Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Cold Water Lake Trout
By: Tom Berg
The Great Lakes are giant bodies of water, and there are a huge number of fish species that call them home. One of the largest fish is the lake trout, and since these trout are native to the Great Lakes, they have been living there for eons. Other trout, like rainbow trout and brown trout, are non-native and were stocked in the lakes by biologists in the 1960s.
Lake trout are large, long-lived trout that prefer cold water temperatures (45-55 degrees). They have light-colored spots on a slate-gray background and their lower fins are often orange with a band of white on the leading edge. Their mouths are equipped with many small, sharp teeth. They prefer to eat other fish like alewives, ciscoes, chubs, sculpins and smelt, but they will also eat other small fish, insects, zooplankton and crustaceans.
Lake trout (also called lakers, greasers, Mackinaw trout and gray trout) are actually a species of char, and they can reach immense sizes. The Michigan state record laker (caught in Lake Superior) weighed over 61 pounds. The New York state record (caught in Lake Erie) weighed more than 41 pounds. Big lake trout from Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario have weighed just under 40 pounds.
Since lake trout prefer cold water, fishermen must usually go out in boats to deep water to catch them. During the summer, these fish hug the bottom in 100 feet of water or more (sometimes much deeper, too), where the water temperature is still icy cold. Fishermen catch lake trout by slowly trolling lures right on or near the bottom, even at these extreme depths.
During the winter the lakers come closer to shore since the water is colder, but shoreline ice on the Great Lakes usually prevents shore fishermen from catching them. On inland lakes that are deep and cold, however, icefishermen often catch lake trout through the ice all winter long.
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