Splake
Species Facts

Science Name: Salvelinus namaycush
Other Names: Wendigo
Description

A splake trout is the hybrid cross between lake trout and brook trout. It has a dark background with white spots. The tail fin is not as deeply forked as lake trout. The pectoral fins are easily distinguished from rainbow trout as splake have a dark background with white spots and rainbows have a lighter, silvery background with dark spots.

Splake inhabit Lakes Superior and Huron in the Great Lakes, and various midsize lakes in selected states from Colorado, Utah, and Idaho in the western U.S., to northern New York and Maine in the east.

Splake do not grow as large as lake trout, but they do grow larger than brook trout. Most splake weigh a few pounds, although those from bigger waters with a large forage base may be in the 8- to 12-pound class. The all-tackle world record is a fish from Ontario's Georgian Bay on Lake Huron; it weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces and was caught in 1987.

Identification: Splake and brook trout have very similar coloration patterns, making it very difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish between the two species. Splake tend to have a slight fork in the tail, a trait passed down from its lake trout parent, while brook trout tend to have no fork or "square" tails.

Splake are a hybrid trout resulting from the cross of brook trout and lake trout.

Splake have been culturally produced since the 1870's.

This hybrid trout is genetically stable and capable of reproducing. However, splake reproduction has never been documented outside of the hatchery environment.

Splake are commonly stocked across the northern United States and throughout Canada for the purpose of providing fishing opportunity.