Brown trout in driftless area streams have two separate blood lines. Most people that think of browns they think of German Browns right away. There was another type of brown brought across. It is called the Lock Leven brown. Lock Leven means "Lock Eleven" and is a brown of Scottish heritage. Both trout species were brought over in the holds of ships by early settlers.

The way to tell the 2 breeds apart before they became intermingle was the different spot patterns. German browns typically have reds spots intermingled with the other spots. Loch Leven browns have no red spot. The real way to tell them apart definitely is to look to see if they are wearing leder hosen or kilts


Brown trout with "German" heritage.


Brown trout with "Scottish" heritage.