What is a Coaster Brook Trout?

Coasters are brook trout that live at least some or their lire in the Great Lakes or in the ocean along the Atlantic coast or North America.    In Lake Superior they usually swim up tributary streams to spawn in late fall, but may also spawn along the lake shore.    Coasters differ from brook trout that live in streams year-round in size (mature adults are usually over 16 inches long and may weigh several pounds) and color (more silvery), and have longer life spans.

Named alter their fondness for Lake Superior's rocky shore lines, coasters were the darlings of 19th century anglers from America and Europe.    Diaries from the period joyfully record the fish's brilliant colors, trophy size, gourmet taste and eagerness to rise to the bait.

Sadly, predictions in the late 1800’s that this bonanza couldn't last, came true.    The unregulated coaster brook trout fishery was easily overfished and human activity damaged watersheds.    For example, spawning beds were buried under sand churned up as rafts of freshly cut timber headed downstream to sawmills.  Trout population numbers began a downward spiral.    By the 1940’s, the number of wild coaster populations was reduced.

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