Stocked Brook Trout Lifespan

[Freenorth20 6]

Hello;

I am just curious about how long the average lifespan is for stocked lake brook trout? I have heard that it can be as low as 5 years in some lakes. Just thought it would be a good piece of information to have when looking at stocking year lists.

thanks,

Sean

[Guest MNR]

The average life span of a stocked brook trout is heavily influenced by angler pressure and harvest on a given lake. From the limited information we have on assessing and aging stocked brook trout lakes over the past few years it appears that survival is reasonable to ages 3 and 4. Brook trout aged 5 and up are less common as natural and angling mortality begin to deplete the age class. Certain strains of stocked brook trout such as Lake Nipigon strain tend to have longer life spans with slower early growth. The Hills Lake strain of brook trout tend to have a shorter life span with faster early growth. Both the Nipigon and Hills Lake strains are stocked in Thunder Bay District with the majority of lakes receiving the Lake Nipigon strain.