Coaster Brookie

[pikemaster789]

I was recently introduced to the term coaster brook trout. I guess they are brookies that live in the great lakes. Can anyone identify one from a picture. I caught one in a small creek about 150yrds from lake superior and was wondering if it was a coaster?

[pikemaster789]

anybody?

[adkbrookie]

i believe that they are just brook trout that get big living in the lake and then swim up a river.

[JJ]

Try a web search like Google.

[pikemaster789]

Try a web search like Google.

I did, and you know how much crap you get on google. I found pics of big fat brook trout with stream colors- and ones that are lighter colored. I just dont know which one is which. and how would you tell a young coaster from a stream trout.

[JJ]

Google seach for "coaster brook  trout" first result:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/gmu/superior/Fish/Coaster%20Brook%20Trout.htm
Lots of good info there. Answers all your questions if you read it. 8)

[pikemaster789]

good stuff, I looked in that site before thanks. But it still doesnt say how to tell the difference between the two? How is one to know whether they caught a resident brookie or a spawning coaster?

[JJ]

The only difference is size and habitat.

[pikemaster789]

The only difference is size and habitat.

alright so ill never know if I catch one out of a stream

[toguefisha]

alright so ill never know if I catch one out of a stream

Pull a monster out and you'll know.

[JJ]

That's the only way to know for sure.

[pikemaster789]

Pull a monster out and you'll know.

stream or not id love to pull a monster out

[yooperdave]

i live on the keweenaw peninsula in the U.P. and we regularly catch coasters when we are splake fishing in copper harbor. there is not much of a color difference from a regular stream trout, you are allowed one per day and they must be 20" or better. have seen 7lbs. plus coasters come out of the harbor almost every year.

[Barleydog]

I had caught some "coasters" before in the U.P. just a stones throw from the lake.  I believe they were coasters and not stocked fish that took up residency, but I could be wrong.  The color was similar to what YooperDave discribed them as, so I couldn't tell the difference.

[taxi1]

The only difference is size and habitat.

Ditto according to the latest study funded by Trout Unlimited. It used to be thought they were a distinct fish like the steelhead vs. the inland rainbow. But the study has show some regular stream brook trout will also go downstream and venture into the lake.

However there are a few strains in the Superior area that have been isolated as "coaster' oriented that are being propogated in hatcheries. Here's a pic of a "coaster" I grew out in my trout pond down here in Indiana that I bought from the Red Cliff Tribal Hatchery as a fingerling. The fish in the pic is 6lbs. 4 oz. The Indians refer to them as "coasters" and are planting them into Lake Superior to bolster the "coaster" populaton although the original stock came from Lake Nipigon.

I have about 100 of these in my trout pond at present in the 12 to 14 inch size range. 

[yooperdave]

taxi 1,,,, come up to the U.P. this winter and i will take you out to catch a wild coaster.

[taxi1]

taxi 1,,,, come up to the U.P. this winter and i will take you out to catch a wild coaster.

Hmmm... Sounds promising. What's nonresident Michigan license going up to though? I heard your resident fishing licenses my increase 200 percent?