What an incredible fish! A 24-pound Arctic Char from Plummer’s Lodge, I dream of catching fish like this.
I must be in the wrong place; this Brook Trout is also a Char, but nothing like the ones at Plummer’s.
Char species are often misidentified as trout. Many Char species have "trout" in their common names, further adding to the confusion. The
Arctic char / Salvelinus alpinus is a cold-water fish, native to alpine lakes,
Arctic, and subarctic coastal waters.
The mount in the
title image is at the main lodge of Plummer's Lodges on Great Bear Lake,
Northwest Territories, Canada. Plummer's represents an angling adventure of a
lifetime. https://Plummerslodges.com
In the second image,
I'm holding a Brook trout / Salvelinus fontinalis, a freshwater species also in
the Char genus. This 'Brookie', a nickname, was caught and released in a stream
located in the Ansel Adams Wilderness region of California's Sierra Nevada
mountains. The Sierra Nevada Mountains are stunningly beautiful and
another worthy angling adventure.
Notice that the two
species share similar markings. This Brook Trout Illustration is for marking comparison to the Arctic
Char mount above. The illustration is by Duane Raver and is from the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, public domain.
Size is relative, and fish often grow to a
particular size based on the size of their environment and the number of fish
that occupy it. I'm enjoying some self-deprecation based on the size juxtaposition
of the two separate fish from the same genius. Which one would you prefer to
catch?
