Splake

The splake is a hybrid char created by crossing a female lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) with a male brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Unlike many trout hybrids, splake are usually fertile and can occasionally reproduce, though natural populations are uncommon. First produced experimentally in the late 1800s and widely stocked in North America since the mid-20th century, splake are used in fisheries management to combine desirable traits: the faster growth and hardiness of brook trout with the longer lifespan and deeper-water tolerance of lake trout. They belong to the char subfamily within Salmonidae and are stocked mainly in Canada and the northern United States.

Splake show an intermediate mix of brook trout and lake trout traits:

• Body color olive to dark gray-green with pale vermiculated (worm-like) markings on the back, inherited from brook trout
• Light-colored spots along the sides, more numerous than on lake trout
• Tail fin moderately forked, less deeply forked than a lake trout but more forked than a brook trout's nearly square tail
• Streamlined, elongated body shape closer to lake trout than the stockier brook trout
• Typically 30-50 cm, though some grow considerably larger in productive lakes

Splake inhabit cold, deep, well-oxygenated lakes across Canada and the northern United States, favoring the same clean, cool waters preferred by their parent species. They are commonly stocked into lakes too warm or unproductive to sustain lake trout alone, or where brook trout populations need a hardier, longer-lived alternative. Splake tolerate a wider range of depths than pure brook trout, often moving into deeper, cooler water during warmer months similar to lake trout behavior. They are typically found in northern temperate lake ecosystems rather than rivers or streams, and rarely establish large self-sustaining wild populations without ongoing stocking.

Splake behave much like a blend of their parent species: they feed actively on smaller fish, insects, and crustaceans, and are known for aggressive strikes that make them a popular stocked species for lake fisheries. They tend to be more solitary or loosely schooling, cruising open water and along drop-offs in search of prey. Because they retain some fertility, splake can occasionally spawn in the fall over gravel substrates, though successful natural reproduction is uncommon compared to true species. They generally grow faster than lake trout in their early years and can live for several years, making them a resilient addition to managed cold-water lake ecosystems.