Overview
Lake trout are the largest of the freshwater char. They have been reported to live up to 70 years in some Canadian lakes. They are native to northern North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia and throughout the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes lake trout recreational fishery is worth more than $7 billion annually and supports more than 75,000 jobs. Anglers come from all over the globe for quality fishing experiences, including angling for one of the largest apex predators in the Great Lakes - lake trout.
Scientific Name
Identification Numbers
Characteristics
Habitat
Most lake trout inhabit deep lakes greater than 50 feet, but you can find them at depths well over 200 feet too! They also are found in deep freshwater rivers, which are tributaries to large lakes like the Great Lakes.
Food
Lake trout feed on a variety of organisms from plankton and small invertebrate animals, to ?sh. Young lake trout generally eat plankton, insects and small invertebrates, while adults prefer to eat fish. Some lake trout populations feed on plankton throughout their lives and attain smaller sizes than their piscivorous, or fish-eating, counterparts. Most lake trout, however, are top predators, feeding on fish in the Great Lakes. As a top predator, they are very important to maintaining a healthy balance in the food web of the lake.
Physical Characteristics
Lake trout often reach 3 feet in length with the longest lake trout on record at 50 inches.
Lake trout often weigh up to 40 pounds. The maximum weight ever recorded is 102 pounds from the state of Alaska.
Life Cycle
Lake trout normally spawn during the fall months, from October through November. They spawn over boulder beds where water currents keep the rocks clear of silt. Lake trout do not dig nests, but the early arriving males clear away algae and other debris by fanning the rocks with their fins and scraping them with their bodies. Spawning takes place over the rocks. Several males and females may form a spawning group, and spawn many times over several days or weeks. The fertilized eggs sink to the bottom into the protective crevices of the rocks where water currents keep the eggs oxygenated and silt free.
A single female may lay 2,000 to 20,000 eggs depending on her size. The fertilized eggs develop and hatch into free swimming alevins in February and March. The alevins live in the rock crevices for another few weeks while they complete fin development. The young lake trout then disperse across a variety of lake habitats, where they search for zooplankton and try to avoid predation by other fish species.
Behavior
Lake trout feed on a variety of organisms from plankton to small invertebrate animals to ?sh. Young lake trout generally eat plankton, insects and small invertebrates, while adults prefer to eat fish. Some lake trout populations feed on plankton throughout their lives and attain smaller sizes than their piscivorous (fish-eating) counterparts. Most lake trout, however, are top predators, feeding on fish in the Great Lakes. As a top predator, they are very important to maintaining a healthy balance in the food web of the lake.
Geography
Lake trout are native to northern North America, from Alaska to Nova Scotia and throughout the Great Lakes. They were introduced in some states west of the Rocky Mountains, where they are not native.