Name That Fish!
It’s been a while since we ran a Name That Fish! contest, but today I found an obscure catch that should hopefully keep you guessing for a few days. This is a freshwater fish that is not native to North America, but is a relative to some of our most popular game fish. Good luck!
Winner of this contest will receive a Water Gremlin t-shirt!
UPDATE! This is the Softmouth Trout (salmo obtusirotis) also known as the asiatic trout adriatic trout. The photo comes from TroutConservancy.org’s short but sweet post about trout fishing in Bosnia.
lenock trout
sorry Lenok trout
This is the odd looking Asiatic trout, called the Lenok, specifically, (Brachymystax lenok). The Lenok is believed to the the ‘link’ between trout and grayling. This is the ‘sharp-nosed’ Lenok. The ‘blunt-nose’ Lenok looks more like a brown trout. The blunt-nose get’s a good deal larger; up in the 30# range.
I had a nice conversation with a guide from the Himalayan Outfitters the other night, and we were talking about this fish. Though they are not in the Himalayan drainage, they are well known in the Asian trout fishing circles.
I don’t remember who posted it .. but this photo showed up on Facebook in the last month or two .. if I recollect correctly.
Asiatic trout is correct. Although this is the salmo obtusirostris or softmouth trout. Lenok appears to be related but a different species, but it was decided that “asiatic trout” would be an acceptable answer so you win on a technicality. I will update the post shortly with more information including the source of the image.
O’fieldstream please email us your t-shirt size, name, and mailing address to [email protected]
Lenok trout for sure. There are lot of Lenok trout in rivers of any sort, but usually upstream, where the water is colder. I always go for fishing in charter Pawleys Island but we cannot see Asiatic trout in the wild throughout North America. There are people who want to catch them and keep these fish as pets, but unfortunately lenok trout will not survive outside of their indigenous home.
Old contest but incorrect answer :)This is softmouth trout, Salmo obtusirostris oxyrhynchus (Steindachner, 1882) from the river Neretva, Bosnia and Herzegovina.http://www.balkan-trout.com/studied_taxa_1_softmouth.htm
It is not known as asiatic trout, sorry.Lenok is a different specie…Softmouth trout is endemic specie of Adriatic river system of the western Balkans (Europe).http://www.balkan-trout.com/studied_taxa_1_1_neretva.htmWhy are you deleting comments?
Faruk you are correct it should say “Adriatic trout” not asiatic. Thank you for clearing that up. Nobody deleted your comments, they were awaiting moderation.
Looks more like the link between a trout and the mountain whitefish. Looks like it loves to dig nymphs out of the substrate with its schnauze. I bet it flashes sideways when it does so and that there is a predatory bird that keys in on this. Just a guess from an observational Montanan.