<P> Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America . Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout . In Lake Superior, it can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbelly and lean . The lake trout is prized both as a game fish and as a food fish . In some areas in Maine they were also called Mud Hens . </P> <P> From a zoogeographical perspective, lake trout have a relatively narrow distribution . They are native only to the northern parts of North America, principally Canada, but also Alaska and, to some extent, the northeastern United States . Lake trout have been widely introduced into non-native waters in North America and into many other parts of the world, mainly Europe, but also into South America and certain parts of Asia . Although lake trout were introduced into Yellowstone National Park's Shoshone, Lewis and Heart lakes legally in the 1890s, they were illegally or accidentally introduced into Yellowstone lake in the 1980s where they are now considered invasive . </P> <P> Lake trout are the largest of the chars; the record weighed almost 46.3 kilograms (102 lb) (netted) with a length of 50 inches (130 cm), and 15--to 40 - pound fish are not uncommon . The average length is 24--36 inches (61--91 centimetres). The largest caught on a rod and reel according to the IGFA was 72 pounds (33 kg), caught in Great Bear Lake in 1995 with a length of 59 inches . </P> <P> Lake trout inhabit cold, oxygen - rich waters . They are pelagic during the period of summer stratification in dimictic lakes, often living at depths of 20--60 m (66--197 ft). </P>

Where was the world record lake trout caught