Fishing For Dummies. Greg Schwipps

may think of the cutthroat — which is really a cousin to the rainbow — as the Rocky Mountain version of the brook trout because in many undisturbed waters, just like the brookie, the cutthroat is the native fish. After ranching, logging, and the introduction of other gamefish takes place, the cutthroat often retreats to unpressured headwaters. The cutthroat is the native trout in the drainage of the Yellowstone River, where it is protected by a complete no-kill policy in all of the flowing water in Yellowstone Park. To fish them at the outlet of Yellowstone Lake is one of the great angling experiences in North America. (See Figure 4-14 for an illustration of the cutthroat.)

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FIGURE 4-14: The cutthroat trout is most easily identified by red and orange slashes around the lower jaw and gills.

      Lake trout: Big macks

The lake trout (or laker) is the largest char. Unlike all the other trout, the laker spawns in lakes, not streams. As shown in Figure 4-15, the laker, similar to the brook trout, is heavily spotted. It has a forked tail (in contrast to the square tail of the brook trout). The lake trout requires colder water than any other freshwater gamefish, optimally about 50 degrees F, and it will die at 65 degrees F.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 4-15: The lake trout looks like a giant brook trout with a forked tail.

      

Right after ice-out in the spring and right before spawning in the autumn, you may be able to take lakers in shallow water. But during the rest of the season, you have to fish deeper, often trolling using downriggers.

      Pacific salmon: Not just in the Pacific anymore

      Pacific salmon come upstream to spawn just as Atlantic salmon do. The Pacific salmon’s flesh is pink, just like the flesh of an Atlantic. They even taste the same. But the six species of Pacific salmon are completely different animals than the Atlantic salmon, which is the only true salmon. (The Pacifics are the much larger, mostly ocean-going cousins of the rainbow trout.)

The home range of Pacific salmon runs from Northern California up to Alaska and over to Siberia. Some years ago, Pacific salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes to help control the spread of the alewife herring. The alewives were so plentiful and the salmon fed so well on them that the Great Lakes now hold the greatest fishery for both the coho and chinook sportfisherman. In the Great Lakes, Pacific salmon are a favorite among trollers. This method of taking fish, of course, requires a hefty boat and expensive gear. Shallow-water and stream anglers have the most luck when the fish gather at stream mouths and within the streams themselves during their spawning migrations. Fishing when the salmon are still bright, or fresh from the ocean or lake, can be great sport with these brawny, athletic fish. As with many saltwater fish or as with fish that spend a good amount of time in saltwater, the chinook and coho like flashy, bright-colored lures that imitate the smelt and alewives they feed on.

Figure 4-16 shows the coho and chinook salmon. The usually smaller coho has black spots only on the upper part of its tail, although the chinook’s tail is spotted on both top and bottom. The chinook’s dorsal fin is spotted; the coho’s isn’t. The gum in the lower jaw of the coho is grayish, but the same gum in the chinook is black.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 4-16: The coho (a) and chinook (b) salmon present fun big-water challenges.

      Atlantic salmon: The leaper

      The Atlantic salmon, through no fault of its own, is regarded by many as the aristocrat of fishes. Perhaps it has this reputation because you usually have to be an aristocrat to be able to afford a few days on one of the choice salmon rivers. You are generally required to fish for Atlantic salmon with a fly rod; and on many rivers, one also has to hire a guide.

Known for its acrobatic jumps, the Atlantic salmon is a cousin to the brown trout but spends most of its time at sea (although a salmon’s infancy is passed in a river, and it is to that river that it returns to spawn). The Atlantic salmon (shown in Figure 4-17) does not die after spawning once, so you may return a salmon to the stream after catching it and be confident that it may well return to spawn and fight again.

      © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      FIGURE 4-17: The Atlantic salmon is prized for both food and sport.

Like the Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon exist in inland bodies of water, too. Known as landlocked salmon, these fish are just like their more-traveled siblings but are a bit smaller. Although many landlocked salmon spend their lives in rivers, some stay in lakes year-round, usually staying in the deepest, coolest water. Wherever they’re found, anglers love to pursue Atlantic salmon for a chance to see their great leaps.