Off color brown trout

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Duriensbane

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Pulled out of Cordorus creek. Co-worker and I were talking about blue trout about a month before that, and I showed him this one, he said it didnt qualify since it was a brown and not a rainbow but IMO this guy was almost there.
 
That guy looks like he has plenty of color. Here’s a blue rainbow I caught and a wild brown that I believe is melanistic.
IMG 3205
IMG 3206
 
HopBack said:
That guy looks like he has plenty of color. Here’s a blue rainbow I caught and a wild brown that I believe is melanistic.
View attachment 1641234075View attachment 1641234076
Click to expand...
Blue trout are cool! Congrats on getting one. Rare to catch as PA tries to pull them out from their stockings.

Ran into a stream full of them a couple years back. At first i thought they were some kind of steelhead or something, but after catching a few i realized what they were. I am told some private hatcheries raise them and offer them for stocking in private waters.
 
Duriensbane said:
View attachment 1641234074

Pulled out of Cordorus creek. Co-worker and I were talking about blue trout about a month before that, and I showed him this one, he said it didnt qualify since it was a brown and not a rainbow but IMO this guy was almost there.
Click to expand...
The color pattern on this trout is fairly common in my experience dealing with large sample sizes in general and in Codorus in particular. (It’s easy to get a large sample in Codorus, given the typically high population density of smallish BT). That fish represents just one of the assorted color variations in Pa.
 
I saw no signs of any fish today in the tailwater section of Codorus Creek.
 
bdhoover77 said:
I saw no signs of any fish today in the tailwater section of Codorus Creek.
Click to expand...
During fish population surveys in wild trout streams, the first step upon arrival at a selected sampling site is to measure a distance of at least 300 m for normal inventory surveys or at least 100 m for previously unassessed wild trout streams. In measuring a site it is generally not the usual thing to see a trout. Run the electrofisher through a 300 m or longer site and in many of those same cases you’ll capture 30-100, and sometimes over 100 wild trout. I would suggest that visuals are not reliable as demonstrated annually by the guys who repeatedly ask if a stream was stocked on the scheduled date just because they didn’t see any fish that evening.
 
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I have no doubt Codorus has fish, but I certainly didn’t find any of them today.
 
I catch a fair number of wild browns this time of year with that silvery salmon look about them, mostly in tributaries to the three big reservoirs that serve the Baltimore region, but also in streams with sandy bottoms.

This one's got a little more color than the brown that sparked this thread, but compared to other wild browns in the Balto area, it is very pale:
Ptap brown600

It came out of maybe the second or third to last hole with flowing water going into the reservoir and the creek has a very light, sandy bottom at that location:

Nb ptap600


Got a wild brown in one of the branches of Codorus that runs into Lake Redman a few years back on a day when there was snow on the ground. It was very silvery.

And occasionally I pull a silver wild brown out of a sandy hole in non-reservoir stream, typically in wintertime.

Meanwhile, a more typical Maryland wild brown in wintertime looks like this one from Antietam Creek:

Ant ck brown


I have two theories, based on absolutely no scientific research:
  • Though they can't change colors like a chameleon or squid, I believe when a trout takes up residence in a spot, its colors get darker or lighter depending on the particulars of the spot. I also believe there's a seasonal component because there's no leaves to shade the streams in wintertime, by late winter, the fish turn more pale to match the more brightly lighted stream bottom. My musings are based on noticing that stocked brown trout in particular start out with that hatchery coloration but by late autumn have picked up a more natural look (though this could be a purely spawning season related).
  • Also, I believe that the wild browns with dark colors that head for the open water of Liberty Reservoir (or one of the other big lakes) turn silvery, and revert to darker shades when they return to the creek, like sea trout and salmon.
Possibly Mike will weigh in on the validity of my cabin fever musings.

Also, a word on the sampling technique: I fish with Panther Martin spinners in wintertime because daylight is limited, the trout are few and far between in the streams I hit, and I need to cover a lot of water fairly quickly.

I don't apologize. That's my life.
 
I agree that a trout will be lighter, or darker depending on how much light a particular spot recieves. I've noticed the natives I get in rhody choked stretches tend to be darker than on more open areas of the same stream.
 
JimKennedy said:
I catch a fair number of wild browns this time of year with that silvery salmon look about them, mostly in tributaries to the three big reservoirs that serve the Baltimore region, but also in streams with sandy bottoms.

This one's got a little more color than the brown that sparked this thread, but compared to other wild browns in the Balto area, it is very pale:
View attachment 1641234121
It came out of maybe the second or third to last hole with flowing water going into the reservoir and the creek has a very light, sandy bottom at that location:

View attachment 1641234122

Got a wild brown in one of the branches of Codorus that runs into Lake Redman a few years back on a day when there was snow on the ground. It was very silvery.

And occasionally I pull a silver wild brown out of a sandy hole in non-reservoir stream, typically in wintertime.

Meanwhile, a more typical Maryland wild brown in wintertime looks like this one from Antietam Creek:

View attachment 1641234123

I have two theories, based on absolutely no scientific research:
  • Though they can't change colors like a chameleon or squid, I believe when a trout takes up residence in a spot, its colors get darker or lighter depending on the particulars of the spot. I also believe there's a seasonal component because there's no leaves to shade the streams in wintertime, by late winter, the fish turn more pale to match the more brightly lighted stream bottom. My musings are based on noticing that stocked brown trout in particular start out with that hatchery coloration but by late autumn have picked up a more natural look (though this could be a purely spawning season related).
  • Also, I believe that the wild browns with dark colors that head for the open water of Liberty Reservoir (or one of the other big lakes) turn silvery, and revert to darker shades when they return to the creek, like sea trout and salmon.
Possibly Mike will weigh in on the validity of my cabin fever musings.

Also, a word on the sampling technique: I fish with Panther Martin spinners in wintertime because daylight is limited, the trout are few and far between in the streams I hit, and I need to cover a lot of water fairly quickly.

I don't apologize. That's my life.
Click to expand...
no wonder the population is hurting in Antietam creek. stop throwing treble hooks at trout.
 
JimKennedy said:
...Also, a word on the sampling technique: I fish with Panther Martin spinners in wintertime because daylight is limited, the trout are few and far between in the streams I hit, and I need to cover a lot of water fairly quickly.

I don't apologize. That's my life.
Click to expand...

troutdood said:
no wonder the population is hurting in Antietam creek. stop throwing treble hooks at trout.
Click to expand...

I can't speak to what Jim does or doesn't do, but you are making an assumption that may or may not be accurate.

I occasionally throw spinners and hard baits and they all have been converted to single hook lures...

...like a streamer. ;)

I'm not alone in this practice and at least in my case, I was cutting off two points of my trebles since I started fishing 500 years ago.
 
troutdood said:
no wonder the population is hurting in Antietam creek. stop throwing treble hooks at trout.
Click to expand...
Not advocating their use, but if you crimp down the barbs on a treble hook it makes a BIG difference in the ease of release. You'll also lose more fish, but you'll spare more as well.
 
wildtrout2 said:
Not advocating their use, but if you crimp down the barbs on a treble hook it makes a BIG difference in the ease of release. You'll also lose more fish, but you'll spare more as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed, however when I started cutting treble hooks down to singles as kid, it was to reduce snags, especially when fishing in shallow runs and when retrieving "spinners" with the current. It made a HUGE difference and also had obvious fish releasing benefits since I was doing C&R shortly after starting trout fishing.

When I revisited spinning and BFS casting gear very recently, I was introduced by other practitioners (especially in Japan) to MANY single hook replacement options (many barbless) for inline spinners & hard baits to make it easy on the fish.

As a result I'm in the process of switching over everything including larger bass lures so if anybody wants a $#!+load of treble hooks...

...I got 'em.

Another unexpected benefit is a MASSIVE reduction in tackle or lure box treble hook tangles eliminating the need for hook "bonnets." No hook bonnets means I can fit more stuff in the same compartment so if anybody wants a $#!+load of hook bonnets...

I got them too... ;)

There are also many single hook lures available INCLUDING offerings from Mepps, Panther Martin and Swiss Swing. The problem is many conventional anglers are under the misapprehension that they will lose more fish which I never found to be the case with single hook lures.

As a matter of fact, my pea brain tells me it's harder to get a quality hookset with a treble versus a single hook because of size and the leverage a fish can get against the other points.

Bottom line, it wound be nice if the mentors, manufacturers & retailers would promote single hook lures more, especially to kids just beginning to fish and change the mindset that trebles are necessary.
 
Well good to see that im not alone in that.
 
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