1. a young fish, especially a small salmon or trout

Examples

• The stream was full of sticklings swimming in the shallow water.
• Young sticklings need protection from larger predators.
• The fishery released thousands of sticklings into the river.
• Sticklings typically stay in freshwater before migrating to the ocean.
• The biologist counted the sticklings in each section of the creek.
• These sticklings will grow into mature salmon in a few years.