Freestone vs. Limestone Streams (fish coloration,size and strength/weight) Long post

[afishinado]

Here is a general article on fish coloration. The "red coloration" section may answer a question brought up earlier:

Fish Coloration . . . Why?
by John Peterson

Have you every wondered when you see a beautiful fish why the fish is colored like it is? There is an enormous variety of colors and color patterns found on fish. Although this is one way to distinguish one fish from another for us hobbyist, there are reasons for the way the fish are colored. Having spent most of my life learning about our finned friends, I find that each day there is something more to learn regarding why our fish are like they are. I hope these facts will help you in analyzing your fish and help you to better understand their needs.

Cryptic Coloration
Many fishes are colored to match their backgrounds. This cryptic coloration is particularly important for sluggish bottom fishes. As a result, they often closely match the bottoms they rest upon, even mimicking irregular patches of light and algae. Some even can change their coloration to match their background.

Silvery
Bright silvery fishes are most characteristic of well-lighted waters, such as inshore waters of lakes or surface waters of the ocean. Usually silvery fish school and the light flashing off the scales helps to confuse predators because individual fish become hard to pick out. They also blend with the light reflected from the surface of the water.

Countershading
Most fishes have dark backs and white bellies. That dark backs help them blend in the dark bottom depths, when viewed from above, whereas the white belly helps them blend with the sky above when viewed from below.

Disruptive Coloration
Another form of camouflage is colors and patterns that break up the outline of the fish, making them harder to see. One of the most common patterns of this type is vertical bars running down each side. This pattern is associated with fishes that live near beds of aquatic plants, such as many of your cichlids. The vertical bars on the fish can blend in with the vertical pattern of the plant stems.

Red Coloration
It seems strange, in a world filled with predators, that so many fish are bright red or have red spots, stripes or fins. Although red is one of the most visible colors to us, it frequently is one of the least visible in the water. The color red is filtered out in the water and fades out at dusk. Red is also one of the last colors to appear at dawn. Fish with red coloration will normally be found in the deeper waters.

Bright Bright Colors
Many fishes have complex color patterns, especially many of the coral reef fishes. The bright colors can be a sign of sex, status or maturity. Another function of the bright colors may be camouflage. On a coral reef, colors are magnified and enhanced on the growth of the reef, so the fish seem to blend in better with their environment. This is especially true when light levels are low and colors are hard to see. The striking patterns may suddenly become disruptive patterns making the fish hard to distinguish from a shadow.

Eye Ornamentation
The eyes of fish are perhaps the most visible feature, especially at a distance. Anyone that has ever done any skin diving will concur with this. They are frequently the focus of attacks by predators and are important in communication with other members of their species. This results in two contrary needs in eye ornamentation. One is to disguise the eyes, the other is to emphasize them. There are many ways to disguise the eyes such as with a black line running through the pupil that is continuous with either horizontal or vertical stripes of the body or by having numerous spots surrounding the eyes that are similar in size to the pupil. The eye can be emphasized by having them brightly tinged with blue, green or yellow. Supplementary patterns such as eye rings can also be found.

Eye Spots
One of the most common marks on fishes, especially juvenile fishes, is a black spot located near the base of the tail. This spot is usually about the size of the eye and may even be emphasized with a light colored ring, while the real eye is disguised. Their principle function is to confuse predators by having them aim for the tail, rather than the head, giving the victim a greater chance to get away.

Lateral Bands
Single dark bands running along the sides of a fish are best developed in schooling fish. Their exact function is not known, but they seem to help keep members of a school properly oriented to one another. They also can be useful in confusing predators because the bands on individual fish in a school seem to blend together making it difficult for the predator to pick out one individual.

Link to source: http://www.mtfb.com/tbas1/FishColoration.html

 

[BrookieBuster101]

Rookie wrote:
Sal, great post! very informative and interesting. I agree with all that you say above, just going to add some things that I have noticed.

Coloration can vary significantly even within the same stream. Valley Creek brown trout, for example, have many different color variations. I've only fished it twice but caught enough to see these differences. One common variation, at least where I fish, has many spots and an overall light golden brown color. Another common one has fewer spots, and a darker brown on the back fading to a dark yellow. Some of these even have reddish-purple tones running right through the middle of their backs almost like a rainbow trout's stripe. And I have even caught one that had very few spots and an overall greenish sheen. I once saw one that looked jet black as well.

I think coloration is based on exactly where the fish hold, rather than one color prevailing throughout the whole length of a stream. As you have said, shady areas with a dark stream bottom produce dark fish. sunlight or a light bottom produces lighter colored fish. Notice in the pics below how the coloration matches the stream bottom. Its all about camouflage. One thing I always wonder about though, is how do bright red spots help trout blend in? I would think if you look at a trout from the side underwater the red would stand out. Same with red fins on brookies. Maybe it doesnt work on me because I know what to look for?

I noticed that the exposure that your photos were taken, also matched the color scheme of the fish. Could it be that the cells take in color pigments based son lighting?

 

[firandfeather]

salvelinusfontinalis,
Glad you like the book and thanks for the good comments. You will find the limestone trout to be more brilliant in color. The colors just really stand out like the red striping, fins and belly colors. But with that said, I have done many Ph studies on some of our freestrone streams and the ones with good Ph have very nicely colored trout. The brookie on my web site is just one of them. Where trout hide also can factor into the coloring.

Mike

 

[sundrunk]

Mike,

Did the toxic introduction take place in the cress farm beds above Shenk's Run? I thought I read something about a truck spilling over Bonny brook bridge too? I know we're going back aways but thought I'd ask?

Great book,
Those photo's keep me going thru the winter months
-

 

[GreenMan]

These fish were caught on the same stream in different sections separated by one day... Based on these photos, I would have to assume that the color of the stream bottom plays a role in the fishes camouflage...

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Afish,

That article was awesome!

Now i understand the whole red thing. I often wondered why a fish hiding from predators would have red on them.

Green,

Welcome 🙂 i never met you before but welcome to the site.
I like your photos, i dont want to know the name of the stream but in the first pic of the stream it looks like its half a limestone spring creek. Neat little stream!

Mike,

Im sure PH plays a role. Im sure alot of things do. I wont contest what you say, i mean look @ Big Spring Brookies. They are amazing with color. But Letort Browns are dull by most freestone brown trout standards IMHO.

And of course not all Letort Browns are dull, just most of them ;-)

Good Stuff guys. I wish some more of the regular posters would chime in.

 

[GreenWeenie]

Very interesting posting by AFish.

When reading AFish’s posting above and the explanation on colors and shades, etc., don’t just limit it to why trout look like they do – light also affects everything else in the stream.

The angle and intensity of the sunlight hitting a stream has a major impact on what colors work and what colors don’t work at that particular time. Depending on the conditions the wrong color fly can send the trout heading for cover while the right color fly will attract them like a magnet.

White light (visible light) is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet spectral colors with red having the longest wavelength and violet the shortest. Water is like a prism and the angle and intensity of the sunlight determines what wavelengths (colors) dominate the trout’s underwater world at a given time. By selecting the appropriately colored/shaded fly based on current sunlight conditions you will greatly improve your success rate. Even the slightest difference in shade (either a bit lighter or darker) can have a major impact in your success.

 

[Stevie-B]

I think that as far light vs. dark, that has to do with the surroundings of the fish. Have you ever noticed how bait in a white bucket lightens up? (pssst! Little bait fishing tip.)

 

[firandfeather]

As far as I know from Ed it was the run downstream which is still not that far from the bridge.
Mike

 

[troutbert]

GreenWeenie wrote:
Very interesting posting by AFish.

When reading AFish’s posting above and the explanation on colors and shades, etc., don’t just limit it to why trout look like they do – light also affects everything else in the stream.

The angle and intensity of the sunlight hitting a stream has a major impact on what colors work and what colors don’t work at that particular time. Depending on the conditions the wrong color fly can send the trout heading for cover while the right color fly will attract them like a magnet.

White light (visible light) is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet spectral colors with red having the longest wavelength and violet the shortest. Water is like a prism and the angle and intensity of the sunlight determines what wavelengths (colors) dominate the trout’s underwater world at a given time. By selecting the appropriately colored/shaded fly based on current sunlight conditions you will greatly improve your success rate. Even the slightest difference in shade (either a bit lighter or darker) can have a major impact in your success.

What's the practical, take home, fishing tip from this? How do you choose the right colored fly?

 

[troutbert]

Regarding intense coloration and lack of it in trout, I think these are important factors:

1) Genetics. Some strains of brown trout simply have brighter colors than others for genetic reasons.

2) Food. Fish that are eating a lot of insects and/or crustaceans get brighter in color than those with a more fish-based diet.

3) Exposure to sunlight. Fish that are in larger streams (and lakes and the ocean) tend to have a silvery color. The more intense colored fish are often found in smaller, shaded streams.

 

[DGC]

I breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not the only one who finds this kind of stuff fascinating.

I don't have anything to add that you guys haven't already explored well.

For me, there is a romantic mystique that, though incorrect in a scientific sense, ties coloration to wildness, and I suspect I'm not alone in that. I'm not talking about wild vs. stocked, but degree of wildness as in a trout desecended from a long, undisturbed heritage strain. Compare that with a wild trout that is descended from fingerlings planted, say, 10 years ago. Again, I realize that environmental factors may trump genetics and that the latter may be more colorful. Nevertheless, an angler can dream of such things and there's nothing wrong with that. Kind of like the romance and intrigue of searching for the last of the PA native Brook char, or finding a Maryland Darter in Harford county, MD. It just seems like they are supposed to be more colorful.

I have a request: take a look through your wild brown pictures and if you have one or more with red spots on the dorsal fin, please post them. It can be hard to do since we often hold the fish in a way that obsures the dorsal. This is something I started thinking about after flipping through Fly Fishing Pressured Waters a month or two ago.

It may be wishful thinking on my part, but this brown may have a red dot or two on the dorsal. Hard to tell because the flash washes things out so much. I don't have any pictures of Gunpowder browns but it seems to me some of those might have red on the dorsals as well.



As for red as good camo, I noticed the northern water snake that caught that brown a few weeks ago also has a fair amount of red.

 

[dasofas]

This is the nicest colored brown we have caught. Note it was not in a limestone influenced stream, it was in a fairly open (not much canopy) freestoner. It did probably come out of the deepest hole in the stretch that was fished (very small hole, a bit of a bank undercut at a bend, yet deep by standard of the rest of the stream). Note, this fish was caught in early summer. Most of the browns we see that come out of here are very similar. I also attached a photo of a typical brookie taken out of the same water during the same time of year. Note that the brookies do not seem to take on the vibrant colors the browns do. Different species I realize, but same water, same time of year, and same food. I always expected to see better coloration on the brooks, but it never really seems to happen. Could this be more related to strain of each? Another thing to note, the fish out of this creek appear to hold on to more defined parr marks even as they become more mature. Not sure why, but even the decent sized brown still has very visible parr marks.

 

[MKern]

I think fish swim too much to color-up based off what pool they are in.
I would think a fish would have to be in a pool, in the exsact same location to be half and half.

I will say I have noticed differeces in fish when in dark stretches of stream compared streams with less canopy/rock cover.

Sal,
I have seem brookies that retain their spawn colors well into early spring. I think it has to do with the individual fish; and probably whether or not they found a mate.

I want to clarify that I think that freestown browns appear to (to me) to have denser muscles.

 

[PSUFishMenace]

BB101 I use my cell phone to take pics, so when I'm taking a shot I try to look at the screen and then adjust how I'm holding the fish so its actual colors show up. That's why sometimes I'm holding the fish at weird angles like the second one. Otherwise it just shows up silvery. Usually the phone camera does not add or intensify actual colors if that's what u mean. Other cameras may do that to a certain extent.

 

[PSUFishMenace]

MKern that is an interesting point. It depends how much territory each fish has. On streams with low populations, a trout may have much larger territories (multiple pools) compared to a trout in a class A stream which may be forced by the presence of many other trout to occupy a really small territory. Trout with larger territories are likely less well camouflaged to a certain section, unless of course their territory has the same shade and bottom everywhere.

 

[wgmiller]

Donegal Creek, Lancaster County 'wild' brown trout FWIW... I know you know what these guys look like Sal!!!

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

MKern that is an interesting point. It depends how much territory each fish has. On streams with low populations, a trout may have much larger territories (multiple pools) compared to a trout in a class A stream which may be forced by the presence of many other trout to occupy a really small territory. Trout with larger territories are likely less well camouflaged to a certain section, unless of course their territory has the same shade and bottom everywhere.

I can see that as being likely Rookie. Good point and thanks for your thoughts.

MKern,

Ok im get what your saying now....yes the muscles of Freestone Trout appear more defined and denser. I think that might be because the Limestone ones are so well-fed they are fat. Just look at the Little Rainbows of Big Spring. These guys must eat all day, all night and even when they arent hungry ;-)

Even the brookies seem fat.....even the little guys

Freestone or Limestone....................I love all of PA's wild trout waters. Each with their own "personality" and their own fish. Its part of the mystique i love about fishing all these waters.

 

[Maurice]

Interesting article Afish....for salt water enthusiasts.

 

[BrookieBuster101]

Rookie,
I wasnt talking about the quality of the photos themselves, i just noticed that on the top photo, there was bright sunlight and the fish was very rich in coloration whereas on the second photo it seemed to be overcast and the fish's coloration matched the atmosphere.

I was thinking, maybe fish change coloration intensity more quickly than we are thinking. I know that sculpin and various aquarium catfish can change the shades of their body within a few hours of being put in a new tank, with a different substrate to better camouflage themselves.

also id like to add that if i have the light of my aquarium off for a day or two the fish are much more washed out than if the light is on its regular schedule.