Salty Brown

[BumpBailey]

They tried to eradicate them. I think this guy's proof that they failed. My partner also got two sea run brownies this past weekend. Oh yeah, we got a few steelies too! Great weekend with one of the best guides up there.

[Bob Smith]

NICE FISH! Whether or not there's anadromous browns in that system has been a hot topic for years and I'm not sure it's ever been proven. Here's the link to a recent masters thesis which has a bunch of good info including history of brown trout stocking, prey items, growth patterns, etc. Just click on the download tab to look at it. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/47/

[Larry S]

Bump,
Had heard of them being caught in the Trinity. Why not? I know the Smith has/had a great coastal
cutthroat run. God! Do I miss those great steelhead runs. Wish I had fly fished for them
earlier.
Best to all,
Larry S
Sun Diego

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Maybe 30-40 years ago in the water below the dam and hatchery on the Trinity River there were big Brown trout caught.






About 50 years ago while fishing the Trinity River with old Joe Shirshac we were driving down below Junction City and we stopped at the

"big salmon hole" to look down and see the fish. There were conventional anglers all around the hole on both the rocks below us and

on the gravel on the other side. A tall native American guide took a woman client down to the run coming into the top of the deep hole.

In a few minutes, she caught and landed a nice fish. It was light yellow with spots as far as we could see from above.

Someone yelled out, "It's a Tiger trout!" Many did not know what it was in the 1960s but old Joe said it was a big Brown trout.


If you want to learn some really interesting history of the Trinity River, Lewiston Lake and Trinity Lake, stop at Herb and Pat Burton's fly

shop, The Trinity Fly Shop, in Lewiston, below the dam and hatchery. They have had a very good guide service out of that shop where

they fish classic methods, swinging and skating flies on top. I think they have moved to Spey fishing now too.

[DPLee]

No early egg taking stations were ever established on the Trinity River, however, one early hatchery was built at Fort Gaston near the south end of what is now the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. The fort was founded in 1859 on the west bank about 14 miles upstream from the confluence of the Klamath River. The fort was intended, “to control the area's Native American population and protect them against hostile depredations.” In 1889, the U.S. Fish Commission built a hatchery at the fort for propagating fall-run Chinook salmon.

In addition to trapping and spawning Chinook salmon, reports indicate 25,000 eggs of the “Von Behr or European brown trout (Salmo fario)”, not anadromous or sea trout strains, were shipped from New York to the Fort Gaston Hatchery. The U.S. Fish Commission Report for 1893 stated the "Von Behr Trout" were released in May 1893 into several streams in Humboldt County. Later reports of the Commission listed brown trout releases from the hatchery in additional northern California streams. The fort was abandoned in 1892 and the land and facilities were transferred to the Department of Interior.

I do not think we captured any "sea run" brown trout that during the several years of seining thousands of steelhead and Chinook salmon from the lower Klamath River in the fall months when one would expect them to enter freshwater.

Dennis
Dennis P. Lee

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Dennis,

It's nice that some of those old records have been saved.





History of the Trinity River Hatchery - CF&W website:

https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Hatc...-River/History

[MJones]

They tried to eradicate them. I think this guy's proof that they failed. My partner also got two sea run brownies this past weekend. Oh yeah, we got a few steelies too! Great weekend with one of the best guides up there.

For an inland guy who has mainly only caught trout(rainbows, cutthroat, cutbows, browns, brookies, goldens, redstripe) what characteristics would a brown show that would tell you it was a sea run brown, as opposed to a land locked fish? Just curious.

[Bob Smith]

Thanks Dennis - the master's thesis that I linked details the results of scale sampling and none of the fish sampled exhibited an ocean portion of their life cycle.

Here's a photo of a sea run brown caught from Denmark. They tend to be chrome colored - at least when they first enter freshwater just like salmon and steelhead.

[Tony Buzolich]

I can't find the picture right now but I caught one right at the bridge next to the Moose Lodge in Lewiston that was as chrome as a dime. There were only a few black spots and several of the red dots on it's side. Several people came down to look at it and most weren't sure what it was. The red dots were the only really tie to being a sea-run brown.
Tony

[BobVP]

Where is "there"?

I can assume from the comments below the Trinity, but it is not clear to me.

Thanks