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Native Trout Question


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#1 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 08:10 PM

Im doing a model on competition of native (cutthroat for example) and non-native trout (brown, rainbows) in western mountain states. Including stocking, angling etc.

Any sources anybody has would be great but specifically I am looking for some general input on the ease of catch of the types of trout. I have heard before that cutthroats are the hardest to reel in followed by rainbows and browns.

Do you think this is true? Do you think it effects catch rates of species? I'm not really an avid fisherman so I couldn't say.

#2 Guest_jeffreyconte_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 08:22 PM

Rainbows are, by far, the easiest trout to catch via hook & line which is one reason they are so widely stocked. Brown trout are the most difficult to take and for that reason are especially prized by anglers.

#3 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 08:32 PM

Ok. Apparently I got it backwards. Are cutthroats easiest to take?

Also would you say browns are hard to hook or put up more of a fight taking in?

Edited by ja586, 30 October 2012 - 08:33 PM.


#4 Guest_jeffreyconte_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 09:00 PM

No, I would say that cutthroat trout are more difficult to catch than rainbows. Browns are difficult to catch because they are very wary, spook easily and feed only at select times. Browns have a reputation as good fighters, more so than other trout species.

#5 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 09:44 PM

From easiest to toughest of the commonly sought after "trouts": Brook, Cutthroat, Rainbow, Brown.

#6 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 10:45 PM

I never caught a cutthroat and only caught a brown once so I cannot judge them. But in my experience from easiest to toughest it goes Stocked Brook, Stocked Rainbow, Native Brook. Native brooks are skittish and run from shadows when small, when larger they are hard to find let alone catch. So different in attitude from stocked brook trout.

Trout: a salmonoid from the genus salmo, oncorhynchus, or savelinus

Salmon: A large trout species whose sea run form is the majority of the population.

Edited by FirstChAoS, 30 October 2012 - 10:46 PM.


#7 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 30 October 2012 - 11:30 PM

The way that I ranked them is how most anglers rank them. This does not account for hatchery raised fish. I have found this to be pretty accurate from my own experience, though there are many variables. For instance, a Brook in a heavily fished stream, can become very selective and therefore more difficult to catch than a Brown in a remote rarely fished stream.

#8 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 06:11 PM

brown trout are easier to find, because they can handle warmer water, they are also more likely to take minnows and worms, they are bullish on a line, rainbows are rarer, not particular about bait, and very fast and likely to become airborne, native brookies are smaller, timid and particular about what they eat, not hard to land if you manage to hook them. there are others also pretty popular such as lake trout , steelhead, goldens, and comparisons have to be between local populations creek to creek , lake to lake etc.

#9 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 07:57 PM

brown trout are easier to find, because they can handle warmer water, they are also more likely to take minnows and worms, they are bullish on a line, rainbows are rarer, not particular about bait, and very fast and likely to become airborne, native brookies are smaller, timid and particular about what they eat, not hard to land if you manage to hook them. there are others also pretty popular such as lake trout , steelhead, goldens, and comparisons have to be between local populations creek to creek , lake to lake etc.


Aren't steelheads the same as rainbows, only migratory populations.

#10 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

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Posted 27 March 2013 - 12:35 PM

They are migratory, but usually larger and grayer
and have different behavior.

#11 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

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Posted 01 August 2013 - 08:46 PM

Now that I have pursued all of them, I can tell you that the rainbows are harder than the cutthroat in the mountain lakes.
It all really depends on presentation, luck, and patience.

#12 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 16 November 2013 - 12:11 PM

From easiest to toughest of the commonly sought after "trouts": Brook, Cutthroat, Rainbow, Brown.


I would second Matt's opinion. Both brook and cutthroat trout are extremely opportunistic as they're usually found in streams in which food is less abundant (nutrient poor). Brown trout seem to be notoriously difficult to catch, and feed nocturnally in many systems.

#13 Guest_Gavinswildlife_*

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Posted 16 November 2013 - 12:43 PM

Why does everyone contstantly say browns are hardest? Is it possible they got the same effect as carp? The carp does not taste bad and is a very good food source, but they have gotten a terrible rep as "unedible". Could it be that browns are much the same as other trout, but get a reputation as very hard to catch?

#14 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 16 November 2013 - 01:22 PM

It is a truth. In waters where rainbows and browns are close in relative abundances, creel surveys show higher proportions of rainbows caught. Talking wild fish here, not chucked in the water from a hatchery.




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