Usually when I’m fishing, it’s the big female pike and walleye that we want to see. But, my brother and I went out for splake last week and it was nice male in fall colours that I was after. We did well for good sized (and still very beautiful) females and finally in mid afternoon a flag went up and after a fantastic fight, I got this beauty on the ice.
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Nice fish, I’ve always wanted to get after some of these.
Beautiful fish!
Nice fish! Correct me if I’m wrong: Wouldn’t a splake have a forked tail like a laker? That looks to me like a nice, big brookie.
Good job either way. Nothing is as colorful as a trout in the snow.
Phil, I just recognized you. Thanks for the heads-up on the vex. I joined up here now.
I can’t imagine the fight…. what bait/size did you have on the tip up?
Nice fish! Correct me if I’m wrong: Wouldn’t a splake have a forked tail like a laker? That looks to me like a nice, big brookie.
Not necessarily. The angle of photo makes the tail look straighter than it is, I think. It didn’t have the full fork of a laker, but if you compared this tail to a purebred brookie, it is indented a bit. The lake we were on only has splake in it, and I’ve found that the amount of fork in the tail varies from fish to fish with splake, as does the colouration. Some of them look more like lakers and some look more like brookies. It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities that a brookie got mixed in with the splake fry at the hatchery, but I’ve never seen a brookie with such an orange belly or hybridized tail from the strain of brookies that are hatched here in Sask.
I use the same quick strike design I use for pike, only on a small scale with 4-6lb flouro, small trebles and a 2.5″ish minnow under the tip ups. The tip ups actually outfished the jigging rods on this day.
Cool. God, that’s a pretty fish.
Beautiful fish! I’m jealous. I’ve only had the chance to catch one small splake in my life.
Sure looks like a splake to me. Doesn’t have the wormlike markings on the back like a brookie. Seems to have muted spots as well instead of the bright yellow/silver/red spots on it.
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