Trout Age Question

[Joey]

After fishing last weekend, I wondered just how old the fish we caught were.

 

Any ideas how old a 29" Steelhead is?

 

Just curious, thanks.

 

Joey

[ccmtcanada]

Found this in an article Joey....if we assume that Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario have the same kind of water system with similar feeding habits, it seems that your 29" may have been around 4 to 5 years old.

 

"In Lake Michigan, they grow up to 32 inches long and may reach 16 pounds by the time they are five years old. The shape and color of their body during their lifetime is a sign of habitat, growth, sex and age."

 

The whole article can be found at http://fishinsects.suite101.com/article.cfm/rainbow_trout

[Joey]

Cool, thanks Cliff, that was an interesting article. I assumed they were older than that.

 

Joey

[douG]

Lakers can be very old, as old as fifty or sixty years old in cold, northern lakes.

[camillj]

Yeah Joey,

 

Thats why a 'put catch and selective keep' fishery works so well for Salmon and Trout .. the whole cycle is in the neighborhood of 4 years for most of them ... Lake trout being the main exception - Lakers could be decades old depending on the body of water they are from.

 

Unlike Salmon, the Rainbow, browns and specks will return to the lakes after spawning and will return the following year ... but they too have a relatively short life-span and their size is more a reflection of availability and type of food than of age.

 

 

Splake are a funny exception ... because for the most part they are produced by man-made cross between lakers and Specks ... and really only live 4 - 8 years and are infertile .... so they are put there by stocking programs with a view to being caught and eaten ... and they are very tasty !!!

[fishindevil]

Iremember from a few years ago,from talking to a fisheries biologist that a 10lb lake trout around the algonquin park region would be aproximatley 20 yrs old...but it also depends on food for sure but i was suprised that they take so long to grow big,when you get lakers in lake ontario that are half that age and grow so rapidly its very interesting how different fish grow at so many different rates.....cheers

[Nemo]

As douG says Lakers can be very old depending on the environment they come from.

 

http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/fish/l%5Etrout.php

 

Cold water and very little food are a common scenario for LT habitat so some small fish can be quite old.

 

Specks on the other hand don't get very old. So dependong on the species...

 

Where is Spiel. ???