Big browns
While lying low during the day, brown trout can be very active at night and produce violent strikes that are sure to get any angler’s heart racing.
I recently had the chance to realize a long-held dream with the opportunity to fly fish in Scotland.
My wife and I made a trip over to North Uist in the Hebrides, which my great-great-grandfather, John MacLean, left around 1830 to come to Cape Breton.
While we were on the Island I was able to fish for a short time one afternoon on one of North Uist’s 800 lochs. All the fishing is privately controlled but it only cost me five pounds, a little over eight dollars Canadian to fish for a day. Angling for sea run trout costs 10 times more while salmon fishing is higher again.
The day was sunny and windy, at least that is my excuse, as I found that trout are just as difficult to catch in Scotland as they are here in Nova Scotia. However, I enjoyed the experience and hope to go back some day and spend more time fishing these historic waters.
The trout I was chasing on North Uist were brown trout, the native trout of Scotland. I have caught brown trout before, right here in Nova Scotia, as this species has been introduced to waters around the world. Known scientifically as Salmo trutta, their natural range is Europe.
First introduced to Nova Scotia in 1923, in the Milford Haven River of Guysborough County, brown trout have become well established in several areas of Nova Scotia, but probably nowhere better than in our rivers along the Northumberland Strait. Since the first fish stocks imported from Europe often came from Germany early anglers often referred to them as German browns. Later stocks came from Loch Leven in Scotland so some strains were referred to as Loch Leven trout.
As their name suggests, brown trout are brown or golden brown in colour. They grow rapidly, and can reach some impressive sizes. In Europe, fish up to 68 pounds have been caught while a sea run brown trout weighing 28 pounds was caught in Witless Bay, N.L., in 1962. The current Nova Scotia Sportfish Registry lists brown trout caught in local waters in three categories. They are a 29-inch fish caught and released in River John by Dan Boudreau in 2016; a 20inch fish in the youth live release category caught and released in South River, by Alex Graham in 2013 and a four-pound trout, also from River John, in the youth catch and keep category by Georgina Marshall in 2011.
Brown trout are generally found in the same habitats as brook trout but due to their larger size, and their ability to tolerate higher water temperatures, they often displace brook trout from their range. Brown trout tend to seek out deep holes under banks and overhanging trees or anywhere there is some cover. These fish lie low during the day and become active at night. Fishing them at dusk can be very productive, and exciting.
Anglers living in Pictou County are fortunate in having a wide selection of brown trout rivers to choose from. These include River John, the West and East as well as French and Barneys Rivers, all of which have sea-run populations of brown trout. These sea-run fish have spent several seasons feeding in the food rich coastal areas and can reach some impressive sizes.
Fishing for brown trout can sometimes make for challenging angling. Early in the season spinning gear with worms or minnows can be very successful. Later on in the summer when the water drops they can be very selective in what they eat. The exception is in the evening when the big browns go on the prowl. Then a big muddler minnow or mouse imitation can trigger some violent strikes. The season for brown trout remains open until the end of September so you still have a chance to catch one for the record books.