Rick's Retrospect: Autumn Sex & Colour

On the last day of summer in 2014, I took a most pleasant drive out to Stauffer Creek to go fishing.  The farmers were busy, the fields were covered with the geometric shapes of swathed grain and the most of the leaves were a fabulous golden hue.  I didn’t have a banner day because my favourite part of the stream had been overtaken by damming beavers.  If you haven’t been to the North Raven River, you don’t understand how difficult it is to plow through the very thick willows that line the banks.  So, I started at the top of the new dam.

I caught this beautiful foot long brook trout, all dressed up in his best colours to attract the ladies, because it’s that time of the year for brook trout (actually a char) to spawn. Lakers, bull and Brookies, members of the char family, spawn in the fall. 

Brook Trout

True trout, like rainbows, cutthroat and browns, identifiable by their many black spots along the back and tail, spawn at different times through the year.    

Having trouble identifying different Trout and Char? Try using this guide by Trout Unlimited Canada.

Click on the image above to visit the original chart on tucanada.org

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Richard Pallister is the Director of Thompson-Pallister Bait Co. Ltd. He has been with the company full-time since 1974. "Rick's Retrospect" is a series of blogs where he will share his tips, tricks, opinions and stories.