Lake Trout
Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is a freshwater species. The first thing to check: a deeply forked tail — the quickest separation from every other char and trout. The look-alike to rule out is Brook Trout: brook trout have a squared tail, vermiculated backs and red spots with blue halos.
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| Scientific name | Salvelinus namaycush |
|---|---|
| Also called | laker, mackinaw, togue, grey trout |
| Water | Freshwater |
| Group | Char |
| Temperature | The coldest-water salmonid of the group, preferring 48 to 55 °F. In summer this means depth — often 50 to 100 feet or more. |
How to identify a Lake Trout
- A deeply forked tail — the quickest separation from every other char and trout.
- Pale cream to white irregular spots over a dark grey-green background, with no red spots or halos.
- A large mouth extending past the eye, and white leading edges on the lower fins that are less crisp than a brook trout's.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Brook Trout | Brook trout have a squared tail, vermiculated backs and red spots with blue halos. |
| Splake | The brook × lake hybrid has an intermediate, shallowly forked tail and some vermiculation on the back. |
Read the full entry for Brook Trout.
Where it lives
Deep, cold, clear lakes across Canada, the northern United States, Alaska and the Great Lakes. Holds deep through summer and shallow in the cold months.
Temperature
The coldest-water salmonid of the group, preferring 48 to 55 °F. In summer this means depth — often 50 to 100 feet or more.
The conditions that matter
Lake trout live at a temperature, not at a depth, so the thermocline decides everything. Find the 50 °F layer and you have found the fish; the same lake holds them at fifteen feet in May and ninety in August. Recording water temperature and depth with every catch is how you track that layer through the season.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about lake trout into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.