(salvelinus fontinalis)

The brook trout is a native Easterner; the rainbow trout a native westerner; the brown trout a German immigrant.

Brookies, depending on their location, are variously called eastern brook trout, speckled trout or squaretails. They are members of the salmon family. A char really.

The current brook trout world angling record was caught by Dr. W. J. Cook on the Nipigon River, Ontario, in July 1916. The 31 inch (79 cm) trout weighed 14.5 lbs. (6.6 kg); however, at the time of its weighing, it was badly decomposed after 21 days lying in the bush without refrigeration. This is the longest-standing angling world record.

Did you know that the brook trout is the state fish of Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Labrador is at the center of the brook trout’s ancestral habitat, which extends from as far south as Georgia to the Maritimes, north through Ungava and into Hudson Bay.

There is speculation that the unusual width of Minipi’s brookies may be an adaptation to pike predation: the sooner you become more than a mouthful, the safer you are.