Brown Trout
Introduction
Guide to Brown Trout fishing
and gravel in which to spawn. The spawning behavior of brown trout is similar to that of the closely related Atlantic salmon. A typical female produces about 2,000 eggs per kilogram (900 eggs per pound) of body weight at spawning. Build varies according to food availability; coloration very variable. In acid waters, usually olive, bronze and gold, with numerous black and red spots; dark spots more or less round and often surrounded with a pale ring in limestone waters, often silvery, with x-shaped black spots and few or no red spots (except for adipose fin); numerous spots on gill-covers and cheeks, not regularly arranged; tail-fin usually not spotted, but spots may be present, especially on the upper lobe. Young brown trout feed on insects and other invertebrates such as shrimp, caddisflies, stoneflies, and mayflies. Both larvae and adults are taken, and the fish will eat whatever local insect life is abundant at the time. Larger fish are active predators of fish including young brown trout, suckers, loaches , minnow , stickelbacks , dace , perch and course fry and Larger brown trout will also feed on small terrestrial animals that fall into the water, such as baby birds falling from overhanging nests, or even swimming frogs , mice or voles. Brown trout sometimes do not actively feed until the late afternoon or early evening, but when the weather is cool, they will feed during the day, as well. The largest browns feed under cover of darkness. Brown trout can be caught with artificial flies, jigs, rubber worms, spinners and other lures.
With a huge network of rivers and loughs, Ireland is the one of the few last refuges for truly wild trout attracting anglers back year after year. Ireland has 16,000 km of main river channel and 10,000 km of tributary which are unspoilt and relatively unpolluted. They provide ideal habitat for trout. In addition, there are in excess of 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of loughs.
The habitat of the wild brown trout is diminishing all over Europe and at the same time the majority of fly fishing for trout has an artificial character based on catching ‘rainbows’. In this respect Ireland offers the essence of the sport - the pursuit of wild trout taking hatching fly in natural waters.
The brown trout (Salmo trutta) is a medium-sized fish, growing to 20 kg or more in some localities, although in many smaller rivers, a mature weight of 1 kg (2 lb) or less is common but fish over 5kg (10lbs) are caught regularly on some of the larger bodies of water and fish over 10kgs (20lbs) are reported annually. Brown trout are active both by day and by night and are opportunistic feeders. Their diets will frequently include invertebrates from the stream bed, other fish, frogs, mice, birds, and insects flying near the water's surface. The high dietary reliance upon insect larvae, pupae, nymphs and adults is what allows trout to be a favored target for fly fishermen. It thrives in waters of all types, from small mountain streams to broad limestone rivers and loughs. It’s main requirements are clean water
