Brown trout

Golden-brown to silver trout with large black spots and red or orange spots ringed with pale halos on the sides, and few or no spots on the square tail. Sea-run fish are silver with black X-shaped spots.

12–20 in in rivers; sea-run fish in Patagonia 10–20 lb.

Over 3 ft and more than 40 lb.

Insects, salmon eggs and flesh, sculpins, smolts, leeches and small fish.

River and lake fish that hold behind rocks, at the tail of pools and along seams where slow water meets fast water. In salmon country they follow the spawning salmon to eat their eggs.

Found from Patagonia, Ontario Great Lakes and Canadian Prairies. Brought from Europe and now wild in rivers and lakes worldwide. Tierra del Fuego's Río Grande has some of the biggest sea-run browns on Earth; they're also stocked in Lake Ontario and wild in Alberta's Bow River.

Brought from Europe and now wild in rivers and lakes worldwide. Tierra del Fuego's Río Grande has some of the biggest sea-run browns on Earth; they're also stocked in Lake Ontario and wild in Alberta's Bow River.

1–10 ft in rivers; near shore and river mouths in lakes.

1–8 ft in rivers; drop-offs and inlets of lakes.

Spring after ice-out, and late summer through fall when the salmon are spawning.

Morning and evening; overcast days fish well all day.

No tide — in rivers, steady or slowly dropping water is best.

Cloudy, cool days; avoid high, muddy water after heavy rain.

Worms and minnows where legal.

Streamers, nymphs, dry flies, spinners, spoons and stickbaits.

9 ft 5–7 weight fly rod, or a 6½–7 ft light to medium-light spinning rod.

Size 6–14 flies; single barbless hooks on spinners and spoons where required.

4–10 lb mono, or floating fly line.

3X–5X tippet (4–8 lb), 7½–9 ft.

Swing big streamers through deep pools at dawn and dusk, or nymph the riffles. On Lake Ontario, cast spoons from piers in spring and fall.

Big browns hunt at night and in low light. Fish the first and last hour of the day with a big streamer.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Good eating when fresh.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Good pan-fried or smoked, but most wild browns are released.

Cold, fast rivers — wear a wading belt and a life jacket in boats, and in Alaska and northern Canada carry bear spray and make noise.

Argentina and Chile each require their own license, and many Patagonian rivers, including the Río Grande, are fly-only and catch-and-release. Ontario and Alberta have their own seasons and limits. Licenses, limits and seasons are set by each province, territory or state, and many lakes and rivers have special size limits, slot limits or closed spawning seasons — check the current regulations for the water you fish.

Keep only what you'll eat, release the rest quickly, and follow size and bag limits.