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Brown Trout
Salmo trutta |
JOSEPH TOMELLERI GRAPHIC
TEXT BY DENNIS BITTON
Brown trout are Europe's native
trout, but were introduced to the US in the early 1880s.
Some say brown trout were introduced everywhere the
British army went, because the officers insisted on
fishing for brown trout for sport. That claim can't be
far off, because brown trout seem to be everywhere.
Today, lodges make a living off their reputations for
big brown trout in New Zealand, Argentina, Arkansas,
Utah, Montana, and New York. This fish gets around. Too
many people talk about how smart a brown trout is. These
fish have a brain smaller than a pea, like any other
trout. They've been hunted with hook and line longer
than any North American trout, and the instincts they've
developed may make them harder to catch (sometimes) than
other trout, but please don't call them "smart." Don't
let them become aware of your presence, match what they
are eating, when they are eating, and you'll discover
the mythical "wary old brown trout" can be caught by
mortal man.
Brown trout--especially big brown trout--also have a
reputation for being nocturnal and piscavorous. They
fight well, but don't jump as frequently or as vigously
as rainbow trout. With browns, it's often a bull-dog run
toward the bottom, followed by a close-range slugfest.
Brown trout have European origins, but can now be caught
all over the world.
Browns are also known to survive in water other trout
can't tolerate. This has nothing to do with the fish's
character either, only his European genes. Brown trout
survived England's Industrial Revolution, and populated
American waters where overfishing, pollution, and
habitat loss wiped out native species like brook and
cutthroat trout. Brown trout are now found in 38 of the
lower 48 states.
The only fish I've ever had mounted is a 10-pound brown
trout. It was not a hard decision to kill the fish. He
was ugly, had a big-kyped lower jaw, and was 28 inches
long. His fins were frayed, his coloration a mix of
browns, black and yellow. In "my" river this fish was
probably more than seven years old and his spawning days
were over.
A typical brown trout has a brown or yellow-brown body,
with black spots on the back, sides, dorsal fin and
tail, especially the upper portion. There are also some
red or bright orange spots scattered down the sides of
most brown trout, sometimes with light blue halos. The
tail is square-ended on most mature fish. And speaking
as a layman, don't stick you fingers or thumb in the
mouth of a brown trout like you would a bass. They've
got teeth down there.
Brown trout are closely related to the Atlantic Salmon (Salmo
salar), and share many of the same river systems in
Northern Europe. Like the salmon, brown trout sometimes
swim out to sea and return to the rivers as sea trout.
Sea trout can be found in many European waters, but the
most famous place in the world to catch large sea-run
brown trout is undoubtably Tierra del Fuego's Rio Grande
River (Argentina), where fish weighing 10-25 pounds are
common occurances.
Browns have also taken hold in the Great Lakes and often
follow spawning salmon up the tributaries to eat salmon
eggs, and spawn themselves. If you can't afford $6,000 a
week a a lodge in Chile, you can explore Lake Ontario
tributaries in New York State and see similarly-sized
trout. Great Lakes fish aren't known to take dry flies,
so if you are the purist type, and you want to catch
brown trout, the best places for you are probably
Montana or New Zealand.
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