Fish Species

Photo of Atlantic Salmon, Courtesy of Hans van KlinkenWritten by Hans van Klinken

Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout, Sea Run Brook Trout, Arctic Char, Sea Run Arctic Char, Landlocked Salmon and several saltwater species are found around Tuckamore Lodge. Saltwater fly fishing is still in the early stages of development, but the outlook is very optimistic, and early results are not only amazing but quite exciting as well.

Landlocked Salmon are better know as Ouananiche (pronounced as wi-na-neesh), which is the Indian name. The waters of western Labrador also have large quantities of Landlocked Salmon, with the provincial record of 22 pounds (10 kg) coming from Lobstick Lake.

Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) and Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) all belong to the char family (Salvelinus), which makes this nomenclature quite confusing for a lot of people. Most people will get totally lost as well without the original Latin names. If you consult the British Database of World Flora and Fauna, you will notice 46 different char names. Perhaps many of them are given to the same species, and it all results in much confusion. In Europe, the term 'Arctic Char' is often used when they actually mean 'sea running Char'.

Photo of Brook Trout, Courtesy of Hans van KlinkenOn the Island of Newfoundland, there are some areas where Brook Trout are found in good numbers, although the fish are not as big as the Labrador species. The largest Brook Trout on the great Northern Peninsula and not that far from Tuckamore Lodge are found in Ten Mile Lake, which is part of the St. Genevieve river system.

There are actually two types of char: anadromous or sea-run char, and landlocked char, which live permanently in fresh water. In Europe, natural stocks of anadromous char are only found in the three northernmost counties of Norway, on Iceland and on islands in the Barents Sea, especially Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. No other freshwater fish is found as far north.

In Canada, anadromous char are caught in the pristine wilderness rivers of Labrador during the fall spawning run and spring return. In summer, they stay in saltwater only! Anadromous char also are found in some rivers of Greenland. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen. Lake Hazen is often called the northernmost lake of Canada, in the northern part of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut.

Photo of Brown Trout, Courtesy of Hans van KlinkenBrown Trout and Sea Trout (same species) are not native, but they have existed in Newfoundland for more then 100 years. Brown Trout were transplanted from Scotland to Avalon Peninsula in 1888. Today, Newfoundland has one of the longest runs of Sea Trout in the world. Brown Trout of over 10 pounds have been taken in the waters around St. John's, and fish of 1-3 pounds and above are not uncommon. Sea-run Brown Trout (better known as Sea Trout) are found in almost 50 streams on the Avalon Peninsula, and each year, several fish between 10-20 pounds are taken. Today, after Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, it can be said that Newfoundland now also offers very exciting and world-class tidal estuary fly fishing for Sea Trout.

Photo of Rainbow Trout, Courtesy of Hans van KlinkenRainbow Trout are also not native fish to Newfoundland, but are descendants of fish brought from California in the last part of the 19th century. There are several lakes on the Avalon Peninsula with excellent fly fishing for wild rainbows, but there are now more rainbows appearing in other river systems in Newfoundland as well.

Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Round Whitefish and Humpback whitefish are only found in Labrador.

Article Written By Hans van Klinken
All Photos Courtesy of Hans van Klinken

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