The rainbow trout spawning run has just finished at Liawenee. This year, 920 adult rainbow trout were caught in the fish trap. Rainbow trout in yingina/Great Lake are less abundant than brown trout and the populations are monitored by how many fish are capture in the trap at spawning time. A typical brown trout spawning run is around 10 000+ fish, whereas 1 000 rainbow trout will arrive in a good year.

The rainbow trout that migrate are trapped and allowed to spawn naturally. They are counted, paired and placed into sectioned spawning channels that provide space and good gravel so the eggs and juvenile fish can develop away from any brown trout. We do this to prevent competition with the young of year brown trout fry that are already well advanced. This gives wild rainbow trout fry the best possible opportunity to develop and drop back into the lake naturally.

Rainbow trout provide exciting and diverse fishing and typically grow bigger than the brown trout in yingina/Great Lake. They are spectacular when hooked and put up a strong fight.

Every year we weigh and measure 100 female and 100 male rainbow trout to understand the population dynamics. For 2020, the average weight of rainbow trout in the spawning run is 933g and 444mm in length. The rainbow trout females average almost 100g more than the males, but all the fish are in great condition.

The minimum size limit for rainbow trout in yingina/Great Lake is 400mm and the bag limit is 3 fish per day.

Grouping	Measurement	Mean	Minimum	Maximum
	Length (mm)	444	320	585
All Fish n=200	Weight (g)	933	390	1440
	Condition Factor (K)	1.063	0.554	1.409
	Length (mm)	446	320	585
Male n=100	Weight (g)	890	390	1300
	Condition Factor (K)	1.003	0.554	1.197
	Length (mm)	442	377	521
Female n=100	Weight (g)	976	650	1440
	Condition Factor (K)	1.124	0.844	1.409

Average weight, length and condition factor of Liawenee rainbow trout 2020.