Trout can live in many places

Trout can live their lives in many different ways. Illustration: Bengt Finstad and Kari Sivertsen, NINA

The trout is our most common freshwater fish. You'll find them in small streams, large rivers, lakes, ponds, the sea and sometimes well away from the coast.

Imagine that the shiny sea trout you can catch in the sea is the same species as the small brown trout you can catch in a small mountain lake. The trout is a species with incredible variation. So varied that it's almost difficult to describe it in a tidy way.

Spawning in freshwater

All trout share the species name Salmo trutta, and all trout spawn in freshwater. Spawning most often takes place in streams and rivers, and more rarely in lakes. The spawning streams can be surprisingly small, and the trout that spawn there can be surprisingly large.

Trout. Illustration Robin Ade

Sea trout or trout

We distinguish between freshwater stationary and sea migrating trout. So-called freshwater stationary trout live their entire lives in freshwater - regardless of whether they have the opportunity to go to the sea or not. Sea migratory trout, or sea trout, migrate to the sea and spend short and/or long periods of their lives there. The strange thing is that siblings can end up living completely different lives - some go to the sea, while others live their entire lives in freshwater.

Sea trout can migrate to the sea in both spring and fall. The spring migration is a nutrient migration. The fall migration is due to the fact that some, for various reasons, prefer to stay in the sea rather than in the river during the winter. They may decide to return to the river at any time.

Travel or stay put...

The same river can contain both sea-migrating and freshwater stationary trout. They can spawn separately or interbreed with each other. A freshwater stationary trout may well have a mother who has been in the sea, and a sea-going trout may have relatives who have only lived in freshwater.

Dear fish with many names

Since trout are found everywhere in Norway, they have naturally been given many nicknames. The appearance of the trout can vary greatly, and many of the names describe what the trout looks like. Other names describe where they live.

Same species...

Sea trout is the same species as brown trout, brown trout, brook trout, inland trout and speckled trout.