I was wondering if someone could post up some pictures of the Melvin Gillaroo Trout ?

The reason I ask is because I thought Gillaroo were only caught in Loch / Lough Melvin but I saw a photo the other day of a trout caught in Scotland from a very reliable source which was labelled as a " Gillaroo ".

The pictures I've seen only show fish with red spots but do the true " Gillaroo " have a red tinge to their flanks as well ?

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Tight Lines. :)

Think a lot brown trout have red spots and similar colouring to gillaroo. Plenty pictures if you google them, following link has some brief info on differences from brown trout. Google Image Result for http://www.charr.org/images/Trouts/gillson.jpg

Hi Don,
I think I have read about gillaroo trout being caught in a loch, near Ledmore junction, Caithness and Sutherland.
yours in fishing Arty

The Ice Age left "gillaroo" in Scotland as well as Lough Melvin in Ireland. I'll have to get the reference books out on Monday to name the Scottish lochs.
This sub-species is generally thought to have evolved well over 100,000 years before the last Ica Age.

Whilst colouration is a clue, other benthic brown trout adopt the same colouration. Gillaroo are identified by their thickened gizzard like stomach, this adapted for a diet rich in molluscs and crustacea.



P.S. Don - if you do a search I have posted images of Melvin trout on this Forum previously.

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Save the softmouth trout

Thanks,

I'm sure I saw a picture of a lovely red fellow on this forum

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Tight Lines. :)

I was always under the impression that this was the main criterior not the colouration. Did not know that this species was resident in Scotland.......There you go one lives & learns if that is indeed the case.

Tight Lines

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"The Future's Bright The Future's Wet Fly"

Until I can post a James Prosek painted image the old one will have to do.


On searching the linked thread I was saddened to find that Simon 19fut Sheelin has left the Forum and deleted most of his posts. A sad loss.


Here's the photo and a couple of quotes from the thread linked:

Trout identification

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Save the softmouth trout

Thanks for posting that. You can clearly see the big red spots in the top one. It's interesting that the "Gillaroo " are so called because of their colour but it seems to be the thickened stomach which makes them the distinctive sub species if that's the right term.

I wonder why if it's feeding regularly on mussels and snails that makes them Gillaroo they aren't more widespread or is it the case that as Highlander says the only true Gillaroo are found in Lough Melvin and the others are just Gillaroo type trout. Is there a gene which makes them different ?

If Simon was a bit of an expert it would have been good to have his input. Just noticed today T.C.'s away too.

I seem to be a bit mixed up here with my trout types though because I'm sure I saw a picture of a trout on this forum which was VERY red and thought it to be a Gillaroo. Was it maybe a Dollaghan ? It was definately someone from Ireland that posted the pic. It might have been from a wee hill loch around the Melvin area ?

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Tight Lines. :)

The attached link may be of some help. It is an official list of endangered species, showing the confirmed (genetic analysis) and unconfirmed (visual characteristics) distribution of Gillaroo trout.

Salmo stomachicus (Gillaroo)

Yes inded - at Gillaroo loch which was controlled by Inchnadamph Hotel - maybe still is.Fished it in the 80s and caught ****** all- flat calm and hopeless!