It makes sense to start at the beginning, and the first question is obviously
"what is a trout?" The trout found in Missouri are members of the
salmonid family, and they act very similar to salmon. We have two primary species
available in Missouri: the rainbow trout and the brown trout. There are some rumors
floating around about some brook trout and even a few golden trout here and there,
but these fish, if they exist, are well guarded in waters without public access.
All Missouri trout are restricted to cold water locations where the water temperature
doesn't generally move much above 75 degrees, even in the hottest part of the summer.
Since the Southern half of Missouri is so rich with springs, there are numerous cold
water rivers and streams that are perfect for these fish.
The Rainbow Trout is by far the most numerous trout found here. They were first
introduced in Missouri's cold water streams in the 1880's. In fact, some of the
earliest stockings were accomplished by railroad workers who dumped buckets of
small trout into the streams the trains crossed. Some of these original strains of
trout continue to exist to this day. Although there are several wild rainbow
populations that can be found throughout the state, most of the decent-sized rainbow
trout you'll find are hatchery raised. Hatchery trout spend 15 months or so eating
about 1-1/4 pound of trout chow to grow to 11 inches or so before being stocked
into trout streams throughout the state.
Rainbow trout, once they've lived wild for a while, will feed almost exclusively on
aquatic insects (mayflies, caddis, midges, etc.), and terrestrial insects (ants,
beetles, grasshopper, etc.). In some waters, the trout may feed largely on small
crustaceans like scud (small freshwater shrimp) and sowbugs (aquatic "rolly pollies").
Even the largest rainbow trout will continue to feed on tiny bits of food with the
occasional minnow, crayfish or sculpin thrown in, if it's a fairly easy target, but
extra large rainbows may also become scavengers. This gives them the great amount
of protein they need to maintain their size while allowing them to conserve energy. It
also offers them some protection from fisherman. Recently released hatchery fish,
however, will bite on any number of items (i.e. corn, marshmallows, dough bait, etc.),
mainly because they were raised on lumps of food thrown at them. After stocking, it
will take some time for them to experiment with natural food sources before they give
up their preference for the hand-fed cafeteria style of feeding. It seems as though
all trout, however, have some genetically imprinted desire to eat fish eggs. In
virtually every trout stream, a good old fashioned "glo-bug" or the more new-fangled
"glu-bug" can work wonders when nothing else will.
Rainbow trout eggs that fell out of a trout and onto the
photographer's shoe. Compare these to the artificials below.
After literally decades of trial and error, two primary strains of rainbow trout
are now grown in our hatcheries and stocked in our state. These two strains are
called the "Missouri Strain" and the "Missouri Arlee Strain". Yep, our state actually
developed it's own strains. Cool, eh? The whole point of playing mother nature was
to develop a strain of fish that grew quickly, was resistant to disease, and resilient
to changing water conditions. The reason for two strains is to have a strain that will
spawn in the Autumn and another that will spawn in the Spring. This, of course, increases
efficiency and yield from the hatcheries. All in all, they've devised a pretty neat system.
The brown trout is a different animal altogether, of course. Obviously it looks different,
but it also behaves quite differently from the rainbow. These behaviors make the brownie a
bit of an enigma.
The brown trout was first imported from Europe in the 1890's, according
to many accounts. It was considered a good transplant for many areas,
because it was able to tolerate water temperatures warmer than the smaller
and slower-growing native brook trout. To this day, the brown trout is a
very popular and sought-after fish. Part of the reason is that it is
considered a more selective feeder, meaning it is a greater challenge to
catch than its rainbow cousin. There are also fewer brown trout out there.
The Missouri Department of Conservation raises between 1.5 and 2 million
rainbow trout per year, but rarely more than 300,000 brown trout.
Yes, the brown trout feeds differently than the rainbow, but there is no
study we're aware of that supports the supposition that browns are more
selective. In fact, brown trout feed very much like rainbows until they reach
about 12" in length and a pound in weight. Shortly thereafter, their diet
begins to include more big stuff -- minnows, sculpins, crayfish, etc. --
and fewer bugs. This is simple nature. The reason? No one knows for sure, but
there are a few theories which still need study. One is that they are simply
more aggressive by nature. Another is that they need more protein per meal
in order to meet their complex energy requirements. A third theory is more
complicated, stating that browns may engage in seasonal gorging to bulk up
on fat, thus allowing them to survive more dormant seasons like the coldest
part of winter and the hottest part of summer. We'll leave the final
decision to the biologists, but the result for fishermen is the same.
Instead of picking at caddis larvae all day, a brownie will chase down a
couple of sculpins or crayfish and be full for hours. They're not more selective
-- they're just stuffed. They'll still bite, because they're opportunistic
feeders, but you'll have to drift your bait to them just right. If they've recently
fed, they certainly won't chase your fly or lure, unless it looks big and meaty
and appears to be an exceptionally easy target.
Brown trout spawn in the fall and begin to gorge themselves prior to spawning. This
pre-spawn buffet period generally begins in early October and can stretch into mid-November.
It is during this period that true brown trout trophy hunters come out. And since brown
trout also tend to be a lot more active at night than rainbows, those trophy hunters will
often try their hand casting a big streamer or small crankbait at night in search of that
30+ pound monster hiding out there somewhere. The world record brown trout was caught in
Arkansas and weighed roughly 40 pounds. Missouri will break that record eventually.
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