Brown Trout ‘A Debate’ By Steve Cullen

I think that it’s a good thing that those small water fisheries, which are brave enough to stock with brown trout, are reaping the rewards thanks to the laws that came in a few years back.

These brown trout - which are stocked into ‘Fully Enclosed Stillwater’s’ in other words, nothing can swim in or out of can now be taken by any angler that’s fortunate enough to catch one!

Small waters have been stocking with brown trout for decades yet before June 2010 they still had to abide by a draconian law, which stated that any brown trout caught, ‘in the close season’ must be returned. Please be aware that most of these fish are Triploids and have no way of reproducing.

These brown trout, the bigger the better, in the case of small water fishery owners, attract anglers. Show me a fly fisher that would rather catch a big rainbow over a big brown?

There’s not a fly fisher in the UK that would take a big rainbow trout to a big brownie, it’s something which is inherit in us, goodness knows why!

The problem with brown trout is that during the summer months, they tend to do a disappearing act and are never caught; this is not the ideal situation for those that have gone to the expense of stocking with them. If you’re paying top dollar putting fish into your water then you want anglers to catch them! It’s this ‘turnaround’ which ensures that fish come out and new fish go in which keeps a healthy balance of resident and stock fish, it’s a juggling act, but it’s this balance that keeps the paying punter happy!

From now until December large browns feature highly in catches from the majority of our reservoirs ‘out of season’.

If you’re lucky enough to catch that fish of a lifetime, you have to put it back.

I’m not saying that all these big brown trout should be killed, far from it in fact, but how many of us have actually been fortunate to catch one of these magnificent fish? Not many I’d wager.

There are still many large waters out there, which are ‘Fully Enclosed Stillwater’s’ yet they still have a close season for brown trout… why? I’m all for keeping it real; it’s the best way to be.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than targeting wild fish.

It doesn’t matter what I’m after or whether or not it swims in still or running water, I love the challenge of trying to fool wild fish.

However, when I’m fishing in a Stillwater, one that's been stocked, whether it be rainbows or brown trout, I don’t want to catch and release all the time. I may want to take a trout or two; after all, that’s why they were put in there in the first place, surely that’s up to the individual