no mistaking them.

But you know your river and its fish best and its clearly different to the norm and that's good enough for me.

Sea Trout.

Skippy

 

[Jon Warrener]

Thanks for all the replies, they are all very much appreciated.

Skippy, you are right about it being in for a while. The river in question is a Trent tributary and so a long way from the sea - which rules out the slob trout.

Ironically enough a few weeks previously the bailiff was talking to me about the salmon and spawning redds that have been observed in the stretch, I asked him if sea trout got up there as well as the salmonand he said yes, but they can be hard to identify because they can be coloured by the time they get up here, and while this fish might be more coloured than a fresh run fish, it is still fairly silvery, so I'll accept the general consensus that it is a sea trout.

/forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

 

[S-Kippy]

Jon

Yep...works for me and all sea trout count double.

Skippy

 

[Neil Maidment]

Also, great choice of reel......................

......................... also caught while fishing for grayling. /forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

 

[S-Kippy]

That's definately not a sea trout !

 

[Gav Barbus]

Would the consensus be that it is a sea trout?

 

[Mark Wintle]

I've had 'silvery' trout in winter that are a variation of the brown trout that are much more coloured - red spots etc. Part of the problem is that true, unaltered, genetically pure, brown trout are virtually unheard of in many English catchments. There have been too many stockings, often of Leven fish, which dilutes the local races a great deal, so that you may get some variation in type even in brown trout.

There is only one way to prove a sea trout which is the testing for a caesium isotope that is present only in fish that have been to sea.

Interestingly, on the thread about very big river brown trout I mentioned John Searl's Avon trout. I've seen the stuffed (and painted) fish which of course look like brown trout but the picture in his book looks more like a seatrout (silvery) which makes me wonder...

 

[Bob Paulley]

Just to do my Devil's Advocacy!

The major ID difference between Sea Trout and Salmon is in the "wrist" of the tail.

A salmon has a wrist. A trout does not.

........... Now I am looking at the photo........... and do I detect a wrist?............

/forum/smilies/devil_smiley.gif

 

[Jon Warrener]

There is a slight wrist but it would be much more pronounced in a salmon. The head is more pointed in a salmon, the upper jaw is shorter in relation to the eye position and salmon has very few spots below the lateral line.

Thanks Bob but I checked that out as soon as I caught it!

Nota salmon. /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif