Show Record Brown Is 8 Years Old Utah's record size brown trout caught by Verl Hanchett at Flaming Gorge Reservoir last month was eight years old according to Division of Wildlife Resources fisheries biologist Arnold THE AGE of the 29 pound eight ounce lunker was determined by observing its scales through year a ring is formed in the scale just as in explained counting the the age is Bangerter also observed that the fish was still growing when The brown was still laying down growth Yearly periods are recognized when rings in an This is due to varying amounts of food during the FOR as food becomes less available in the growth rings become closer together while the fish stops As food becomes more available in the growth rings again become separated while the fish becomes The area where rings are or squeezed together in the scale are the annuli In addition to determining age of the Bangerter can also determine the length of the fish at its various He measures the distance between each then projects the length of the fish by taking the percentage of its length when Each year's growth in length then be as can the amounts of forage in the body of water it FISH collected each Division biologists' contact fishermen and ask if they can remove a few scales from their These scales in return aid the biologist and the fishermen in helping provide a better Bangerter did admit that false annuli can be formed when fish are ill and not eating properly or when food is The rings form closely to each other giving the impression of annuli the brown trout caught in September was not among these fish with the false growth was too consistent for it to have had any false he The fourth year of the lunker was the one that determined it would be a big he That the fish apparently began eating because the annuli formed a much larger pattern than it had in previous The record brown was only one of many large fish taken in Flaming |