Brook trout: species description, fishing features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

In our article we want to talk about trout. Under the common name hides several varieties of salmon. We will talk specifically about brook trout.

Habitat

Brook trout lives in Western Europe, from the coast of Murmansk to the Mediterranean Sea, in mountain streams. It is also found on the Balkan Peninsula, in Algeria, Morocco, and Asia Minor. In Russia, it is found on the Kola Peninsula, in the basins of the Caspian, White, B altic, Azov and Black Seas. But in the rivers of the Far East it is not.

Brook trout prefers streams and flat rivers with sandy or pebbly bottoms, in which clean and cold water rich in oxygen flows.

Description of the fish

Brook trout, as we have said, belongs to the Salmon family. The length of her body is 25-55 centimeters, and the weight reaches two kilograms (it largely depends on the living conditions). At the age of twelve, her weight can be 10-12 kilograms.

The fish has a thin elongated body, which is covered with small dense scales. Its color varies from dark brown to yellow; the back is usually dark or brown-green; black head with goldengill covers; abdomen is whitish. The whole body of a trout is usually dotted with many red and dark spots, which are bordered by light circles. Therefore, in many regions, the fish is called pied. Brook trout are never silvery, unlike their relatives. In general, it should be noted that its color depends on the color of the soil and water, food, season and many other factors.

Even the meat of fish living in different conditions has a different shade: white or pink.

Fish lifestyle

Mountain stream trout is sedentary and does not make large migrations. Older individuals after autumn and winter spawning go to deep-water areas, closer to spring springs, where they feed on small fish throughout the winter period. The trout leaves its shelter only with the arrival of spring, when muddy melt waters come into the river with the flood. However, as soon as the first greenery appears, the fish immediately take their summer places. Large individuals live alone, occupying places near waterfalls, along steep banks, at the mouth of streams and rivers. Small young trout prefer shallow rifts. She gathers in a flock and roams all summer from one place to another. As a rule, they can be seen behind large stones or in benthic thickets, where the current is negligible and small eddies form.

Brown trout breeding

Puberty trout reaches the third year of life. Fish spawn from November to December in shallow sections of the river, preferring a rocky or pebbly bottom and fastflow. Trout caviar is quite large (up to three millimeters in diameter), its fish lay in special holes, which are pulled out by females after fertilization. They bury it with vigorous movements of the tail. This method of spawning protects the eggs from being eaten by other individuals. It must be said that brook trout is not very prolific.

The larvae spend the whole winter in the shelter, they begin to hatch only with the advent of spring. For a long time they remain in the same place, feeding on the substances of their yolk sac. And only after four weeks they leave their home and begin to feed on insect larvae. At this moment, the rapid growth of the fish begins - in the first year of life, it reaches a length of ten centimeters.

Trout is characterized by rapid development, but it depends on habitat conditions. I must say that in a large river there is much more food than in a small stream. In an environment where there is more food, fish grow faster and reach larger sizes.

There is little chance of meeting large individuals in streams. But there are quite a lot of them in forest rivers, where there are a huge number of insects and small fish. In the presence of good conditions at the age of two, the fish can weigh up to half a kilogram. But in small reservoirs, even at the age of four, it will barely reach one hundred grams.

Fish food

Food for trout are small crustaceans, as well as insect larvae, small mollusks, fish, insects that have fallen into the water, tadpoles, even smallmammals and frogs. Feeding takes place in the morning or in the evening, while the trout often jumps out of the reservoir for flying insects. Fish love to eat caviar, even their own if it's not well hidden.

Large individuals sin by eating their own juveniles. Trout get a large amount of food during thunderstorms and winds, when, due to bad weather, a large number of all kinds of insects appear in the water. It is during such periods that fish are especially active and swim near the surface. Apparently, for the same reason, trout prefers reservoirs with dense vegetation on the banks. In the summer heat, fish try to stay near the springs. Not finding them, they can climb into holes, falling into a thermal stupor, then they can be caught almost with their bare hands. And at other times they are very agile and dodgy, trying to go to cover at the slightest danger.

Russian fishing

Brook trout is a special fish. And therefore, it also needs to be approached wisely to catch it. First of all, you need to decide where it is best caught. Do not expect good fishing in quiet waters. Fish do not like such places. It is best caught in ponds with intense currents, with whirlpools, where the waters are highly oxygenated.

In winter, fish are more passive, as their metabolic processes slow down. The ideal fishing time is early spring, when the trout are already active and the waters are clear and transparent. But this period will not be long - just a couple of weeks.

Catching Methods

Catching brooktrout is possible in many ways. You should focus on the season, type of fishing and bottom topography. Usually they fish from a boat or waddle.

It's hard to say how best to catch brook trout. Spinning is used if they stand in the water or on the shore. In this case, you can also use a wobbler. In its normal state, it floats on the surface of the water and sinks only during the lift. As a rule, it is thrown along the river, pulling it up from time to time. This tactic is good in areas where there is no strong current. Trout are caught for livestock.

For fishing, a fishing rod with a float is also quite suitable. In this case, the bait is located near the surface of the water. Only in this way can she get into the field of view of the fish. Periodically, the float is pulled up, but at the same time they do not pay attention to its drift by the wind.

There is another option for trout fishing - a float rod. Its essence lies in the fact that the bait with a float floats downstream for the entire length of the fishing line. In this case, the bait may touch the bottom. This method is called "floating". It is good for use where rivers flow into lakes.