Movements

Movement patterns of the lake trout are varied. Winter will find these fish foraging through all depths of the thermal inversion for herring or ciscoes. At break-up, lake trout seek out spawning smelt and alewives in very shallow waters until warming weather forces them to cooler water. During these warmer months of summer lake trout are virtually trapped beneath the thermocline which deepens with every day of summer. As fall approaches, the sexual drives prompt fish to move to shallower water where the annual spawning ritual will take place.

In the spring when the lake trout frequent shallow water, their diet consists mainly of aquatic insects and shore-dwelling fish. Later, they subsist on higher-protein fish such as the whitefish and cisco found in deeper waters. The alewife and smelt, wherever they are found, are important food items in their diet.

Tagged trout have been found to travel over an area of about 30 miles, but records show that some may travel up to 200 miles. These movements are dictated in large measure by the need for cool water as well as by the patterns of their prey.

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