My mate and I enjoyed a week on Loch Hope last week. Conditions were very mixed, giving us some good, some bad and some indifferent fishing. We had 45 fish for the week - roughly 50:50 finnock and sea trout. The finnock were a decent size, with nothing under about 12 oz. The biggest sea trout we had were around 3 lb 8 oz. Somewhere there is a dividing line. Folk put in the register the number of sea trout and the number of finnock. But where exactly is the dividing line? I doubt there is a gap between sizes - a particular weight that is never recorded, allowing a line to be drawn? Is there an exact weight they can be split by? If so, is it fixed, or does it move about? Some years or some places we catch finnock no more more than about 6 oz or so. Do sea trout start at a smaller size in those years too?
I have a feeling that there is something about their shape. It's just a hunch. To me, it seems like a big finnock is a different shape from a small sea trout. A big finnock tends to be like an elongated rugby ball. Here is a good example from last week...
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It's like the shape of Loch Leven brownies that grow at a very fast rate. Makes sense - the biggest finnock are going to be the ones that grew fastest. Smaller finnock are shaped more like brownies - like this one...
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Makes sense if they are slower growing?
So, by that token, a smaller sea trout - in the overlap zone with big finnock - is going to be more shaped like a brown trout and less like a rugby ball...
I had this 2's-up last week, and I'm calling it a finnock and a small sea trout. The bigger fish, as well as being more coloured, is more like the shape of a typical brown trout.
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Even though the finnock is not a big one, it's a different shape - more like the elongated rugby ball idea.
But it's just a general observation. What do others think? What do you call a finnock and what do you call a sea trout?
Col
I have a feeling that there is something about their shape. It's just a hunch. To me, it seems like a big finnock is a different shape from a small sea trout. A big finnock tends to be like an elongated rugby ball. Here is a good example from last week...
It's like the shape of Loch Leven brownies that grow at a very fast rate. Makes sense - the biggest finnock are going to be the ones that grew fastest. Smaller finnock are shaped more like brownies - like this one...
Makes sense if they are slower growing?
So, by that token, a smaller sea trout - in the overlap zone with big finnock - is going to be more shaped like a brown trout and less like a rugby ball...
I had this 2's-up last week, and I'm calling it a finnock and a small sea trout. The bigger fish, as well as being more coloured, is more like the shape of a typical brown trout.
Even though the finnock is not a big one, it's a different shape - more like the elongated rugby ball idea.
But it's just a general observation. What do others think? What do you call a finnock and what do you call a sea trout?
Col
