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Hey fellow AA'ers! Question for ya. I've been looking around the net and can't really find a definitive answer on how to identify lake trout gender. Reason is, l'm hitting the park this weekend. Last year last weekend to fish for them we caught alot of lakers. Kept 2. The one had eggs in it. Felt bad. But both my brother and l thought the other one was a female after seeing the first one because it was fatter. Turned out to be a male. Is there a way to tell? Hate to keep another female. Sounds stupid but rather see the female do its thing and spawn then ending up on my plate.
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In pretty well all trout and char the females will have a shorter, rounder head and colours tend to be more drab. Though it's probably least noticeable in lakers. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. If you catch and keep that same fish in the spring - it won't have eggs, but it still won't be spawning come fall. Good luck, I'll be chasing brookies some where in the park this weekend.
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Thanks. I'll be looking for Brookies as well. Gook luck......
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Sorry I'm a little late to reply! But one of the best ways to tell the gender of a mature lake trout is to look for a protrusion from their anus.
If it protrudes (which will be rather slightly, maybe a centimeter) it means that the lake trout has laid eggs and is thus a female. If there is no protrusion it means its either a male lake trout, or an immature female who has not yet laid eggs.
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Pretty tough with lake trout unfortunately. I am an aquatic biologist and still find myself guessing incorrectly a lot. Adult Brook trout become very easy to sex once you've seen a few of em.
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