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Common name: Brown trout are also commonly called brownies, German brown trout, German trout and European brown trout.
Scientific name: Salmo trutta
California record: 26 lbs. 8 oz. from Upper Twin Lake on April 30, 1987 by angler Danny Stearman
Description: Brown trout are usually anywhere from 16 to 24 inches in length and can weigh 2 to 8 lbs.
Brown trout feature two dorsal fins together with one adipose fin. The fish also features light pectoral fins and 9 to 10 rays in its anal fin. It also has a square-shaped tail. Inside it’s mouth, there is a broad square-shaped tongue with 11 to 12 large teeth.
Brown trout can vary in color but are usually an olive green to brown color on their top’s fading to a golden-yellow color on their sides and a creamy white belly. The majority of brown trout feature black spots along their back, sides and dorsal fin. Each spot is surrounded by a blue or light halo. Sometimes, the spots located near the lateral line of the fish are colored red. The fins are colored yellow-brown and void of spots.
Brown trout can hybridize with the brook trout to make the tiger trout. Brown trout can be distinguished from brook trout by its light color and dark spots, while the brook trout features a dark body with light spots.
Habitat: Native to western Asia and Europe, the brown trout was introduced to North America in 1883. It is very prominent in the waters of Canada.
Brown trout prefer temperate, well-oxygenated water around 50 to 60 degrees, although sometimes they can live in water temperatures in the low 70’s. The fish can also thrive in cool water streams and lakes, but are unable to reproduce in lakes.
Brown trout are usually found in areas where there are submerged rocks, overhanging vegetation, cobble, boulders, logs, root wads or undercut banks that provide much needed cover and protection.
Brown trout are great survivors as they are more tolerant of dewatering and other environmental disturbances. They can also tolerate acidity as well.
Reproduction: Brown trout spawn in late autumn to early winter. The fall spawning season gives Brown trout a survival advantage because their spawning and incubation period does not lie in the irrigation season.
The female finds shallow, rocky or gravelly areas to spawn in. Using the swimming action of the fins and body, the female makes a redd (shallow impression) in the gravel.
The female releases 900 eggs per pound of body weight. On average, she will lay 2000 eggs in a nest. The male comes and simultaneously releases milt to fertilize the eggs as the female lays them. The female then covers the eggs with gravel. After the eggs are covered, the parental attention stops. The eggs are left along until they hatch.
The eggs hatch the following spring with the water temperature at about 50 degrees. The fry are then left alone to fend for themselves.
Brown trout normally reach the age of sexually maturity at 3 years. It has also been documented that brown trout as young as 2 years old and as old as 4 or 5 ears have also been able to spawn.
Eating habit: Young brown trout feed mostly on insects. The type of insect they feed on depends on the season, but they primarily eat mayflies, caddis, terrestrials and midges. They mostly depend on food that washes up from the banks. They will pick an area to stay for feeding in a drift and will not move from the area until forced to by a predator. Small brown trout never eat directly upstream of a bigger fish.
Adult brown trout do not pick an area to feed in; instead, they are active hunters. Smaller trout make up 80 percent of the adult trout’s diet. The rest of the diet features large aquatic insects like the Brown Drake mayflies or Hexagania, large species of caddis flies, snails, amphibians, crustaceans and food that has washed from the bank.
Adult brown trout are also nocturnal in their eating habits. They eat what is within 4 inches from them on the bottom floor n riffles, pools or eddies.
Fishing methods, tips, and best lures and baits: Anglers often use fly-fishing gear when catching brown trout. Flies can usually match the local hatches or nymphs, stonefly, mayfly or caddis fly. Other effective baits are worms, leeches, crayfish and minnows.
Brown can be found around quiet water with lots of cover such as logs, rocky shelves, overhanging trees and other brushy structure. The Sierras are a great option for targeting brown trout.
Best times of the year for targeting this species: It is best to fish for brown trout when the weather is cool in the fall or spring, and even in the morning or late evening in summer. The best place to look for brown trout is under downed logs, root wads or in overhanging banks.
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