(Sr. Outdoors Guy with a nice cold water brook trout we caught, with surface temp ranging from 49 – 54 degrees F)
My annual trout fishing trip to Temiscaming with my Dad and brother-in-law’s is a time I look forward to all year long..regardless if we catch a lot fish, mystery or otherwise.
This year certainly was a great trip fishing-wise, and a very poor one weather-wise, with bitter cold daytime temps and even 3″ of snow on the tent one morning!
Oh well, when you’re catching fishing like this, who cares!!
(Photo of ‘mystery trout’ now beleived to be an Aurora trout)
(Here’s Bruce with a great looking male brookie pulled from ‘Lac Perdu’)
This year we released 12 trout(10 brook, 2 mystery) – the most trout we ever have released; including one fish well over 3 pounds!
(Not a bad looking camping spot!)
(Not a bad tent set-up too!)
(The boys working on breakfast inside the tent)
Mystery solved!!!
Ok, thanks to Maple(& others) for their assitance in finally identifying our mystery trout!
What I had always considered to be ‘Quebec Reds’ appear to be the endangered species called Aurora trout. Although we only caught two this year (both released) we have probably caught more than 20 of these special fish over the years.
In our secret lake we call Lac Perdu, brook trout and Aurora trout appear to live together(& spawn) in harmony. The brookies account for probably 90% of the lakes population with Aurora accounting for maybe 10%.
Now that we know what they are, and after reading up on this rare fish, we will no longer keep any of them from this lake. According to what I read, the Aurora experts are not coming out and labelling the Quebec Aurora’s with that name, as they claim all Auroras’ are found within Ontario waters.
The QC Aurora’s currently found in only 2-3 lakes(I gues 4 now), at the moment, appear to be a mystery. The original Aurora’s were distributed only in lakes around Sudbury, and most of those fell victim to acid rain.
Just one more reason I enjoy my annual trout fishing trips. You never know what you’re going to catch!
Here are some close-up shots of the QC Aurora we caught two years ago. The ones from this year were released safely at boatside and no photos were taken:
You can see how they differ from regular brook trout with a lack of ‘halo’ spots and lack of vermiculation on the fins and upper half of their body.
Outdoorsguy
Great looking catch of trout . I also noticed the picture inside the tent with the toast cooking on the coleman stove.Now that stove with the copper tank has been around a while. I’ll bet a lot of good camp food has come off it over the years.If it could only speak the stories it could tell ! (but some of them might need censoring)
Hey bob m, you have a keen eye for Colemans! That stove dates back to early 70’s and is one of the best models ever made. The other one is also decent from late 80’s. We have replaced our stoves several times over the years and the early copper one I actually found at a garage sale two summers ago. It was NEW unused in the original box if you can believe it..and for $5 I couldn’t pass it up. My father had two just like it and they have since been retired.
Thanks for stopping by, Bob…
Outdoorsguy
Nice, I bet those were tasty. Interesting about the Aurora trout, thanks for posting.
tks Johan..it is pretty cool.
Oh, and btw, I finally have that trout info you asked about ages ago…I’ll send you a pm about it.
Outdoorsguy
What about your little partridge friend? Did you see her this year?
Ahhh Hunting mom, you have a terrific memory
No, there was no sign of ‘Lori Partridge’ this year…perhaps it was the bitter cold temps that kept her away…besides the fact that the QC goverment cut most of the forests around our camping and fishing spot since last year! Lots of moose sign, but little bear or grouse sign.
Outdoorsguy
Cookbooks in Canadian Press:
http://blogs.canoe.ca/outdoorsguy/uncategorized/outdoors-guy-cookbook-featured-by-canadian-press/
Outdoorsguy
hi jeff nice fish pics we were on the big rideau at 6am we caught 4 fish of course i was the lucky one with a 7 pound laker boy the steel line was straight down inder the boat what a hell of a fight water was 11.2 celcius still a little cold we marked lots of fish suspended at 60 to 70 feet but some big hook marks on the bottom by 10am the bites stopped saw an american eagle and lots of loons painted turtles makes you feel good that you see this wildlife thrive with all the pressure that affects the ecosystem on the rideau as well about 20 deer from carleton place to the rideau no bucks all looked like does
The Aurora Trout’s mystery and lure remains to this day, most in part to the hard work of fisheries biologists and the wonders of hatchery programs. The Aurora is finally starting to make a comeback, and that is good news for those who have never had a chance to see one of these rare jewels of the north. So how did the Aurora Trout get it’s name? As the story goes, a group of Western Pennsylvanian’s fishing Whitepine Lake for Speckled Trout back in 1942 hooked into this new specie of fish. The intensity and striking colours of the fish during the fall spawn was the reason Aurora was chosen when it came time for a name. The Aurora Trout – a wondrous sight for those anglers in search of Canada’s true mystery fish.
The Aurora Trout’s mystery and lure remains to this day, most in part to the hard work of fisheries biologists and the wonders of hatchery programs. The Aurora is finally starting to make a comeback, and that is good news for those who have never had a chance to see one of these rare jewels of the north. So how did the Aurora Trout get it’s name? As the story goes, a group of Western Pennsylvanian’s fishing Whitepine Lake for Speckled Trout back in 1942 hooked into this new specie of fish. The intensity and striking colours of the fish during the fall spawn was the reason Aurora was chosen when it came time for a name. The Aurora Trout – a wondrous sight for those anglers in search of Canada’s true mystery fish.
I’m going to disagree and argue that it is not an Aurora but a “Sunnapee” or Blueback Trout not a seperate species but a colour variant of the brook trout that is native to Quebec.
Brad, thanks so much for the comment!
I have no problem at all with you arguing that these trout are Sunapee trout, since previous to this species being labelled ‘Aurora trout'(for lack of a better description) I simply called them ‘Mystery trout’…
No-one seemed to be able to identify these trout.
Have you seen or caught one of these brook trout colour phases before?
Regards,
Outdoorsguy
No I have not caught them but have seen other images. Here is a image that is almost identical to your fish
http://www.hookhack.com/img/char_landlocked_blueback.jpg
PS I’d love the opportunity to try and catch one so if your wiling to divulge the location of Lac Perdu feel free to PM
See Brad, the big difference is…my trout do not have any spots or speckles..
I have three guys who would skin me alive if I ever told where the lake is located/…check out my Blog post from May of this year, for more
recent trout images from the same lake!!
Regards
Outdoorsguy