what do you prefer? and some observations.

[salvelinusfontinalis]

most trout fisherman have a "favorite trout" that they prefer to catch. not all of us do, but most. even to the point we will go to a certain stream just to seek these fish out.
when talking about wild fish, mine is the brook trout. i would rather catch a brook trout over a brown. also i would rather catch a brown over a rainbow. just what i prefer.

some of my observations. now not all of these are absolute but just from my experince this is what i have found.

i like brookies because they are more opt to eat any fly thrown in front of them. even educated ones. simpily because of millions of years of evolution teaching them that they must otherwise they may not eat for awhile. also a 10-12 inch brook will fight as hard as a 15-18 inch brown trout. i also like brookies because you must enchance stealth to catch them. because of they way there eyes are positioned they have the best overhead movement sight of any trout. you quickly learn that approach is 3/4 the battle. and finally they are i belive tied for the most beautiful freshwater fish next to the golden trout in california.

i like browns next because i belive them to be the most wary and "smart" of all trout. even wild uneducated browns can be selective. i have found you can take the most unatural looking and bright fly you have and catch a rainbow or brook trout. usually this will not work on brown trout. so as far as "game" they can be the most difficult. just look at letort! they also adapt well to watersheds and can grow very fast. wild browns can also reach a better length in our small waters than a brook trout.what they lack in beauty, when compared to brookies, they make up in size and brains.

not that i dont like rainbows, i just consider them the carp of trout. they have been known to eat whole pieces of alge, mud from the stream bed, and even cigarette butts. often i have found bright flies like, meta eggs and greenie weenies work well on rainbows. so as far as "game" they make the bottom of the list. but not all is lost for these trout. the adapt the best to impaired or declining water and also spend more time out of the water than in the water during a fight. ive even had one high jumper hit is head on the bottom of a bridge. they can be very exciting. what amazes me is that with there ability to adapt.....we dont have many class a wild rainbow streams in pa. maybe because of time when they spawn?

i dont know what do you guys think or feel? agree or disagree? share some thoughts or experinces.......im just interested. :-D

also if brook trout in small streams do not have much food, how long can they not eat before starving to death?

 

[Wmass]

My favorites are also the brook trout, mainly because of the color patterns and how lively they are on the end of the rod. You can find them in the smallest streams thriving and as long as the water stays cool they will survive. I like browns also because they can be aggressive but if I could fish for anything it would be brookies.




I agree about rainbows. I caught one a few years back and decided to keep it, when I cleaned it and opened its stomach I found ciggarette butts in there. Gross!

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

thanks for the post. at least i know one person feels the same! :-D

 

[FarmerDave]

When i catch my favorite, I'll quit. Until then...

I prefer them in the same order as you, except I'd put smallmouth ahead of the Browns and rainbows. :-D

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

ha! thats a tough one. i prefer trout fishing but love getting into a nice smally. once on a stocked stream i caught one under a bridge. i thought i had a muskie until i reeled up a big smally :-D

 

[tomgamber]

My favorite depends on where I am.

On most Pa streams I prefer to catch Brookies.

When I'm on an Idaho river I prefer to catch rainbows.

When I fish the high lakes I prefer to catch cutts.

On spring creeks I prefer to catch Big Brownies,

When I go to our camp I like to catch smallmouths.

In the heat of the summer or on my aunts farm pond I like to catch big bluegills by the dozens.

When I go to the beach i like to catch speckled trout and bluefish.

As long as my feet are wet and my rod is bent, I couldn't care less what its name is...

 

[afishinado]

I like all wild trout for all different reasons:

The brookie for its beauty, and for the fact that it is the native fish – it belongs here and should be protected.

The brownie for its size and its wariness.

The rainbow for it aerial abilities, its affinity to take dries and inhabit the fast water, which I like to fish.

Smallmouths are just nasty fighters and great to tangle with.

 

[troutbert]

I like brookies in PA. Cutthroats high in the Rockies, and browns on PA limers.

I never really "felt the love" for rainbows for some reason. I think it's an irrational predjudice based on all the disgusting pale finless stockie rainbows I caught when I was younger. If I had got into some good wild rainbow fisheries at an earlier age I might feel different.

Smallmouth bass can be a blast. When they hit a topwater bug or popper right near dark it's such a kick.

Bluegills hitting the surface, and frying in the pan, are great too.

Carp pull hard, but they're ugly.

My goal is to catch an alligator on the fly.

 

[Chaz]

I suggest you go to Florida and fish any canal using chicken legs as bait. Or road kill, or just about anything that has meat on the bone.

 

[lestrout]

A coupla years ago, I made contact with a Canadian who had never been west of Ottawa and was coming to Philly for a conference. Since his arrival was Opening Weekend, I told him to bring his fly gear and Dotman and I would host him around our fine PA waters. Mike lived in Calgary and had just been ffishing the Bow for big bows and browns.

Since I've previously come across Western ffishermen that were reasonably skilled in their habitat but were miserable here when you had to be stealthy to fussy trouts, use fine tippets and worry about backcasts and overhand casts ending up in trees and bushes, I thought to assess Mike's skills first on a local freestoner, which had just been stocked.

Ffishing was fabulous by local standards, since caddis and mayflies were about, and the stockies had been in long enough to know how to eat bugs. By the time we showed up, the baiters had packed up and left, and the survivor trouts were rising vigorously. This is a favorite situation, since a riser obviously didn't care for a worm or Panther Martin and was more interested in bugs. Typically, the risers had never before seen a fly imitation.

Mike turned out quite adept in casting and ffishing skills, and matter-of-factly hauled in a few dozen browns and bows and the odd brookie. So Dotman and I figured Mike was ready for prime time on Clark's, the Breeches, and the Lil Lehi.

When we got to the Lil Lehi, Mike was cool until he spotted something different: a mutant, paranoid, manufactured salmonid that was nervously awaiting its doom from a heron. Yes, it was the ultimate product of our hatcheries, a palomino, and its color really stood out.

I occupied myself with the risers. Mike hunkered down and tried all manner of nymph rigs until he connected with the pale trophy, all of 14" long. This was photographed thoroughly and later posted on the web. Mike was thrilled and a happy camper.

The other notable fish for Mike? Dotman took him to a bluegill pond and Mike thought that was fabulous. He had never seen those before either. Some 'gills got duly posted on the Web too.

For Mike, the big3 trouts, steelhead, salmon, cutts, and bull trouts/Dolly Varden were boring. :-o He liked what we had.

;-)
tl
les

 

[dryflyguy]

Sal: I prefer browns because of their wariness - the challenge is certainly part of the fly fishing game for me.
I do agree with you however, that wild brookies are the most beautiful.
As for rainbows - have you ever fished the Delaware river?
When you tie into one of those 20 inch wild bows up there, your opinion of them might change a little

 

[MKern]

Like most of you I love little brookies. They are gorgeous.
Plus I like where they live. It is some of the most scenic places in PA. I also like to be allow when I fish and not standing next to 10 guys, who swarm you when you hook a fish. Did I mention that brookies are gorgeous?

 

[Padraic]

Of all the trout, I like to catch wild ones. Not because of some prejudice against stocked trout, but because a wild trout is an affirmation that the stream is healthy and wild.

I like to be surprised when I am fishing. I can recall the first time I caught a big smallmouth at dark. It was the first year I was fishing and it was too big for my little trout net, and I was afraid to put my thumb in it's mouth. I remember catching a wild rainbow on an 8wt and thinking it was too much fish for the rod. I remember a carp that battled me to exhaustion and I had to bust him off. I love little brookies that hit so hard I jump back instead of setting the hook. I remember a brown trout that vaulted up clean out of the water, tail to head, hitting a cranefly pattern. I remember when I was trying to decide whether or not to move to Montana, and Paul and Tim B and I fished a BWO hatch on Clarks. The bugs were floating up like a snow flurry in reverse. The whole scene was so pretty, I knew I could never leave.

If it weren't for memories like that, I think I would give up fishing. It scares me to think that I may not have the choice.

 

[PaulG]

I definitely prefer fishing for trout, as for which one it's doesn't matter. I do prefer fishing for larger fish, Im not into fishing small streams for small fish, I enjoy feeling a large fish on the end on my line.

I do enjoy catching wild fish in places like Spring Creek, Fishing Creek and Penns. I can just as much fun catching stocked fish, it doesn't matter to me. Just as long as I am in a trout stream.

Troutsnob