Which is more attractive: Rainbow or Brown trout?

[BUCKSKI]

Like the browns myself, mostly runners from Ontario in the fall.
Inland Brookies 100%, gotta love the coloration &  light on dark pattern.

[POk3s]

Sorry a brown trout is NOT a char.  It's in the Salmo genus (Salmo trutta) while the brook trout and lake trout that are char, are in the Salvelinus genera. And Rainbows were moved to the Oncorhynchus genus from the Salmo genus decades ago, so are technically of the Pacific Salmon group, and are no longer considered officially "true trout." Hence the genus species name was changed from Salmo gairdneri to Oncorhynchus mykiss.

A female brown trout crossed with male brook trout is a rare inter-generic hybrid like crossing a donkey stallion with a female horse to get a mule. (Salmo X Salvelinus) Both sterile btw and typically a high mortality rate of the fry with the tiger trout.

Well…the more you know!!

I was under the impression that since they spawned in the fall, they were a char. See what happens when I open my big mouth…

[mikez]

I think that's like asking which is a prettier woman, a blond or brunette. Totally subjective.
I would have to pick brown as long as it was a nice colored up one.

[taxi1]

Well…the more you know!!

I was under the impression that since they spawned in the fall, they were a char. See what happens when I open my big mouth…

No worries. At least you are open minded.

To make it even more interesting there are fall spawning rainbows. in fact there is a rainbow egg supplier in Washington state (Trout Lodge) the can provide rainbow eggs just about any time of the year. It's either genetic manipulation or photoperiod manipulation, or both, but not sure. In the old days they would ship eggs back and forth from different hemispheres of the planet to get spawners at different times of the year.

[Iceassin]

You can’t physically have a rainbow/brookie cross. Technically rainbows are “trout” and brookies are “char”. Brown trout are char, lake trout are char, and so are brookies. This is how you can make splake and tiger trout. No idea what a lake trout, brown trout cross is, but I bet it’s quite carnivorous! Your pics are all gorgeous colored, full bred, rainbow trout!

I think whichever ones are more “rare” are the more attractive. I love the look of big hook jawed male browns compared to rainbows, but I see a lot more rainbows. That could all change if the script was flipped probably. And let’s face it, some hooked jawed male browns, are ugly as hell…but so so awesome hahaha!

And correct me if I'm wrong but Rainbow, at some point (size/age) become classified as Steelhead. 

[missoulafish]

born in fresh water, migrates to saltwater and matures in the ocean and then comes back to fresh water to spawn = Steehead

[RuralMT]

born in fresh water, migrates to saltwater and matures in the ocean and then comes back to fresh water to spawn = Steehead

The fun debate begins when we introduce Great Lakes steelhead into the discussion.  No saltwater there

[taxi1]

The fun debate begins when we introduce Great Lakes steelhead into the discussion.  No saltwater there

Some strains of rainbows are steelhead and some or not. One thing the native steelhead on the west coast and naturalized steelhead that migrate back forth from the Great Lakes to streams and rivers is they do migrate. That said even rainbows that are not steelhead in some cases will migrate if given the chance. Heck even one study even found brook trout that not the coasters or salter strains of brook will migrate if given the chance. Go figure.

[A man called horse]

Gotta go w/ browns. This example is far from the brightest.

[Doeslayer]

This is all fascinating to me, i fish walleye, trout and salmon regs here in Michigan are a bit much for me, i dont wanna get in trouble doing something because i misread through the pages and pages of regulations so im always curious to try and learn about them

[Ice_Fly_Guy]

Once I have a few whiskeys they both look gorgeous 😍

[filetandrelease]

 
 I think browns in fall spawn colors and Washington strain bows are very colorful in there fall colors , I’ve fished these things for about 50 years both are great fish , we get nice runs in our rivers in the fall

Essentially if you're from the East or Midwest, the Great Lakes fish are steelhead, but if you live in the West, they're simply big, lake-run rainbows.Mar 25, 2021
 

[POk3s]

No worries. At least you are open minded.

To make it even more interesting there are fall spawning rainbows. in fact there is a rainbow egg supplier in Washington state (Trout Lodge) the can provide rainbow eggs just about any time of the year. It's either genetic manipulation or photoperiod manipulation, or both, but not sure. In the old days they would ship eggs back and forth from different hemispheres of the planet to get spawners at different times of the year.

Yes I knew that. We have both in my local lake. But I, like you, was under the impression that that was manipulated somehow

[taxi1]

This is all fascinating to me, i fish walleye, trout and salmon regs here in Michigan are a bit much for me, i dont wanna get in trouble doing something because i misread through the pages and pages of regulations so im always curious to try and learn about them

Yeah Michigan regs are notorious for being a little complicated.

[RapShack]

I was going through some of my old pics and was reminded of this thread.  This right here is why I love browns.

[Drifter_016]

Stock some of the cool strains.
Brook Trout, Tiger Trout, Golden Trout ETC.