Lenok

Lenoks, otherwise known as Siberian trout, Asiatic trout or Manchurian trout, are a beautiful catch. They have golden bodies, bright red bands and black spots. Throughout the fishing season, these native trout feed aggressively on the surface. Their behavior mirrors cutthroat trout, charging up from the depths of crystal clear water to slam petite flies. They are a genus, Brachymystax, of salmonid fishes native to rivers and lakes in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, wider Siberia (Russia). Lenoks can be sharp-snouted (B. lenok) or blunt-snouted (B. tumensis). Traditionally both these were included in B. lenok, but today they are generally recognized as separate. They are relatively round in shape and speckled with dark brown spots. Their ventral’s are usually colored a reddish hue, and their pectoral fins yellowish. They weigh up to 33 pounds and can reach a total length of 3.4 feet. They are a cold-water fish that never goes to the ocean; finds deep cold waters during summer; can be found under the ice in late fall and winter. During spawning the body turns to a dark red and the dorsal and pectoral fins change to a rainbow of colors.