Alberta Salmonid ID Quiz

[PeterSL]

Testing of anglers has shown that their ability to identify trout and other Alberta salmonids is not always that good, especially when the fish are juveniles. It's a skill that most of us probably need to work on, especially as Alberta's Fishing Regulations prohibit the killing of certain species - bull trout everywhere and other species depending on where you catch them. So as a way for anyone to check how good he or she is at telling one from another, the Northern Lights Fly Fishers Chapter of TUC developed a multiple choice quiz. There are 20 pictures in total with at least one of a bull trout, rainbow, brookie, brown, golden, lake trout, lake and mountain whitefish, arctic grayling, tiger trout and cuttthroat. You can access the quiz on the Chapter's website at http://www.nlft.org/2018/03/09/fish-...fication-quiz/
Give it a try. When you've answered them all, you can email your result to FishQuiz@nlft.org to be entered to win a copy of Fishes of Alberta – Field Identification guide. The draw will occur on April 15. Email entries will be destroyed and the information collected will not be sold or used for any purposes other than to notify the winner.
Don't be surprised if you find it harder than you might think. A study reported by Jim Stelfox and Jennifer Earle in 2013 that used a similar quiz found that, "Although most (71%) of those tested indicated that they were experienced anglers who had fished for more than 10 years and 82% indicated that they fished in the Eastern Slopes, the average first-attempt score was only 57%." Interestingly Alberta’s provincial fish, the bull trout,was the species correctly identified the least often. Can you do better?

[yetiseeker]

Peter,

Thanks for posting this.

[The Spank]

I got 18....

[SNAPFisher]

20 out of 20 for me. 100%!
I had a couple that I had to use the process of elimination on so they were not all too obvious.

Thanks for this Peter. A good test for anyone.

[Evil69]

The little cutty was a tough one.

[goldscud]

20 for me. This is a good test. Sad to hear the results are so poor

[ReconWilly]

Nice resource.

That little bull is a good test.

[Fishing4Trophies]

Peter,

Thank you for posting this, I am sad to hear about the low average scores... Countless times I have seen people cooking up some Bull trout on a grill on the upper/lower K. ALL fisherman need to acknowledge the skills in identifying fish in general, makes me sad when I see fellow fisherman make a pricey mistake messing up on the ID of a fish. I believe we should be more informed on characteristics of different salmonids, we gotta keep our fishing waters healthy and thriving for "us" and the future generations of young anglers.

[LCCFisherman]

That YOY ARGR got me.

[pikergolf]

Is it me or do they have number 7 misidentified. Sure looks like a Brook to me.

[alacringa]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Is it me or do they have number 7 misidentified. Sure looks like a Brook to me.

Dorsal fin has spots, not vermiculations. No white on leading edge of pectorals, which are pretty yellow. Seems like a pretty solid brown fry. The young ones are definitely a little trickier.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by alacringa

Dorsal fin has spots, not vermiculations. No white on leading edge of pectorals, which are pretty yellow. Seems like a pretty solid brown fry. The young ones are definitely a little trickier.

Pink spots, blue halo, I've never seen that on a brown.

[MrPants]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Pink spots, blue halo, I've never seen that on a brown.

Definitely a brown, those pink spots are orange, the black spots and yellowish colour give it away to me. Caught many that looked like that in the Clearwater river.

[PeterSL]

Originally Posted by PeterSL

Testing of anglers has shown that their ability to identify trout and other Alberta salmonids is not always that good, especially when the fish are juveniles. It's a skill that most of us probably need to work on, especially as Alberta's Fishing Regulations prohibit the killing of certain species - bull trout everywhere and other species depending on where you catch them. So as a way for anyone to check how good he or she is at telling one from another, the Northern Lights Fly Fishers Chapter of TUC developed a multiple choice quiz. There are 20 pictures in total with at least one of a bull trout, rainbow, brookie, brown, golden, lake trout, lake and mountain whitefish, arctic grayling, tiger trout and cuttthroat. You can access the quiz on the Chapter's website at http://www.nlft.org/2018/03/09/fish-...fication-quiz/
Give it a try. When you've answered them all, you can email your result to FishQuiz@nlft.org to be entered to win a copy of Fishes of Alberta – Field Identification guide. The draw will occur on April 15. Email entries will be destroyed and the information collected will not be sold or used for any purposes other than to notify the winner.
Don't be surprised if you find it harder than you might think. A study reported by Jim Stelfox and Jennifer Earle in 2013 that used a similar quiz found that, "Although most (71%) of those tested indicated that they were experienced anglers who had fished for more than 10 years and 82% indicated that they fished in the Eastern Slopes, the average first-attempt score was only 57%." Interestingly Alberta’s provincial fish, the bull trout,was the species correctly identified the least often. Can you do better?

Only 10 days left to email your score to FishQuiz@nlft.org for a chance to win!

[trainerdave]

Fun and Done... There should be a "name the sucker" quiz for a booby prize. Like Oilers or Flames playoff tickets...
D

[scel]

I got 18. I mistook the grayling fry. I am surprised how much they look like trout fry with the parr marks.

I also mistook the golden trout for cutthroat trout. I have never actually seen a golden trout though, but I really should have known that one.

[Sloughsharkjigger]

Great identification test. Thanks to those that bring this awareness forward.

More of a concern would be, why would someone want to harvest a fish the size a human hand? In my books if I’m washing hooks and something that small comes to the end of the rod... I don’t take the time to inspect... it simply goes back as fast as possible.

Let’s not make this a trivia contest folks...

[TUFFBUFF]

I like these, there fun. Also interesting to see how everyone else does.

I got 19/20, the little dude in the tank got me

[3blade]

20/20 had to look close a few times on the little ones. Good test, thanks for posting

[Slicktricker]

I got told I may need to turn in my license lol not a trout fisher but learning

[trigger7mm]

18/20 neat test. Thanks.