I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?

bobbernumber3: " "

What he said.

Beautiful fish!!!

airmorse: "

bobbernumber3: " "

What he said.


Beautiful fish!!!"

Beautiful, for sure, but so is a pumpkinseed and they don't inspire devotees like trout do.

For me it is the hunt to find them. I so enjoy bushwhacking to small streams for Brookies ,hiking to secluded mountain streams for rainbows, Browns, and cutthroat. Lake Trout fishing is also one of my passions ! Nothing like fighting a BIG LAKER from a solo canoe!

Because they taste so good. What's not to like?

walllee: "For me it is the hunt to find them. I so enjoy bushwhacking to small streams for Brookies ,hiking to secluded mountain streams for rainbows, Browns, and cutthroat. Lake Trout fishing is also one of my passions ! Nothing like fighting a BIG LAKER from a solo canoe! "

For all the reasons mentioned and more. I agree here-nothing better than bushwhacking for brookies on small streams. I believe there is something that ties into our primal nature with this quest. As my brother stated, while heading out into the BWCA last month, "I think brook trout would be considered our family fish". And the joy we experienced as we caught about 30 fifteen to nineteen inchers over two days confirms this. And I cannot imagine a better tasting, eating fish.

It's a beautiful, great tasting, and big enough to eat fish. Throw in the multiple different species and color patterns for enthusiasts to go crazy about. It checks all the boxes. No matter what reason you are fishing, trout is a good fish to catch.

Pumpkin seed sunfish might look great too, but they are not that big. It's hard to find one big enough to feed one person, much less one person per fillet. Then you have to descale it too. Trout don't have scales so their skin is edible without any extra prep work and they can be big enough to feed 1 person per fillet.

It is just a good fish all around.

Because they live in the most beautiful places!

because it means spending time with son

I am surprised you are asking; those who have caught all those species usually don't need an explanation as to why they are more fun to chase than most other species.

I especially like targeting them in the winter when everything else is docile and tedious to target. Since they are a cold/deep water fish, they are every bit as active in the winter as they are summer, and always tenacious.

In my opinion (other than smallmouth, maybe) pound for pound there is no freshwater fish that fights like trout. I love watching them underwater, behaving like sharks, swimming in circles, darting in and out and finally committing and hammering a bait.

In my opinion, a 30" lake trout fights every bit as good as a 40" pike. The way lake trout fight, with the violent head shakes and the vertical runs is super exciting.

Last but not least, what other fish is willing (and able) to follow your bait from depth of 100+ feet, just to commit and inhale your bait 2' under the ice/boat? In the winter, I have caught Lake trout two feet under the ice, and 100 feet down in the same day...

Because they come out of the purest waters and the most beautiful regions of our country that can only be reached by canoe or hiking:
- Lakers - our beloved BWCAW
- Cutthroats - the mountains of Colorado
- Brookies, Browns - the streams and spring ponds of Wisconsin
- Rainbows - the hard to get to secret gems of northern -----------

And the pic sent in by bobbernumber3 is worth a thousand words!

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

The mystery of fishing, for sure. Great answers appear in this thread re: trout. But you could have just as easily substituted, "why some fishers love smallmouth, walleye, catfish, crappie, bluegill, pike, white bass, largemouth....and yes...(if European especially) carp?" Each of these species has dedicated fishermen that will avidly pursue them above all the other options. Who knows why? As I've aged I've become more content to 'live and let live' when it comes to preferred species. And personally, more and more I just enjoy fishing, whatever the species.

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

What’s your preferred fish ?

Because Fall brookies are the prettiest fish on the planet and stream fishing for them puts me in the middle of nowhere...my favorite spot.

missmolly: "Beautiful, for sure, but so is a pumpkinseed and they don't inspire devotees like trout do. "

I like them both!! They are both great tasting fish and fun to catch!

Frankie_Paull: "

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

What’s your preferred fish ?"

I like the pugnacity of muskies.

I like the aerobatics of smallmouth.

I like the spunk of bluegills.

I like species, like bluefish and striped bass, that school and feed enmasse, letting you catch one after another after another.

I would love to catch arctic char and Atlantic salmon one day.

Lots of good answers.

For me trout were the first non-panfish that I chased as a kid. We’d go visit my grandparents on their farm in wisco and grandma would take us to the creek on their property and we’d catch brook and brown trout on our Zebco reels. So trout have always been special to me.

Another reason for me is that being dedicated to chasing trout takes me to the places I want to spend my time like the BW. It forces me to take trips. Living near the Mississippi in the twin cities I have access to one of the great multi species fisheries around, so I pretty much fish the river exclusively. It’s good to have a reason to go to beautiful places!

Because trout live in beautiful places.

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

It’s not only because they are beautiful fish it’s just as much the places where they live !

bobbernumber3: " "

Gorgeous Brookie. No fish ever created is as beautiful as a Brookie in fall.

missmolly: "

airmorse: "

bobbernumber3: " "

What he said.



Beautiful fish!!!"

Beautiful, for sure, but so is a pumpkinseed and they don't inspire devotees like trout do. "

No pumpkinseed looks as beautiful as that fish! As others stated it is the fact they aren’t everywhere. I can catch bass, walleye, northern, sunfish etc...anywhere I practically go. I have to make an effort/plan to find a lake that has them, let alone try to figure out how to catch them.

T

Trout are surely beautiful, but not more beautiful than bluegills or pumpkinseeds. There s a bit of elitsm around trout. Fly-fishing has upper class roots; it probably has something to do with that. It is interesting how we assign desirability to plants and animals. I remember when I found out dandelions were undesirable; I was shocked.

missmolly: "Every time you post at bwca.com, you run the risk of missing some neighborhood kids crossing your lawn. Do you really want to continue taking that chance? "

LOL

lundojam: "Trout are surely beautiful, but not more beautiful than bluegills or pumpkinseeds. There s a bit of elitsm around trout. Fly-fishing has upper class roots; it probably has something to do with that. It is interesting how we assign desirability to plants and animals. I remember when I found out dandelions were undesirable; I was shocked."

I think that's valid for sure. If you look at all the colors on a bluegill -- and when you start seeing all that shimmering purple -- they're really beautiful fish. The beauty of trout doesn't have much to do with why I chase them personally. The beauty of their home lakes, yes.

On the "class" comment -- entirely possible there's some of that going on.

Isn't this one a beauty?

And here's a gorgeous longear.

I agree that class is in play. The lords of England caught trout while everyone else fished for carp and it's still that way today.

bobbernumber3: " "

WOW! Was that caught this year? That pic is as SWEET as it gets. Congratulations!

Sorry, but I'm not seeing it with the sunfish. I think it is the body shape and how common they are. I go off of any dock and start catching sunfish, they are like pigeons or seagulls. It is similar to the difference between deer and moose.

missmolly: " Isn't this one a beauty?


And here's a gorgeous longear.


I agree that class is in play. The lords of England caught trout while everyone else fished for carp and it's still that way today. "

Author John Gierach, the best fly/trout fishing author I know bar none, has a wonderful chapter in one of his books on fly fishing for big carp. He can "match the hatch' with the best of them, and yet somehow stays down to earth and "non-elite". It fits his upbringing as a serious hippie type from the late 60's/early 70's. He's a must read for trout aficionados....and those who aren't.

missmolly: " Isn't this one a beauty?


And here's a gorgeous longear.


I agree that class is in play. The lords of England caught trout while everyone else fished for carp and it's still that way today. "

All I know is some of my fondest fishing memories are as a kid catching sunfish with my dad in the summer....

I grew up a few hundred yards from an beautiful little trout stream. That sticks with you.

My oldest friends and I have a yearly gathering we call Trout Camp. In the early years it was about the cold, wet, May openers. Beer all night and wet lines all day. As it has evolved, our yearly camps are more about state forests, paddling day trips, and telling stories about the old days around the fire while the children roll their eyes. We pick a new place to pitch our tents and trailers every 2 or 3 years, we're on a 29 year streak.

Trout life is a good life.

fadersup: "I grew up a few hundred yards from an beautiful little trout stream. That sticks with you.


My oldest friends and I have a yearly gathering we call Trout Camp. In the early years it was about the cold, wet, May openers. Beer all night and wet lines all day. As it has evolved, our yearly camps are more about state forests, paddling day trips, and telling stories about the old days around the fire while the children roll their eyes. We pick a new place to pitch our tents and trailers every 2 or 3 years, we're on a 29 year streak.


Trout life is a good life. "

That's what it is all about! Deer camp! Elk camp! Trout camp!
Never heard of sunfish camp..

As a general rule I'd say location they're caught as well.

Also, a lake trout was the very 1st fish my daughter caught when she was 3.

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

If you were listing bass, I would understand your question and perlexion… I've never understood why so many fishers love bass, but I don't really care to know.

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

If you were listing bass, I would understand your question and perlexion… I've never understood why so many fishers love bass, but I don't really care to know."

Incuriouser and incuriouser.

bobbernumber3: "

missmolly: "I've caught lake trout, rainbows, brookies, and brown trout, but I've never understood why so many fishers love trout above all. Can someone help me see?"

If you were listing bass, I would understand your question and perlexion… I've never understood why so many fishers love bass, but I don't really care to know."

LOL!

lundojam: "Trout are surely beautiful, but not more beautiful than bluegills or pumpkinseeds. There s a bit of elitsm around trout. Fly-fishing has upper class roots; it probably has something to do with that. It is interesting how we assign desirability to plants and animals. I remember when I found out dandelions were undesirable; I was shocked."

In the US the desirability is associated due to the accessibility and elusiveness. How many times do people post on this website about trying to catch their first trout? Happens all the time. When has anyone ever posted about still trying to catch their first pumpkinseed? Doesn’t make a pumpkinseed undesirable or even less... As far as the “class comment” and elitism...maybe...but I don’t think so...In Europe and especially England yes that is true historically. People on this website that I know that pursue trout...NO WAY!—-there is more complexity to it than that. Full disclosure I am not a trout guy.

T

Interesting question for sure. T, you are surely correct about supply and demand. Rare things are more highly valued. I grew up on a lake with trout stocked every spring, but no walleyes. I value walleyes very highly compared to stocked trout, and I'm sure that has something to do with it. I do value naturally-occurring trout more highly than stocked trout as well, which isn't to say I don't love those bushwhack-y portages to put-and-take brook trout lakes. I do love those lakes and their fish.
(Anyway, to each their own. I'll stick to my theory about British Empire elitism and fly-fishing. Lots of the things we value as a culture have been passed down from that tradition. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Keeping a nice lawn, for example, is totes Brit, as is getting dressed up for the theater or a nice restaurant. It's my belief that keeping your house spotless started out with folks wanting to make it look like they had "help" which couldn't be more British Empire. But I digress.)
Walleye make me happiest. Trout are right up there though.

I just fish, most all species, legless salamanders included... from the streams of SE Minnesota to the frozen lakes of shield country. And all territory in between. My two favorite beautiful fish are the Brookie and Pumpkinseed.

Caught my first Tiger Trout last year, another pretty fish to add to the favorites list.

I side with lundojam. Faulkner's most quoted line is "The past is never dead. It's not even past,"

We ferried all that classicism across the pond.

If rarity were the driver of the trout's appeal, I would have to have taken a number when I fished the only two lakes in the world for the Aurora trout (You are allowed to catch one. So, you hook one, whether you keep it or not, and you're done.). However, I was the only one there and by the looks of the shoreline and the access road, I was the only one there in a long time.

If beauty were the determiner, like Duff, fishers would love the Pumpkinseed as much as the brook trout and they'd love many tropical fish even more.

If the beauty of the location were what matters, fishers would wax about pike, which live in many of the same lakes.

T, it's nice swell to be disagreeing with you again. Sadly, as always, you are wrong. ;-)

These photos alone make a convincing case for trout and salmon.

Because trout don’t live in ugly places!

It's a sublime question, as are some of the responses.
Like others, I enjoy the special places I go to find them. I admire them as an apex predator in the little river on which I live. When I changed to solo paddling in 2019, fishing made me lonesome for my boys-now-busy-men, except trout fishing. Never thought about that until now. FWIW, Miss Maven Molly, I no longer mow most of the yard either.

Jillpine, since I've already tapped Carroll, Faulkner, and Shakespeare, I'll reply to you through Dickens: "Maven? I'm more an undigested bit of brass, a crumb of dumb, a fragment of underdone thinking. There's more of Wavy Gravy than of mavey about me."

missmolly: "I side with lundojam. Faulkner's most quoted line is "The past is never dead. It's not even past,"

T, it's nice swell to be disagreeing with you again. Sadly, as always, you are wrong. ;-)"

Ha...I almost always agree with your point...the logic of how you got to it or the innuendos behind it always drags the devil's advocate out of me. :)

Just like on this... I am NOT a trout guy, but I take the people I know, the people on this site, at their word and can see their side and not generalize based on feudal England in 1500s.

BTW the rich didn’t cross over the pond to fish. They didn’t need or want to. They had everything the common man did because they weren’t allowed in Europe.

T

This thread cemented my desire to chase brookies and/or splake this year. :)

timatkn: "

missmolly: "I side with lundojam. Faulkner's most quoted line is "The past is never dead. It's not even past,"

T, it's nice swell to be disagreeing with you again. Sadly, as always, you are wrong. ;-)"

Ha...I almost always agree with your point...the logic of how you got to it or the innuendos behind it always drags the devil's advocate out of me. :)

Just like on this... I am NOT a trout guy, but I take the people I know, the people on this site, at their word and can see their side and not generalize based on feudal England in 1500s.

BTW the rich didn’t cross over the pond to fish. They didn’t need or want to. They had everything the common man did because they weren’t allowed in Europe.

T"

Logic? As I already stated, I am "a crumb of dumb."

GG, I also love the look of splake.

As others have said, the places where they live. I do a whole lot more fishing than catching, and I don't fish much, these days. Having said that, I did once enjoy catching a trout in Decorah, Iowa, in site of a car dealership... but Decorah is special.

Growing up on the south side of Chicago I'd take the fly rod out to the local ponds with a can of corn and catch what we called 'green trout'
...but alas, they were carp.

missmolly: "Jillpine, since I've already tapped Carroll, Faulkner, and Shakespeare, I'll reply to you through Dickens: "Maven? I'm more an undigested bit of brass, a crumb of dumb, a fragment of underdone thinking. There's more of Wavy Gravy than of mavey about me.""

.
OK then. How about Dickinson's reason for the love of trout?
The Sea said "Come" to the Brook. (Trout)
Always the riddler, she wrote a wonderful poem of the sea encouraging the trout to see the world. And here we are, fishers telling tales of the places we see when looking for trout. Perhaps feudalism. Certainly poetry.

MM, nice Dickinson. Faulkner: "My mother is a fish."

rtallent: "As others have said, the places where they live. I do a whole lot more fishing than catching, and I don't fish much, these days. Having said that, I did once enjoy catching a trout in Decorah, Iowa, in site of a car dealership... but Decorah is special."

I love fishing that area.

Bloody Run

Sny Magill

Paint and Little Paint

Soo many other small streams.

I have always said you don't fish for trout (especially Brook Trout) you hunt them.

lundojam: "MM, nice Dickinson. Faulkner: "My mother is a fish." "

Good ol Vardaman. Or more like poor lil Vardaman.

Splake
This is why

and Brookies

Quoting Bluto Blutarsky
Why not?

I spent Friday chasing browns and rainbows, 2nd to last day of the season. Water temps were about 46. I had a unique first-time experience. There was one other boat that was hammering a school of small rainbows on waxies under tiny slip bobbers. They were having a blast, hooting and hollerin watching those bobbers drop. I'd estimate their hookup percentage was somewhere around 15% and they still limited out easily. It looked fun but I wasn't going to move in on them and don't care much for hammering 10" stockies. I trolled past them a couple times and picked off a couple on a tiny husky jerk, then made my way to a sunny bay on the other shoreline. What I found there was insanely cool: BIG female rainbow trout just cruising the surface! They were NOT eating what I was throwing -- huskys, kastmasters, live minnows big and small, but I really didn't care. I anchored up in about 8 fow over a mixture of sand and submerged weeds and just stood in the bow of my boat watching them for like 2 hours. I really wished I was a fly fisherman because I think that would've been the ticket.

This is a put-and-take fishery. Some fish survive from year to year, but it gets HARD in the winter time. I have to think these fish were older brood stock mixed in with the most recent stocking because they were large fish. Really fun.

TGG, the Bonneville Dam in Oregon has a pool of massive rainbow trout that just cruise around the pond. I would have watched them for hours.

bobbernumber3: " "

Had to flip this one around for you. That is as beautiful Brookie as I’ve ever seen

Basspro69: "

bobbernumber3: " "

Had to flip this one around for you. That is as beautiful Brookie as I’ve ever seen "

What a fish!

mooseplums: "Splake
This is why

and Brookies"

Beautiful. !!!!

There is a documentary on serious wilderness (Labrador in canoes) brook trout fishing that I've watched several times and it never fails to get to me. It is called "Big Land" and is on YouTube.

Just watch it. You won't regret it.

mapsguy1955: "There is a documentary on serious wilderness (Labrador in canoes) brook trout fishing that I've watched several times and it never fails to get to me. It is called "Big Land" and is on YouTube.


Just watch it. You won't regret it. "

I watched it and regretted it. Beautiful footage, but sorry, I can't help but shake my head at people who get a fun notion ("oh hey let's become canoe trippers!") and proceed to spend several thousand dollars outfitting themselves in top-notch gear before they ever take a serious trip. That's not the mindset of a passionate angler or wilderness junky, that's the mindset of a gear junky. They just come off as incredibly privileged to me.

Also the arrogance that's wrapped up in the mindset of thinking you're the "only person ever to fish these waters" is completely off-putting to me.

When she takes a bite of that beautiful native brook trout, caught fresh, gutted and cooked on the spot, and then says "tastes like chicken," that was enough for me.

mapsguy1955: ".......Just watch it. You won't regret it. "

I watched it and laughed. My last trip to Wabakimi could be made to look that good with professional videographers along.

Lots of interesting comments.
... "the guide agreed to follow us into the unknown". Yes, they certainly needed someone to guide them.
... "we went from novice to experienced in a few short months". Right. I'm glad the guide "agreed" to "follow".
... "we were only the most recent in a long line of adventurers". Yes, it really was not that wild.

Looks like they had plenty of extra paddles. And nice to have the fly-tying equipment along. And I thought I overpacked on canoe trips!

The photography, editing and overall video was very well done.

Simple. Trout are elegant.

+1 - I was going to watch, but thankfully gopher saved me some time.

thegildedgopher: "

mapsguy1955: "There is a documentary on serious wilderness (Labrador in canoes) brook trout fishing that I've watched several times and it never fails to get to me. It is called "Big Land" and is on YouTube.



Just watch it. You won't regret it. "

I watched it and regretted it. Beautiful footage, but sorry, I can't help but shake my head at people who get a fun notion ("oh hey let's become canoe trippers!") and proceed to spend several thousand dollars outfitting themselves in top-notch gear before they ever take a serious trip. That's not the mindset of a passionate angler or wilderness junky, that's the mindset of a gear junky. They just come off as incredibly privileged to me.


Also the arrogance that's wrapped up in the mindset of thinking you're the "only person ever to fish these waters" is completely off-putting to me.


When she takes a bite of that beautiful native brook trout, caught fresh, gutted and cooked on the spot, and then says "tastes like chicken," that was enough for me."

I had an absolute blast chasing big Lake Trout on my Fall 2020 trip to Knife, Little Knife, Amoeber, Topaz, Cherry and Hanson Lakes. We caught a lot of fish over 25", which I would classify as large trout. Every fight with a big Lake Trout is different, exciting and powerful. If you are lucky enough to catch one of these beasts deep water jigging, you can attest that there isn't a more exciting fight to be had in the BWCA (honorable mention to topwater bass and the elusive 40+" pike).

I put together 5 videos that will hopefully make my case stronger, but you be the judge. Here's the link to the first:

Fall 2020 Lake Trout Trip

Perhaps there is some arrogance that lives with trout and salmon fishermen. Where we sit after multiple personal trips is different for a novice. My father did many trips to Labrador trout and char fishing. It’s beautiful country and to be protected at all costs. The requirement of a local guide is to protect both the environment and livelihoods. The kids obviously needed assistance. Still, I love the appreciation for the fish themselves, and their story.

Growing up in Eastern South Dakota, it was all about walleye and perch. Trout were what we caught with grandpa on canned corn from the old granite quarry in Milbank. Fun, but considered below bobber fishing for perch. But trout have grown on me. I had my oldest son bushwhacking for brookies when he was four nears old. He called them “book trout” because that’s what he thought I was saying, and I didn’t want to correct him. He had caught many, many bluegills from the dock at my parent’s place before that first book trout, but he inherently knew that the 5” brookie was something special.

I won’t try to explain it, but I think a lot of it really is about the chase and the location. In 2020, I caught stocked rainbows trolling on a local lake that made a good meal, but I much more thoroughly enjoyed catching a 6” brown trout on a new-to-me stretch of creek in SE MN on a Tenkara with a fly that I tied.

One more reason why I believe trout are superior, especially in the winter when most other fish are mostly dormant and less exciting to catch. I would argue there isn't a much more enjoyable fishing experience than sight fishing brook trout on a frozen BWCA lake in 5' of water. Please check out my video documenting my sight-fishing trip into the BWCA for trout opener 2021:

Boundary Waters Trout Fishing Opener 2021: Sight Fishing Brook Trout