Anyone Tell Why This Brown Looks So Different?

[redietz]

There is another strain of German Browns that came to us from Germany through Scotland. They were planted in many of the lake of the North West and they proliferated very well. My Dad used to call them Lock Laven because they came to us from a lake in Scotland called Lake (Lock) Laven.

Almost all browns in the US are descendants of Loch Leven fish. The name "German Brown" is a bit of a misnomer; the first eggs brought over were, in fact, from Germany (hence the name), but most brought over after that were from Loch Leven.

Ironically, in recent years Loch Leven itself has been primarily a rainbow fishery, although they're trying to change that.

I don't believe you can really tell a whether a brown in the US is from German or Scottish stock by looking at it. Different strains have certainly evolved in different watersheds here, though, over the last 129 years. I once a met a biologist from Pennsylvania who claimed that he tell which watershed any brown in the state came from just by looking at its pattern of spots, but that differentiation all happened in the US, not in Europe.

[DazWah]

have a read of this guys;
http://www.green-hotel.com/leisure/thefishof.asp

Taken from the page

"When introduced to other waters, Loch Leven brown trout interbreed freely with any other brown trout in the water and rapidly lose their distinguishing characteristics. This change in appearance also occurs even where there are no other species of brown trout present. The only way to see the trout in its true state is at Loch Leven."

[Preston Singletary]

I agree, in part, with redietz, the sources of this country's brown trout have been many and varied since the original, nineteenth century planting of brown trout from Germany. Whether from Germany, Scotland or elsewhere, the strains have been inextricably mixed in more than a century of wild and cultured reproduction. Variations in color and spotting patterns are one of the poorest means of identifying an individual strain of fish since both are highly mutable depending on such factors as diet and, particularly, habitat.

Even von Behr's 1883 shipment of eggs consisted of a mixture of large lake-dwelling forms and smaller stream resident trout and subsequent importations came from many (and often undocumented) locations in the British Isles and continental Europe.

[Humber Brad]

I believe that the outer appearance of brown trout, Salmo trutta is largely dependant upon their surroundings, as is the case with most salmonids. Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar , as well as Steelhead, Onchoryncus mykiss both change colour, dependant upon whether they are at sea or in-land to match their surroundings and hide from predators. Land-locked fish would stay a single colour but it would match the clarity and tint of the water it swims in. Blind salmon will turn absolutely black because their brains don't know what their surroundings look like and therefore can't mimic them. The brown trout you're looking at would come from waters with a slightly different level of organic matter or maybe more tanic staining than would some others and the trout have simply adapted.

Brad

[spinner1]

Bows

Tigers

Browns

Brookies

Click thumbs for individual slideshows

[hutjensmpg]

I thought all tigers were wild. Do any hatcheries actually breed them from brooks and browns? I'd like to catch one sometime.

[spinner1]

most states have tigers....they are stockers....

some are more brown like....

others look like brookies.....

The stream born ones look more like brookies.

Sorry for hijack.