Was just sitting in my chair and I realized I’ve never thought about the sex of the fish I catch…must be a byproduct of marriage. Any tips on how to check the sex of rainbows and browns?
look for the lipstick and earrings! 
Now that’s funny right there. Geez, I’m still laughing.
Ya gotta be kidding. It’s obvious. The female is the one with the HEADACHE.
Mark
Jason,
It’s not always easy but as the fish get mature and especially as they enter the spawn cycle two differences can become dramatic.
Male Brown - note hook on jaw
Female Brown - note no hook, nice rounded profile.
Male Rainbow - see, a hook!
Female Rainbow - Look, no hook.
While Lip Stick and Earings my be a good indicator, you can’t always count on the girls getting all dressed up nor will this account for the occasional cross dresser. Look at the jaws and you’ll get a better idea. The only other fool proof method that I know of is to gut the fish. Egg sacks, it’s a female. Milt sacks, it’s a male. While I don’t recommend this practice, it does work.
Maybe other have some ways and will share as well.
Ya gotta be kidding. It’s obvious. The female is the one with the HEADACHE.
This thread needs to move over to the we need some laughs here thread!
Thanks for the obvious tips, and the less obvious hook in the jaw. Problem with the hook in the jaw, is every fish I catch seems to have the hook in the jaw.
Joe -
Every trout I catch has a hook on jaw - must be catching only males.
John
I think even in the non-spawning season, the jaw joint is farther back on a male, like past the eye on a male, and short of the eye on a female.
Then you are a sexist fisherman, catching all males! :lol:
Must be mostly female fish where I go, can’t seem to put a hook in their jaw !
What about younger fish where there is no jaw-hooking?
[FONT=Calibri]Looks like I opened the wrong post, this is “Birds and Bee’s for Fly Fishermen” Oooops !!! 
Now this almost sounds like the time when I was Salmon fishing a guy asked me if the rain is going to hurt the fishing, well my reply was there not going to get any wetter :lol:
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Even before the jaws develop a hook, the males have more snout in front of the eyes than the female. This is relative within a species of course, rainbows in general (for example) have shorter snouts than browns (for example).
Watch them in the water, the females are always telling the males which way to go and the males don’t listen…
Best Regards…
the ones that throw the hook or break you off and leave you standing there looking like a fool and wondering what you did wrong - those were females.
Brook trout males are much more colorful especially during fall spawning.
When you clean them for dinner, the females have eggs, ha!
I have to look for it again, but it was pointed out to me to compare the distance that the jaw extends “behind” the eye. Not sure if it’s as pronounced with trout as it is steelhead though?
I just look between their fins!
Bedlam, you started the best topic of the year. thank you! ha! Great stuff here.
the answer is the jaw set and the hook.