Anyone Tell Why This Brown Looks So Different?

[kglissmeyer]

As I was managing some of my photos the other day I realized that there were some stark differences in coloration of fish from different waters, but then I saw something I have never seen in Brown Trout coloration, with the exception of a closely related Hybrid - the Tiger Trout.
So, I have posted several pictures of varied colored Browns, with the odd one with the vermiculations not normally found on Brown Trout posted last.
Comments?

Lower Henry's Fork Brown:



Snake River Spring Creek Brown:



South Fork Snake Brown:



The Odd Man Out Brown from a favorite spring creek (notice the vermiculation like on a tiger or brook trout - neither of which is in this drainage):



Anyone have some ideas, or is it just due to diet and location?

[jimsnarocks]

I posted a question a while back about a brown without the halo around the spots. I think you caught it. I wonder how it got to Idaho from the Mojave River? HMMM. That's unusual markings for sure. Jim

[kglissmeyer]

I just found one more that's just as odd - almost no spots:



I guess people all look different too.

[Eight Thumbs]

They look very different to me because they are all way bigger than any browns I have caught recently. Mine tend to be in the 8"-12" size. Must be a totally different species. 8T

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Kelly,

Are Tiger Trout sterile? If not, you could be seeing a natural occuring hybrid of a hybrid.

REE

[Lotech]

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. They don't have the bright yellow color with the punctuated dots. But the characteristics are still familiar. Here's a pic of one from Medical Lake near Spokane Washington.


Sorry for the lousy pic, but the dots don't have the same halo and those from the Snake River in Idaho.

[clyde holmes]

Wow, Color is kewl but Id be happy just catchn sumpn that big. I mostly catch native Cutts. Not big but darn pretty

[flyfshn76]

It really depends on the diet of the fish, the steam they are in, and so forth. Here in wv one of the streams that I fish are stocked with fingerling browns by TU and from what I can gather they are a strain out of montana. These fish have weird almost tiger trout type of spots on thier backs. Not the normal round black spots that we are accustomed to. About the tiger trout, if they are hatchery raised then they will be infertile. I have read in a couple of reports that wild stream born tigers have been found in WI. I believe that Spinner1 is from there and mayby he can offer more insight.

[clarkman23]

great pics...

I'm sure that it's no different than different strains of rainbows...for example, here in Oregon, the rainbows from central OR (predominantly redband trout) are quite different that rainbows from other areas...even within a single population, we'll get ones that are heavily spotted with a really nice dark red stripe and others that don't have nearly as many spots and a fainter red stripe...and still others that have a more orange colored stripe...

ultimately, what it boils down to is a little thing we like to call "individual differences"...

[clarkman23]

It really depends on the diet of the fish, the steam they are in, and so forth.

good point...look up pics of trout from the Frying Pan R. in Colorado which feed heavily on Mysis shrimp and compare that to just about any other rainbow in Colorado (chances are they came from the same hatchery stock)...

even on the Metolius River out here, which is not known for its Brown trout population...I've caught browns that are light straw colored with heavy spotting and VERY colorful, but the I've also caught several that are much darker in coloration. Presumably, all of these originated from the same stock since they are not native (migrated down from a lake above one of the tributaries)...