The Brook Trout - What You Need to Know

The Brook Trout is a native North American species but it is not really a trout. It is a Char. Char is the common name for members of the genus Salvelinus. So, if we look at the proper name for Brook Trout which is Salvelinus Fontinalis, we get some clues to the lifestyle of the Brook Trout. Salvelinus tells us that it is a Char and the Fontinalis part means “of springs” or “living in springs”. That is an important bit of information when it comes to figuring out where you might find trout.

Brook Trout prefer to spawn in places where springs well up. This is more important to them than almost any other consideration such as what the gravel is like on the bottom.

If there are no springs then Brook Trout will spawn in riffles or runs out of pools but these spots must meet very select criteria. The water must flow at a certain speed; the gravel bottom must be within a certain size and so on.

Interesting information or not so much but here is the bit that may help you to locate fish when a field. Because they are so well adapted to this environment and able to spawn successfully in brooks, rivers, ponds and lakes, Brook Trout might be found in any –even the smallest –spring fed water.

To locate trout in tiny brooks look for cover. That is where the trout will be. In a stream trout prefer a bottom of gravel and smallish rocks. The cover only needs to be near by. They will establish a territory and feeding lane and stay there. If you locate one of these spots the same trout is likely to be there all season. They will usually chase other trout out of their chosen territory but funnily enough are quite happy to share a bit of cover when needed.

In a lake things are very different. Trout in a lake are not territorial and cover is not so important to them. It is of interest to the fisherman however because cover might be where bait fish and insects congregate. Where there is food there are probably trout.

The most important thing to know about Brook Trout is that they don’t need much more than 2 feet of water to be comfortable. Rarely will a Brook Trout be found much deeper than 15 feet.

It is not uncommon in the summer, as water temperatures rise, to find trout in very shallow water clustered around a spring even though there is deeper water of almost the same temperature within easy reach.

The important key to beginning to understand Brook Trout and consequently becoming a more effective fisherman is in their name, Salvelinus Fontinalis –Char that lives in springs. In this case knowledge really is power, taxonomically speaking.

(This is a re-posting by request of a segment of a longer article.)