Some Varieties of Cold Water Trout


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Some Varieties of Cold Water Trout

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North American Trout
North America holds many and diverse types of Trout. Here are just a few:
Visit Trout Unlimited for a premiere Trout resource

Brook trout
Brook trout prefer cool, clear waters of high purity in lakes, rivers, and streams. They are sensitive to poor oxygenation, pollution, and changes in acidity caused by environmental effects. They prefer temperatures in the low 50's and prefer to spawn in the low 40's F. Brook trout were once widely distributed but because of land-use, over-fishing, and competition with rainbow and brown trout, their range is now greatly reduced.
Visit Easter Brook Trout Joint Venture for conservation and facts.
There are also good writeups at Wikipedia, Montana DNR .

Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)

The Brown Trout is native to Europe. They were introduced to North America in the 1800's and later and have established themselves in many cool/cold water areas. Brown trout are hardy and competes well with other fishes and endures marginal water qualities better than most trouts. Brown trout are extremely wary and can be one of the most difficult of trout to catch. Brown trout prefer fish and other large prey more than most other trout types. They may prefer larger, slower flowing streams with an abundance of minnows. Browns are a strong fish but may not fight like rainbow.

There are also good writeups at Wikipedia.

Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
The cutthroat trout is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family (family Salmonidae) of order Salmoniformes. Cutthroat trout are native to western North America. Some populations will live in the Pacific Ocean as adults and return to fresh water to spawn in the spring. These sea-run cutthroat trout are very sought after in fly fishing. Cutthroat are similar to rainbow trout and will readily interbreed. There are about 14 separate subspecies of cutthroat trout.
There are more in depth write ups at Wikipedia and Answers.com.
Also, fly fish Puget Sound for some good tips .

Rainbow Trout
Rainbow were originally native to western US. Rainbow trout were introduced to the eastern waters in the 1800's and early 1900's. Rainbow are often the fish stocked in many Eastern trout waters and some argue the backbone of our trout fishing industry. The typical rainbow is 10 or less inches but 12 plus inch fish are commonly taken. Rainbow trout do best in cool, clear, cool, oxygen rich cascading type streams; however, they can survive in waters too warm or too silt-laden for some other types of trout. Rainbow trout are known as spectacular fighters and this is why they are so often especially sought by fly rod fishermen.
There are also good writeups at Wikipedia

Now go out and enjoy NA's fabulous trout fishery. Thank a state biologist for this rich and well managed fishery.