Brown Trout in Lake Nipigon.

[Guest Nailed]

I just have a question about this. When does a fish become native? I heard on the radio a b rown was caht and the recomendation was to kill them. They also mentioned a sweet spot that me and three buddies have fished fore these for over 15 years! Barely anyone new of it and just becasue a brown was caught they mention a good spot not to many new of. these fish have been there for almost a hundred years and now they are worried about compitition with brook trout? Steelhead directly compete with brooktrout in superior and now steelhead are considered naturalized there. Leave the browns alone. They are natarulized to.

[NWO 23]

Interesting position.

This thread might warrant a bowl of popcorn.

[Some Old Guy 968]

I used to joke around about steelhead not being native and I would get a very abrupt, They are naturalized and self sustaining and therefore now part of the system.

If browns have been there that long then I would have to agree that they are naturalized and don't warrant being killed. If I remember correctly is there a section for browns in Nipigon in the regs? If so I think it was very wrong to speak of them as an invasive specie and recomend killing them.

S limit is 5 C limit is 2 and open all year. Since Nipigon is in Zone 6 and they are listed in the regs are they not considered a sport fish and therefore are recognized?

Walleye were all stocked in our watershed. So who gets to decide what is naturalized and what is invasive? I don't know. What is the criteria to list a fish as invasive. Especially fish that have been caught for years. Like I said, walleye in our watershed are mostly not native. So are they invasive?

Roger

[Guest Smack Um]

Here is a video of some dudes fishing for European Brown Trout in Chequamegon Bay near Washburn Wisconsin link as follows:

I think it may be possible that European Brown Trout do exist in bays like Thunder Bay, Black Bay or Nipigon Bay but I don't believe that you will find any European Brown Trout in Lake Nipigon?

[Lyle Reiner 174]

Yup. Getting popcorn for this one!! They are gorgeous fish tho!

[Guest Beamer]

They are in the river too, caught one there today in with the brookies

[Guest mnaiman]

That looks an awful lot like some fish I got the end of last august on the nip. Was told they were pinks, but they were about 4lbs, and didn't look anything like the pinks I get at the mackenzie. Im thinkin they might have been browns ....lol

[brookiebuster 117]

Browns n' brookies, sounds like a good trip!

[Guest Smack Um]

They are in the river too, caught one there today in with the brookies

Nice one catching any Atlantic Salmon in the Nipigon River as well?

[mad scientist 140]

I just have a question about this. When does a fish become native?

A fish doesn't "become" native...it is, or it isn't. Basically, the measure is, if it was in a waterbody before European contact, it's native. If it isn't native, but is intentionally stocked (by people with the legal authority to do so), it's "introduced". If it isn't native and gets there because of the unintentional actions of people (any of many ways, including illegal stocking), it's usually considered "invasive".

Non-native species can become naturalized (i.e., they support themselves in a waterbody by natural reproduction without the need for stocking, and the rest of the fish community adjusts to a new equilibrium), but they can't become native.

[mad scientist 140]

I think it may be possible that European Brown Trout do exist in bays like Thunder Bay, Black Bay or Nipigon Bay but I don't believe that you will find any European Brown Trout in Lake Nipigon?

Browns have been stocked in the American waters of Lake Superior since 1975, and are still stocked by Wisconsin and Michigan. Entirely possible that some migrate into Canadian waters.

[Lyle Reiner 174]

That one brown, it looks tagged?

[Guest Beamer]

That one brown, it looks tagged?

It was, another angler caught it the week before I did and tagged it.

[Guest Smack Um]

It was, another angler caught it the week before I did and tagged it.

It will be interesting to see what happens in another 10 or 20 years to this population in Lake Superior this fish appears to be pretty healthy are they doing well?

We certainly seem to be experiencing an explosion of sorts in the bass population in NWO their range has been rapidly increasing by leaps and bounds in the past couple of decades !

[smokerscully1 16]

I caught a 15 inch brown trout off Speke Pt in Lake Nipigon on June 8. Not being a biologist I was worried about how it got there and its possible effects on Speckled Trout. I spoke to 2 old commercial fishermen on the Lake as it was the first one I had ever seen in 40 years on the lake. It seems one came up in a net off Selwyn Island in the mid 70's and another was caught in Humboldt Bay in the mid 80's.

I turned the fish in to Rick Salmon at the Nipigon MNR. Rob Swainson subsequently called me to talk about the fish. It seems that the CNR railroad back in 1925 stocked some browns in JoJo Lake and the Whitesands river system. Evidently there has always been a small breeding population since that time in the Whitesand river. Rob tells me that there were reports of 2 other brown trout being caught that same weekend--one at Virgin Falls and one at South Bay.

I guess if they have been here that long then maybe they don't hurt anything. I love fishing for Steelhead on Lake Superior north shore streams but I live in mortal fear that someone will dump one into Lake Nipigon. I've lived on the Lake for 40 years but still learn something new everyday.

[Guest Smack Um]

I caught a 15 inch brown trout off Speke Pt in Lake Nipigon on June 8. Not being a biologist I was worried about how it got there and its possible effects on Speckled Trout. I spoke to 2 old commercial fishermen on the Lake as it was the first one I had ever seen in 40 years on the lake. It seems one came up in a net off Selwyn Island in the mid 70's and another was caught in Humboldt Bay in the mid 80's.

I turned the fish in to Rick Salmon at the Nipigon MNR. Rob Swainson subsequently called me to talk about the fish. It seems that the CNR railroad back in 1925 stocked some browns in JoJo Lake and the Whitesands river system. Evidently there has always been a small breeding population since that time in the Whitesand river. Rob tells me that there were reports of 2 other brown trout being caught that same weekend--one at Virgin Falls and one at South Bay.

I guess if they have been here that long then maybe they don't hurt anything. I love fishing for Steelhead on Lake Superior north shore streams but I live in mortal fear that someone will dump one into Lake Nipigon. I've lived on the Lake for 40 years but still learn something new everyday.

Interesting!

[Guest Smack Um]

I caught a 15 inch brown trout off Speke Pt in Lake Nipigon on June 8. Not being a biologist I was worried about how it got there and its possible effects on Speckled Trout. I spoke to 2 old commercial fishermen on the Lake as it was the first one I had ever seen in 40 years on the lake. It seems one came up in a net off Selwyn Island in the mid 70's and another was caught in Humboldt Bay in the mid 80's.

I turned the fish in to Rick Salmon at the Nipigon MNR. Rob Swainson subsequently called me to talk about the fish. It seems that the CNR railroad back in 1925 stocked some browns in JoJo Lake and the Whitesands river system. Evidently there has always been a small breeding population since that time in the Whitesand river. Rob tells me that there were reports of 2 other brown trout being caught that same weekend--one at Virgin Falls and one at South Bay.

I guess if they have been here that long then maybe they don't hurt anything. I love fishing for Steelhead on Lake Superior north shore streams but I live in mortal fear that someone will dump one into Lake Nipigon. I've lived on the Lake for 40 years but still learn something new everyday.

Atlas of Brown Trout Waters in Ontario Jan 2002 link as follows:

http://www.mnr.gov.o...el02_198444.pdf

Yes just like you said smokerscully1.... I do see Lake Nipigon/Whitesand River mentioned is that weird or what!

Maybe the Whitesand River that they are talking about is the one in Terrace Bay on Lake Superior?

[Guest Beamer]

Whitesand River (creek) is at the top end of Lake Nipigon, not very big but it is the site where Lake Nipigon browntrout were planted

[Guest Smack Um]

Whitesand River (creek) is at the top end of Lake Nipigon, not very big but it is the site where Lake Nipigon browntrout were planted

Yes I'm quite familiar with it Randy...The Whitesand River is aproximately the size of the Wolf River I've fished it for about 25years the Pikitigushi River to the East is a bit larger it's about the size of the Blacksturgeon River.

I've never caught a Brown Trout in my life but that isn't saying that they do not or cannot exist in the Whitesand River... Why I can remember a fishing trip in 1979 to Cordingley Lake in Nakina Ontario which resulted in my cousin catching a Smallmouth Bass and I thought that really odd at the time.

This is an interesting area with an interesting history the original settlement of the Whitesand Band was on the shore of Lake Nipigon by Mount St. John but was forced to move in 1942 due to flooding after the Ogoki Diversion was completed link bellow:

http://www.greatlakeswaterwars.com/chapter6.htm

The Ojibway from the Thunder Bay and Lake Nipigon Basin have also contributed to Canada in times of War link bellow:

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles11/canada-worldwar1-24.shtml

There is a good chance that an ancient version of Chief Smack Um from the Whitesands was at Queenston Heights,Fort York,Lundys Lane etc..Defending Canada during the War of 1812.

"I don't know if Brown Trout are in my future but I do know that we live in an area with a diverse fishery and interseting past"!

Cheers;

[Guest Smack Um]

Gord Ellis has a good article in the Saturday, June25,2012 Chronicle Journal's Outdoors Section E entitled "Clues sought for Lake Nipigon's Brown Trout mystery"!

The story illustrates the fact that European Brown Trout have existed in Lake Nipigon for some time as a result of a planting by railway in the early 1900's and theory has it that a general warming trend in Lake Nipigon has awakened this sleeper cell.

There is a photo of Randy Beamish with a dandy 19 inch Brown Trout caught below Pine Portage Dam June 14 2012... Closer to home have European Brown Trout been caught in the Thunder Bay Area rivers such as the Neebing River or Mc Intyre River?