Is this a sea trout?

[Anderoo]

Following on from my final day post on another topic, could the identification experts on the forum please tell me if this fish is a sea trout:

 

 

 

 

Caught yesterday from the upper Thames on a little bit of bread flake and spent most of the fight leaping clear of the river! I've had the odd brownie from the Thames before but this looked different. If it is a sea trout it's my first, and therefore a PB by default

 

 

 

[Chris Plumb]

Funny you should post that - I caught a very similar looking fish of 3lb on Thursday - I too though sea trout - but mine was from the canal (!) heck of a journey from the sea!

 

C.

[chesters1]

I only ever caught one in the river at iden lock unfortunately 45 years ago so i cannot remember what it looked like but i saw a coypu the same day ,any coypus they maybe related

[Mat Hillman]

I'm no expert, having caught the grand total of one sea trout (on bread by accident) but it looks like one to me!

 

Mat

[Vagabond]

Deffo trout and not salmon.

 

Evidence :-

 

Adipose fin lateral count about 13 or 14 (salmon would be 10 to 12)

 

Tail root (thick) and tail shape (not forked)

 

Anal fin pointed (outer ray longest )

 

Maxillary long - as in trout

 

Spots (can be misleading) but usually more numerous in trout

 

Dorsal fin ray count - can't see (8-10 = trout, 10-12 = salmon)

 

Whether this fish has ever been to sea is another matter - there are several "brown" strains (eg Loch Leven trout) that have no red spots and resemble seatrout superficially. Did you take a scale ?

[Anderoo]

Thanks folks, vagabond no I didn't get a scale. Funnily enough a lure angler recently told me he'd had a sea trout from a nearby stretch a week or so ago, so it's not a one-off. The normal Thames trout do look different. I guess it's impossible to say whether it's been to sea or not...

[Steve Walker]

This is what a typical upper Thames trout looks like;

 

[Steve Walker]

There is a way of determining for sure whether a trout has been to sea, but you'd need to dissect it and have a scanning electron microscope with a laser ablation mass spec capability to hand

[Chris Plumb]

There is a way of determining for sure whether a trout has been to sea, but you'd need to dissect it and have a scanning electron microscope with a laser ablation mass spec capability to hand

And what exactly are you then looking for?

 

C.

[Rusty]

.......but you'd need to dissect it and have a scanning electron microscope with a laser ablation mass spec capability to hand

I have one of those kicking about somewhere...where's the fish then?