Rainbow trout
The family Salmonidae is very well represented in North America. The rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) is native to the west coast of North America, was not only established all across the continent but also has been stocked widely around the world. Today either the rainbow or the brown trout may be the most widespread game fish on earth. There are both migratory and non-migratory races of rainbow trout and from locality to locality these vary greatly in appearance, behavior, and growth rates. The migratory rainbows are known as steelheads and average much paler in color than their cousins. They are silver in hue. Steelheads and non-migratory rainbows that live in large, deep lakes reach a much larger size than those that live year-round in American rivers. The chief difference between rainbows and other trout is that rainbows are essentially fish of very fast water.
The rainbow trout was first brought to Europe at the end of the 1800s where its principal use was as a stock fish. No one knows today where the first rainbows came from, but the rainbow trout found in Europe have the characteristics of several American rainbow species as well as the cutthroat trout. Through the years, many rainbow trout have escaped from their original artificial lakes and ponds to natural waterways. In several countries stocking natural streams and lakes is no longer allowed but the fish still somehow manage to escape and have been found among hatchery-reared brown trout and sea trout when they were released in streams. There are very few places in Scandinavia where rainbow trout are known to spawn in natural water, and even fewer places where the young grow naturally to maturity; the competition from the brown trout is too much for the rainbow. A rainbow trout can tolerate higher temperatures than a brown trout; it grows faster, and tends to be cheaper to raise for stocking. The fish that are now slipping out from stocking ponds or mixed in with other species originate from hatcheries that often concentrate their efforts on growth, the time of spawning, and color factors that could be considered detrimental to the rainbow’s natural life cycle when they escape the hatcheries and swim freely in natural lakes and rivers. All rainbow trout, if it is possible, try to migrate to the sea where they quickly take on a much paler hue. This is the case in the Baltic Sea area, particularly in southern Sweden and Denmark. It is possible that these rainbows carry genes from the migratory rainbows, the steelheads. During the springtime in these Parts of Scandinavia there is an increase in shining silver “steel heads” that are on their way to spawn and then return again to the sea.
While the brown trout prefers to spend its time in hiding places and along the shore where it feeds, the rainbow is a fish of the open water, often seen accompanied by other rainbows. This gregarious behavior could possibly be bred in the fish hatcheries, where many fish live together in a small area. The rainbow prefers a diet of insects, larvae and small animals and sometimes even of young fry. The brown trout’s diet is on a larger scale, including frogs, crustaceans and minnows. Whether fishing for rainbows or for brown trout in very fast water the technique is just about the same. The rainbow trout is hooked in stream passages, deep holes and among bottom vegetation. Spinners, small spoons and plugs as well as weighted flies and different kinds of natural bait are all good choices. Rainbows feed at twilight. They are much fussier about their food than the brown trout are, and can be very hard to please. Rainbows seem marvelously content in lakes. So much so that several countries have created trout ponds and stocked them with rainbows. The British have successfully stocked reservoirs where an abundance of rainbows now makes fly-fishing from the banks and by boat a very popular pastime. In Scandinavia, especially in Sweden, there are several hundred natural lakes that have been stocked with rainbows. Many local sportfishing associations contract their own gravel pits, ponds and lakes that are stocked with rainbows for their members.
Cutthroat trout
Another American trout that has not been widely or successfully stocked beyond its range is the cutthroat (Salmo clarkii) of the Snake and Yellowstone river drainages in Wyoming, and elsewhere in the western mountains. Searun cutthroats are found in river estuaries from Alaska south to northern California. The species readily hybridizes with rainbow trout in Rocky Mountain lakes. Many different races of cutthroats occur and except for the bright red slash marks on the throat, the colourings and markings vary widely. Cutthroats of the Yellowstone country, which are pink, blackspotted and with golden fins, are among the most striking of all. It is the writer’s opinion that the cutthroat is not nearly as wary nor as hard to hook as the rainbow trout.
Eastern brook trout
Nor is the eastern brook trout or squaretail (Salvelinus fontinalis), which (especially in spawning colours) may be the most exquisite member of its family. Males at spawning time are one of the few freshwater fishes colourful enough to be compared with the fishes of coral reefs. Their most distinctive markings are the pure white edges of the fins. When the first settlement of America began over three centuries ago, brook trout abounded in many of the pure freely flowing woodland streams of the eastern United States and Canada. But clearing the land for farming and cutting the forests caused so much siltation and increased the water temperatures enough that today brook trout barely manage to survive in only a few remote streams in the United States. The species requires cold water and cannot tolerate temperatures much above 21°C). Some good brook-trout fishing still exists in the more remote lakes of Maine, but for the best of it, a fisherman must explore farther north into Labrador and wild eastern Quebec. The eastern brook trout was introduced in Europe at the end of the 1800s, along with the rainbow trout, but because the rainbow trout was more suitable for fish cultivation, little interest was shown in the eastern brook trout. Some fish farms still maintain small quantities of this fish. As a result, the eastern brook trout now lives “wild” in many of Europe’s clear and cold brooks, rivers and streams where there is fast moving water at low summer temperatures. Sometimes fish as long as 40-50 cm are hooked, but average small eastern brook trout are 10-25 cm. Although insignificant as a game species, this trout is still a keen opponent.