Brown Trout
Salmo Trutta
Timothy Kusherets
This brown trout is indicative of what anglers can expect
in typical coloring making this fish distinctive from many species of Salmonids.
Photo taken by Aaron
Breakenridge contributed by Susan Breakenridge.
This particular fish can literally be found wherever there is cool and running
water worldwide. With a brown based body and black asymmetrical spots, with
occasional red spots, is easy to identify. The size range of this fish is impressive
in that it can grow from one to thirty-pounds. The varied drifting tackle for
this fish is fairly diverse because of how well this fish thrives in most environments.
Corkies, spinners, flies, jigs, hot shots, wiggle warts, and crank baits all
work on this fish.
An elusive fish in the water it’s very hard to spot, even with polarized
glasses. It’s hearty enough to compete in the same water that salmon and
steelhead compete for, so hitting into one of these fish while trying to catch
salmon is relatively common.
The best holds to find this fish are slots, seams, eddies, lower recesses of
riffles, and tail-outs. When rivers and streams run clear, this fish can be
found actively patrolling in and out of slow and fast water.
Brown trout will fight as hard as any steelhead and rainbow. With light line
it’s best to play these fish with extremely sharp hooks. Aerial shows
are commonplace with this particular species with leaping fish as high as six
feet above the surface. The fight hard and submit rather fast compared to other
species of trout, so when reeling them in it’s best to keep them in the
water when it’s time to release them. They invest an enormous amount of
energy during the fight and will require some time to resuscitate them. Serious
fishermen that want to catch and release fish should take considerable care
with this fish; though tough in the wild it succumbs to stress and can die if
care is not taken. Never release a fish after it has been on a stringer. The
damage to its gill and lower jaw become mortal wounds; releasing them after
that would be like putting a dead fish back into the stream. That would be such
as waste.
© Timothy Kusherets 2004/10
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