Brown Trout

Salmo Trutta

Timothy Kusherets

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