Sea Trout I.d ?

[Mald]

Hi Guys

 

1st let me say i'm not a fly fisherman but I catch my fair share of game fish when chasing chub and Barbel and basically I just wanted to know how to I.d a sea trout and tell the differance from a brown trout.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[Guest franticfisherman2]

This is sometimes very difficult since a seatrout is only a brown trout that has gone to sea and then returned to the river. Perhaps some river anglers here have a few photos................

[salmo6934]

Hi Guys

 

1st let me say i'm not a fly fisherman but I catch my fair share of game fish when chasing chub and Barbel and basically I just wanted to know how to I.d a sea trout and tell the differance from a brown trout.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

 

You would have to study the scales. It's a long time since I was shown how.

What I remember is, the scale has growing lines on it (like a tree), with a brown trout I would imagine the gap between the line will be fairly regular, whereas when the seatrout goes to sea, the gap will increase as it will have been feeding on richer food. It's also a way of telling how often it as spawned.

[Tog]

Sea trout / brown trout are the same fish.

Sea trout like to go on holidays most spring and summer and come back home for the winter.

The main difference is that a sea trout is much more silvery than a brown - almost rainbow silver.

In fact many mistake a sea trout for a rainbow.

A good test is the tail fin which will be very triangular with no curve and stiffer than a std browns or rainbow but not hard like a Salmons. (you can just about 'tail' a sea trout whereas a Salmon is easy to lift)

Salmon dont have as many spots and those that are 'spotty' have a 'star' to the spot which trout do not, their tail has a curve.

Last: Sea Trout taste better than Salmon & std Trout.

More info.

http://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/salmon_...ecognition.html

[salmo6934]

Sea trout / brown trout are the same fish.

Sea trout like to go on holidays most spring and summer and come back home for the winter.

The main difference is that a sea trout is much more silvery than a brown - almost rainbow silver.

In fact many mistake a sea trout for a rainbow.

A good test is the tail fin which will be very triangular with no curve and stiffer than a std browns or rainbow but not hard like a Salmons. (you can just about 'tail' a sea trout whereas a Salmon is easy to lift)

Salmon dont have as many spots and those that are 'spotty' have a 'star' to the spot which trout do not, their tail has a curve.

Last: Sea Trout taste better than Salmon & std Trout.

More info.

http://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/salmon_...ecognition.html

 

Thats the first time I have heard that (In fact many mistake a sea trout for a rainbow) apart from the colour the rainbow has spots on its tail. some of the brownies in Loch Leven used to look more like sea trout (bright silver)

Trying to tell a sea trout from a salmon is another matter.

[Mald]

Glad to see I wasn't just being daft then, it is quite subtle i.d-ing one !!

 

Thanks for all the replies.

[Sewinman]

You would have to study the scales. It's a long time since I was shown how.

What I remember is, the scale has growing lines on it (like a tree), with a brown trout I would imagine the gap between the line will be fairly regular, whereas when the seatrout goes to sea, the gap will increase as it will have been feeding on richer food. It's also a way of telling how often it as spawned.

 

 

A sea trout will be more silver and generally less spotty. They tend to lack the golden colour on their stomach and have no red spots. They are also generally bigger. To confuse matters some of them stay in the river and revert to normal markings.

 

Sea Trout

 

 

Brown trout

 

[Vagabond]

As sewinman's excellent pictures show, experienced anglers should have no difficulty in identifying a typical sea trout, or a typical brown trout, and telling the two apart. The same applies to identifying a typical salmon and distinguishing it from seatrout.

 

....however, the trouble IS that fish are variable creatures and (especially trout) come in a range of colours, silveriness and spottiness, depending very much on their environment. Some rivers, particularly in Western Scotland, Wales and Ireland hold populations of brown trout, sea trout, and what are called "estuarine trout" or "slob trout".

 

"Slob trout" are those brown trout that have only made a half-hearted attempt to go on their holidays and have just dropped down to the brackish part of the river. As one might expect, they tend to look a bit like something halfway between a typical seatrout and a typical brown for that river.

 

The local experienced anglers will know them well, but the casual vistor might have some difficulty in knowing what they are.

 

All a bit academic - until someone with a brown trout licence decides to take a "silvery-looking brownie" for the pot and then encounters a bailiff who identifies it as a "seatrout" - which could lead to a court appearance and a massive fine.

 

BTW There are two ways of avoiding this problem in England and Wales - either return all salmonids, or (as I do) buy both licences ie brown trout/coarse fish and sea trout/salmon. (that still entitles you to fish up to four rods for coarse fish)

 

I wonder what the legal definitions (as opposed to biological definitions) of "brown trout" and "sea trout" are? Given that an "expert witness" (ie a qualified ichthyologist) could be produced to testify they are one and the same species.

 

Even evoking the scale readings could be dodgy - whilst several months of sea feeding will readily show up, what might one expect from just a few weeks in the upper estuary ?

 

The matter is not always black or white, but a series of shades of grey - or in this case of silver

[Colin Brett]

Slightly off the subject, but,

Salmon have a Concave tail fin and trout [sea or otherwise] have straight tail fin.

 

Colin

[greg long]

Slightly off the subject, but,

Salmon have a Concave tail fin and trout [sea or otherwise] have straight tail fin.

 

Colin

 

Salmon also have a wrist at the tail....try tailing a seatrout.lol.

 

 

 

 

and not all browns arebrown, this silver fish is a wild brownie.

Edited December 21, 2005 by greg long