Fishing in Alberta

Rainbow Trout are olive-green in colour with heavy black spotting over the body.
Adult fish have a red-coloured stripe along the lateral line, from the gills to the tail.

Brown Trout are golden brown in colour with large black spots on the back,
and red spots (some with pale haloes) on the sides. They are the only trout with
both red and black spotting.

Brook Trout are among the most colourful trout. The back is dark green with pale
wavy lines, while the sides have a purple sheen with blue-haloed red spots.

Cutthroat Trout are named for the bright red-orange streak in the fold under
the mouth. They also have small scales and black spots without haloes on the sides.

Lake Trout are a grey fish with irregular white spots and a forked caudal fin.

Bull Trout are slim fish with a large head. Their back is olive-green to grey while
their sides are silvery and marked with pale yellow to red spots.
There are no black spots on the dorsal fin.
Threatened Species: CATCH and RELEASE Only.

Golden Trout are the most colourful of trout, with an olive-green back and
bright red-to-gold sides and belly.

Dolly Varden have back and sides which are olive green or muddy gray, shading to white on the belly. The body has scattered pale yellow or pinkish-yellow spots. There are no black spots or wavy lines on the body or fins. Small red spots are present on the lower sides. These are frequently indistinct. The fins are plain and unmarked except for a few light spots on the base of the caudal fin rays.

Tiger Trout are a sterile hybrid from crossing brown trout eggs and brook trout
milt. Tiger trout can be light to dark in colour and have pronounced
vermiculations like the stripes of a tiger.

Walleye have two distinct fins on their back, the first with large spines. They have a yellow-olive back, brassy, silvery sides with yellow spots, a white underside, and white on the lower lobe of the tail. Dusky vertical bars are often found on the body as well.

Sauger are golden olive on the back with silver-yellow sides and a white underside. They also have a large spiny dorsal fin, distinct rows of spots on the dorsal fins and three or four dusky vertical bars on the body. Can be confused with Walleye.

Northern Pike are a long, slender fish with duck-like jaws and a long, flat head. The back and sides are predominantly dark green to olive green, with yellow to white spots. Big teeth.

Burbot have a slim, brownish black body with smooth skin, a flattened head, and a fin that stretches along the back half of the body. Distinctive barbels hang from the lower jaw and nostrils.

Arctic grayling can be identified by their colourful and very large dorsal fin and by their large scales with brown or black spots on the body behind the head.
A species of special concern. CATCH and RELEASE Only.

Yellow Perch are golden yellow or green, with broad, dark vertical bands on their sides. They also have needle-like spines on the dorsal fin.

Mountain Whitefish have large scales, no spots and small mouths with no teeth. Their general body colour is a bronze-white or greenish white.

Mooneye have prominent eyes with the top being golden, a blunt head, and a deep, compressed body with a longer keel. Their colour ranges from grey-blue to silver back with silvery or white sides.

Goldeye have prominent eyes with bright yellow pupils, a blunt head, and a deep, compressed body. Their colour ranges from dark blue to blue-green on its back, with silvery or white sides. Mooneye and Goldeye have very similar appearance.

Lake Whitefish are olive-green to blue on the back, with silvery sides. They have a small mouth below a rounded snout, and a deeply forked tail.

Lake Sturgeon have a large brown or grey body covered with tough, leather-like tissue and five rows of bony plates. They have a shark-like, upturned tail and a pointed snout with four barbels.
Threatened Species: CATCH and RELEASE Only.