fish facts Archives - Page 3 of 5

Fish Facts: Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

October 08, 2018

Wild brook trout are prized by anglers, but their habitat is disappearing.
Photo by Sandy Hays

Although the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is not, in a fact, a trout at all, it is the most “troutlike” of the charrs. A sought-after game fish because it often lives in pristine waters and. . .

Fish Facts: Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

December 13, 2017

Chris Fowler, who works at Orvis Austin, landed this beautiful grassy in Texas last summer.
Photo by Chris Fowler

Imported from eastern Asia, the invasive grass carp has established itself from coast to coast and is recognized as one of the toughest species to catch on a fly. While the last decade has . . .

Fish Facts: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Common Carp But Were Afraid to Ask

May 03, 2017

Carp may be an invasive species, but many fly fishers love them.
Photo courtesy Mike Mazzoni

Unlike trout, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are unattractive, slimy, feed almost exclusively below the surface, and rarely inhabit clear mountain streams—choosing instead to live in turbid or brackish waters. For these reasons, the species was denigrated as a “trash fish” by . . .

Fish Facts: Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

March 07, 2017

Although few fly fishers target them, lake trout will readily take flies, especially early and late in the year.
Photo courtesy New York Department of Conservation

In fly-fishing circles, the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is perhaps the least respected of all the “trout” species. (It’s actually a char, of course, a close relative of brook trout, bull trout, and . . .

Fish Facts: American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)

January 11, 2017

The American shad features a silvery body, blue-green back, and dark spots starting near the top
of the gill plate and running laterally rearward, as well as a deeply forked tail.
Photo by Duane Raver, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

While salmon, steelhead, and striper runs garnish the most attention from the angling press, the annual migration of American shad offers fly fishers the chance to tangle with a brawny . . .

Classic Fish Facts: Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae gilae)

November 10, 2016

The Gila trout is one of the toughest “life list” trout species to find.
Photo by Christ Hunt, Trout Unlimited

Although one does not usually associate trout with the Sonoran Desert environment of Arizona and New Mexico, the Gila trout—as well as its close relative, the Apache trout—has survived in. . .

Everything You Want to Know About Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

July 22, 2016

Known for their brilliant red spawning colors, sockeyes are also great fighters when hooked.
Photo by Pat Clayton, Fish Eye Guy Photography

Although a trophy shot of an angler holding a bright-red sockeye salmon is impressive, the species is not usually considered one of the “glamour” game fish in Alaska and western. . .

Fish Facts: Apache Trout (Oncorhynchus apache)

May 05, 2016

Among the rarest trout in the world, Apache trout are bouncing back from near-extinction.
Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Just getting to a stream that holds native Apache trout (Oncorhynchus gilae apache) can require a lot of work, as Tyler Coleman found out on a recent trip. Found only in headwater streams high. . .

Fish Facts: Redfish, Lords of the Marsh

January 25, 2016

Orvis’s Chrissy Atkins shows off a South Carolina redfish caught from the spartina grass.
Photo by Tyler Atkins

A species known as much for its light flavor as for its sporting qualities, the redfish (Sciaenops ocellatus) is the only species in its genus, which sets it apart from the other fish commonly. . .

Everything You Want to Know About Kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka)

December 31, 2015

During the spawn, kokanees develop the classic sockeye hump, green head, and kype.

The landlocked version of the sockeye salmon, the kokanee (pronounced coke-a-nee) spends its entire life in fresh water. Instead of migrating to the ocean, adult kokanees inhabit large. . .