Blueback Trout

[BrkTrt]

They say this species of trout can only be found in a few watersheds in Maine.

I have fished many streams, lakes and ponds in Maine over the course of 25 plus years and have never seen one.

A while back while fishing a stream that feeds a beaver pond in Northwest CT, I hooked this trout.



A Blueback Trout?











- Brk Trt

[rossa]

Lovely, is the blue back the same as the sunapee?

[adam]

Looks like a brook trout to me.

[BrkTrt]

Lovely, is the blue back the same as the sunapee?

They are similar I'm told.



- Brk Trt

[greendrake]

I could be wrong but I have always read that the blueback was a genetic mutation of the rainbow trout,much like the golden or palomino.
Adam is right,that is definately a brookie in your photo,albeit one that I've never seen the likes of.I'm sure if you contacted a fisheries biologist from Conn. and shared that pic with them,they very likely could shed some light on the subject.
Will

[terry]

I am going with blue back brookie. One of my favorite things about brook trout is how much the color varies from fish to fish. That’s a beautiful specimen. Thanks for sharing.

I have read about true bluebacks in one of James Prosek's books, "Early Love and Brook Trout". It seems he had some trouble finding one as well. They are actually a char, which makes them closer to a brookie than a rainbow. I don't think there is a true trout native to the northeast, only char.

[rossa]

I could be wrong but I have always read that the blueback was a genetic mutation of the rainbow trout,much like the golden or palomino.
Adam is right,that is definately a brookie in your photo,albeit one that I've never seen the likes of.I'm sure if you contacted a fisheries biologist from Conn. and shared that pic with them,they very likely could shed some light on the subject.
Will

Blue trout which are a genetic mutation of rainbows are very popular in stocked waters in the UK.
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/fishing-phot ... out-9.html

[BrkTrt]

These fish were native to Franklin and Oxford county in western Maine,

From Scribners Monthly, Maine 1877,


There is still a fourth variety called by the natives the,"blueback trout, the Salmo Oquossa, { so named becauseit is peculiar to these waters} which is also used to furnish food to the monarchs of the lake.

They come in an immense army, actually filling the streams here and there with a dense struggling mass which the natives capture by the bushel and by the barrel in nets buckets and pails even scooping them out by hand and throwing them on the bank.

They are salted and preserved like mackerel. These blueback trout have never been found more than nine inches in length, nor less than six inches.

In flavor they are quite as rich and delicate when cooked as the brook trout. After spawning they retire to the lake just as suddenly as they appeared in the stream. They do not deminish in multitude year after year.



- Brk Trt

[CM_Stewart]

That's a brookie. Blueback trout (also called Sunapee trout) are landlocked arctic charr and thus closely related to brook trout but not all that close to rainbows. http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactShee ... ciesID=936

The brook trout that made Maine famous were from Rangeley Lake, where they commonly exceeded 8 pounds and reached that size by feeding on blueback trout. Then atlantic salmon were introduced, and they completely wiped out the bluebacks. Smelt were introduced to provide a replacement for the bluebacks, and they ate brook trout eggs. The huge brook trout of Rangeley are gone, probably forever. There are still brookies in Rangeley, but they're not huge anymore. http://www.amazon.com/Brook-Trout-Revis ... 605&sr=1-1

[Sean]

cool....looks like i need to take a trip to maine. :shh: don't tell my girlfriend :D