Brook trout vs brown trout7/5/2023 ![]() Image Details Bull trout have the most specific habitat requirements of all trout species, needing cold water, clean spawning gravels and a variety of water flows with plenty of cover. If brookies were indeed moving upstream, there was concern their bully tactics could quickly knock out the bull trout. “They displace bull trout and will hybridize with them to the point that bull trout are no longer producing purebred offspring.”įor several years, Banish and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have taken on the role of river referees by conducting periodic stream surveys to monitor the trout. “Brook trout are known to flex their muscle when in bull trout territory,” said Banish. Since both trout species are fall spawners, quick action was necessary to prevent a hostile habitat takeover. He knew the streams were occupied by bull trout and this discovery was troubling. This immediately sent up a red flag for Nolan Banish, Service fish biologist and coordinator for the Klamath Bull Trout Recovery Unit. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Klamath Falls received reports from an angler of brook trout in tributaries of the Sprague River where none had been previously documented. Such a fish face-off recently occurred in the Upper Sprague River watershed north of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Brook trout are also opportunists, taking advantage of and spawning with bull trout. When squaring off in their aquatic ‘ring,’ the invasive and scrappy ‘brookies’ are bullies, outcompeting the native bull trout by eating all the food, hogging the best shelter and generally pushing them around. In the fictional world of trout wrestling, one of the most uneven matchups would pit brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) against bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). ![]() Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ![]() The fish has characteristics of both species, most noticeable on the fins and unique patterns and coloration. ![]() Image Details A brook-bull trout hybrid approximately three-years-old, collected during sampling of a tributary to the Sprague River. ![]()
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