Lake Trout are not actually trout, they are Char.  Char have small scales as trout do and are very similar in appearance to trout in many ways.  The key to identifying char is that they do not have black spots as trout do.  What distinguishes Lake Trout from other char are the whitish markings on their dorsal fin, and their deeply forked tail.  It is easy at first glance to confuse some Lakers with other char such as Brook Trout or even Bull Trout.  Insure that you look for the light markings on the dorsal fin, and then confirm your identification with the deeply forked tail.  With the no kill regulations for Bull trout, it is very important to distinguish between all types of char in the province.

Lake trout are native fish in Alberta.  Lake Tout spawn in the spring.  99% of Lake Trout in Alberta are found in lakes.  The odd one will can be found in various rivers throughout the province, but require deep cold lakes in order to thrive.  Most of the year, Lake Trout will be on the bottom of lakes that are deeper than 50 feet.  They love being down 100 feet or more and do very well in extremely deep and clean mountain lakes such as Lake Minnewanka in Banff and Spray Lakes close to Canmore.  In the spring Lakers will come up into the shallows when the water is cold near the surface and will be very active feeders.  This is the best and most fun time to catch Lakers on a fly rod, but generally to catch Lake Trout on the fly requires the use of fast deep sinking lines and flies more closely resembling Pike flies than trout flies.

The exciting part about fishing for Lake Trout is the possibility of pulling a 30 pound fish out of a lake on a fly rod.  They truly can grow to massive sizes in some of our lakes.  Even if the big one isn't hooked, there are lots of average sized 16 inchers swimming around to keep the day enjoyable.  There is always something nice about catching a native fish, especially a giant from the depths!

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