How to Catch Trout

By Joe Bauhaus

In this practical guide you will learn how to succesfully fish for all species of trout. Everything from tackle to lures and tactics are covered here. If you want to catch trout wherever you are, go through this practical guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Practical Guides
• Release date: Sep 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393894452

Book preview

The trout

The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), also known as the speckled trout, is a member of the Salmonidae family native to the Great Lakes region, eastern United States and Canada. The range of the brook trout has been extended by human efforts, though not nearly as much as the range of the rainbow trout and brown trout.

Today, brook trout are found in their native range and in areas of high elevation in the western United States, northern Arkansas tailwaters, Argentina and parts of Europe.

A close relative of the lake trout, brook trout are char, belonging to the Salvelinus genus.

Brook trout range in color from silver to purplish to dark green. Their backs are usually covered in light colored wavy lines while their sides are often dotted with yellow and red spots. The brook trout’s lower fins are edged in white. This fin coloration is especially prominent during the spawn, when the fish become brightly colored in intense hues of green and orange.

Most brook trout spend their entire lives in fresh water rivers, streams and ponds. They require colder and cleaner waters than most other trout species. Some brook trout are anadromous, spending a large part of their lives in the ocean or Great Lakes and returning to rivers and streams only to spawn.

The brook trout that most anglers will encounter are usually on the smaller side, with many fish well under a pound. Anadromous brook trout, as well as those coming from cleaner, less pressured waters, may grow to be much larger. In some parts of Canada, an 8 pound (3.63 kg) brook trout is not uncommon.

As a food fish, the brook trout has a firm white or orange flesh that is absolutely delicious. As a valuable game fish, the species is highly prized by both spin and fly anglers. The brook trout has been protected in some of its remaining native range. The brook trout has been hit hard by the destruction of its environment. Many anglers pursue the fish on a strictly catch-and-release basis.

Brook trout are voracious eaters that will eat almost anything available to them. Brookies can be caught year round by a variety of approaches. Flies like the woolly bugger and lures like the Joe’s Fly spinner work very well.

The world record brook trout, weighing 14 pounds and 8 ounces (6.57 kg), was caught on Canada’s Nipigon River in 1916. The fish had decomposed for several days before it could be brought to a