Ok, which of you "gemmie heads" got to this guy?

[Silent Ocelot]

I know a few people who got "brown trout burnout" from all the social media attention they get. These guys used to chase big browns religiously and realized after a while that 1) they're not rare, 2) they're not that hard to catch, and 3) everybody and their brother blindly talk about them like they're some mythical creature.

I can't say I suffer from brown trout burnout, heck, I'm happy to catch any fish and will gladly pluck away at 3 inch bluegill in my somewhat local reservoir. I'd fish for brown trout entirely if that was what was presented to me. I just go after the first fish I see, to include a pod of minnows and/or suckers, and with suckers I will even corral them (setting up my bowling pins) to start nymphing at them in formation to increase my odds of getting a hookup, and yes, I do try for fair hook sets (this is my Tully tactic when bored with trout). I'm a simple man when it comes to fishing, maybe a casual angler to some, I just need something on my line... That being said I can see some people getting burned out from them and choose to target other species. The people targeting the niche species with odd ball gear and tactics are pretty cool.

I will say brown trout are certainly not rare, definitely the most prevalent trout found in PA for sure. I will say they can be hard to catch given conditions and body of water. For instance Valley Creek is pretty tough IMO under clear conditions and I wouldn't even attempt fishing there in clear conditions under a sunny sky. I will say larger browns, 20+ can be finicky and hard to trick. The 20+ inchers are pretty smart and wary, and when they get to around 25 inches they almost feed exclusively under the cover of dark, making targeting them tricky and good planning is required to seal the deal on one of those bad boys. I think they look cool and I like their elongated Taimen-esque bodies when they get larger. Good fighters too, I like they way they dig. I'm heading up to the Delaware on Friday and I bought a 4wt nymph rod just because I don't think a 2wt will have enough backbone to combat these bruisers in a timely fashion. After having an unidentified sized brown rip off my entire rig just on a TAKE at Penns the last time I was up, I am good and ready to get into these browns again.

My fishing is seasonal. From winter to spring I am more trout-focused and will shift to bass/panfish in summer. Lately, I've been into poppin' bluegill and having found a reservoir with 10 inchers in it I am now vehemently obsessed with getting as many of these bruiser bluegill as I possibly can. They're wising up to me though...

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

I don't think the Huge Fly Fisherman hates brown trout any more than anyone else. He just seems to be ranting about the lofty status given to them and other non-native fauna.

 

[FarmerDave]

Yellow perch are my favorite. Walleye might be in 1st place for me, but round these parts they're too hard to come by. So perch it is.

Smoked trout with onions, chives, and cream cheese on a bagel is good. The only other time I can stomach trout is while camping when cooked on the camp fire with a liberal amount of salt and pepper.

I can't argue with any of that and make it an everything bagel.

 

[wbranch]

"In my opinion" Who cares?? Following his lopsided train of thought rainbows are not native to many western states and no where east of the Mississippi. I did read once a small population of native rainbows were in the northwest corner of Montana. All the other Montana rainbows were either eggs or fry from Pacific northwest brood stock or stocked rainbows from generations ago that survived and bred.

 

[Fish Sticks]

"In my opinion" Who cares?? Following his lopsided train of thought rainbows are not native to many western states and no where east of the Mississippi. I did read once a small population of native rainbows were in the northwest corner of Montana. All the other Montana rainbows were either eggs or fry from Pacific northwest brood stock or stocked rainbows from generations ago that survived and bred.

Yea I don’t think anyone is defending invasive rainbows. Its just the fanaticism has been about brown trout so thats why Ben included them

 

[krayfish2]

Thoroughly entertaining.

 

[Acristickid]

CA has 11 native trout and salmon. Some of those are native to only one stream or one small watershed.

Predictions based on decades of weather/climate have several native trout species will go extinct. Not good. I have been In a little bit of a hurry to catch some natives because I fear some may not be able to be angled for in the future.

I get the apathy but I wouldn’t be rooting for a species demise.