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| "The
Trouts" gillaroo | sonaghen | Croneen The
Ferox The Ferox trout, Salmo ferox, is one of Ireland's most famous trout races. This is principally due to the large size which it can attain. |
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word "ferox" means ferocious and is attributable to this trout's
reputation as a fierce predaor and to its ugly appearance (characteristically
the head is angular and grows out of proportion to the rest of its body
enabling it to eat larger prey).
In Scotland ferox trout have been associated with char lakes. It is believed that arctic charr and ferox trout, both anadromous species, became trapped inland about 10,000 years ago when climatic conditions changed, cutting off their access to the sea, and forever changing their life history. Indeed in Ireland ferox can be found in many char lakes or in lakes which traditionally held char in the past. Ferox canabalise brown trout (which returned to many of the same lakes when geological processes and climatic conditions allowed) and also prey on other fish species (in Lough Corrib ferox take large numbers of roach). Ferox trout make up the majority of specimen lake trout caught in Ireland and can attain a weight in excess of 20lb. They are longer lived (up to 15yrs of age) than the average lake brown trout which usually live no longer than five years. The classic work carried out by Andrew Ferguson of Queens University on the genetics of the trout of Lough Melvin identified the ferox as a separate subspecies. He showed that they home to a specific spawning area and are reproductively isolated. Furthermore, he discovered that this fish was one of the oldest trout races to colonise Ireland, perhaps as old as 50,000 yrs. Large trout >10 lbs can also be caught in the productive midlands lakes (The Irish record of 26lb 2oz for a lake trout was caught in L. Ennell). However these fish do not exhibit the characteristics associated with the ferox and their size is directly related to the productivity of the lake. Irish Lakes containing ferox trout L. Melvin, L. Mask, L. Corrib, L. Conn, L. Talt, L. Dan, L. Ree, Killarney Lakes. Many small lakes contain trout which have developed ferox characteristics. Fishing for ferox trout Trolling with a dead minnow, "brickeen", or roach is common in L. Corrib and L. Mask. Other successful methods are spinning and casting or trolling a rapalla type lure. Many ferox trout are caught each year by anglers fishing for pike. We would ask anglers to not bring live roach near lakes where they are not present due to the catostrophic consequences associated with previous roach introductions in Irish trout lakes. You are reminded that live baiting is illegal in Ireland, as is the transport of live fish, with further legislation governing roach.
 Copyright
2003. ICCG ©2003 |
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