Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss New World Record Brown Trout from Wi.?

Brown Trout

That is one giant brown trout! The IGFA requires more than 1 once difference for a new record, so they'll make it a tie with the old one.

Wasn't the Brown Trout record broken just a few years back by a guy on a river in Michigan draining into Lake Michigan?

From what I've read, the lake has a great and under-utilized Brown Trout fishery.

Yes. And before that the Red River in Arkansas. If this is a Seeforellen strain of brown trout it's a strain that originated in large lakes in Bavaria, Germany and gets quite large. It was predicted at least a decade a go that the new world record may come from this area of Lake Michigan. Sounds like it has come true. Orginally this strain was brought over by the DEC of New York for Lake Ontario. The DEC discontinued them due to disease problems.




Depends on the area of the lake. Some areas are better than others and some of the Great Lakes are better than others for brown trout. Lake Huron gets much lower survival of planted brown trout due to more significant walleye and cormorant predation. I had a biologist in Alpena, Michigan tell me they only get a 1/10th of 1 percent survival rate in his area. He says the cormorants stay put for a while in Lake Huron vs. Lake Michigan which is more devastating on the newly planted trout.

I understand the more inshore browns vs. the salmon are eating the gobies, which is a good thing. The salmon fishing and size of the largest fish is not what it used to be though. At least not on the Indiana Michigan side.

The brown trout fishery along with other salmonids is a put and grow fishery though.

Cecil, for the brown trout in particular... Is it a put and grow fishery because of a lack of spawning habitat, as in streams to ascend and spawn in or because of poor survival of the smolts? There are several streams in PA where brown trout will reproduce fine, there just isn't the correct nursery habitat for the brown trout smolts so the vast majority get eaten before they reach a catchable size.

Lack of high quality spawning habitat for the most part, although there is some natural reproduction in places. What does hatch probably has to survive a gauntlet of predators (what you elude to), and of course fishing pressure.

From what i was told by a biologist at the Wild Rose Hatchery in Wisconsin, back when I did my outdoor column, the Seeforellen strain is a fish that prefers to ascend moving waters connected to lakes(similar to their native habitat). Wisconsin collects their broodfish in a weir or electroshocks vs. Michigan, that used to keep broodfish on hand, but as far as I know no longer does. I believe Wisconsin is the only one prepetuating the Seeforellen strain although I could be wrong. Many of these planted fish of course don't know state boundaries and end up being other state records. That's happened several times in Lake Michigan waters of Indiana back when Indiana did not plant brown trout. Indiana now gets brown trout to stock Lake Michigan from the feds. Not sure what strain however.

BTW the hatchery manager in Wisconsin told me anyone that thinks they can tell this strain from another by looking at them is deceiving themselves. He told me when he went back and compared tags to what he thought were Seeforellen, he was wrong much of the time.