The brown trout first came to America from Germany in 1884, having been released into Michigan’s Pere Marquette River. They survived and thrived.
A year later, another batch of browns, these from Scotland’s Loch Leven in Kinross, were brought to America and they, too, did very well. (These Loch Leven browns are known for their dark spots and lack of red spots.)
Decades passed. The two strains of browns, one from German rivers and streams, the other from a big (3,500 acres), cold lake in Scotland situated between the Firth of Forth and the Earn, spread and began to eventually mix.
Soon, America had her own brown trout, and it would be one of the most discerning trout to ever swim in North America, known to refuse the very best presentation of a flawless fly, even when the rainbows, cutthroats, and brookies feed with abandon.
This isn’t surprising. Take the adaptability of the German and toss in the individuality of the Scot, mix the result with the eclectic appetite of the German and add the discriminating taste of the Scot, and you get the American brown trout.
The Browns which were planted in the Yellowstone are of Scottish origin. The main difference to fly fishers is that the German Browns are most active at night, and the Scottish (called Lochs) will rise to a dry fly during the day. Most of the Michigan Browns are night feeders.
There are Lochs and Germans in the McCloud in Northern CA. No night fishing allowed there but I’ve caught both species on drys, usually early or late, no sun on the water, overcast even better.
There have been German browns planted in East lake in central Oregon. I think that my son’s 30 incher was German, but it didn’t smell of beer! so I can’t be sure.
A lot of the brown trout I have caught were in a river. The school brown trout were caught alongside rainbows, but solitary browns were much harder to catch and seemed shy of sunlight, so it cut my hours of fishing for them.
There is a section of the Deschutes river that someone caught a 15 lb brown trout. Looking at the habitat, it was perfect for big browns because there are plenty of weed beds for the fish to hide in.
It’s fine to catch fish in a school, but it really interested me to fish for individual fish.
Doug
Just for the record, so everyone is in full understanding on the issue! Sauerkraut means “Picked (sauer) Cabbage (kraut)”.
Haggis: noun A traditional Scotish dish made from the heart, liver, and lungs of sheep or calfs; minced with suet, onions, oatmeal and seasonings. The haggis is stuffed into the stomach pouch of a sheep/calf and boiled until done.
I actual had the dish (sheep version), without knowing what it was, thought it was very good. Tasted somewhat like a meat suffing main dish, really sticks to the ribs, for those cold days, working outdoors. But then I also love Lutefisk!
I challenge any of you to prove that the browns in your local waters are completely from a particular origin in Europe or Asia. From virtually every water I have fished, I have seen browns that ran the gamut of appearance and behavior. Red spots, black spots, night feeding, day feeding… Through a hundred plus years of hatchery breeding and planting, our fish and game agencies have done wonders with trout genetics in the US.
Just like the people, a melting pot of all.
And, frankly, they are STILL trout, with brains the size of peas. I have never thought that they were harder to catch than rainbows. Maybe harder to catch in a certain way, but you could say that about ANY species.
Sauerkraut is actually a form of silage, to be technically accurate. It was developed after the German farmers developed “sour hay” (a.k.a. “silage”). Both are ensiled, protein-poor, carbohydrate-based foods/feeds. I’ll pass on both haggis and sauerkraut. But thanks anyway.
" makes pork chops taste good" ??? Doug, so your contention is that pork chops NEED something else to make them taste good??
Another thought, sauerkraut out of the bag/can is just the beginning of what you can do/add to it to make it taste GREAT.
All the browns I catch in Wyoming are popularly referred to as “German”.
Mark
Mark,
I don’t like Sauerkraut, but I’m not kidding, it actually makes the meat tender and moist! I just scrape that yukky stuff off before I eat the pork chop!
Could those GERMAN brown trout in Wyoming be left over from the German POW’S that were there in WW2?
Doug :shock:
so I can’t be sure.
