Description
Rainbows: Oncorhynchus mykiss
Up until 1990, Rainbows were known as Salmo gairdneri and were thought to be a genetic relative of the brown trout. New evidence proves the fish descended from a line of the Pacific salmon, genus Oncorhynchus (meaning “hooked snout”). They are now known as Oncorhynchus mykiss.
Long fished by the First Nations, Rainbows are also an anglers’ favourite, not because of their beauty so much as for their acrobatics. They are eager to take a fly or lure and then the battle begins! Rainbows can grow to sizes of as high as forty-two pounds and lengths of three feet nine inches.
Steelhead are rainbows that go to sea. The survival of these fish is dependent on well-oxygenated and cool water (56 degrees to about seventy) which global warming, urban sprawl and pollution haven’t helped. In recent years, trout fishermen and First Nations tribes have been instrumental in stream enhancement and restoration, once again building up populations of these beautiful fish.
One of their favourite foods are insects like the dragonflies within the trout on the left.
The Dragonfly: Order Odonata
Dragonflies have 4 wings ll of which move independently, thus they can fly forward and backward. Though their long legs are no good for walking they are capable of capturing and holding insects in flight.
They mate in the air. Fossils resembling dragonflies date back to 300 million years. There are 5000 species world wide, 450 which inhabit North America.
