What is your favorite size trout to catch

[swimmy]

I’m happy just catching fish but really 20” is the number. I also score on how I took said trout.

1st prize - 20” or bigger on a salmon fly
2nd prize - 20” or bigger on a hopper
3rd prize - 20” or bigger on home tied streamer

All others.

This is my most memorable fish so far for ‘22

 

[SculpinSwinger]

For most of my trout fishing outings, size isn't really all that important (unless I'm strictly streamer fishing, then I'm hunting the larger ones). That said, it's the ones that break 20" that are always the most memorable. Where I normally fish for trout, those ones are the unicorns.

I believe we trout fish the same water, many 18” fish have been caught over the years, but only a couple honest 20” fish.

 

[clarkman]

I believe we trout fish the same water, many 18” fish have been caught over the years, but only a couple honest 20” fish.

Yep. I only have 2 such fish there to my name (that I took the time to measure). Whitefish are another story....still rare, but not nearly as much so as the redsides. Shoot, I think it's been 7-8 years since I've caught anything close. Then again, I'm not out there every other weekend like I used to be.

For a while, I followed an area fly fishing group on FB and the number of times I would see someone post up a 14-16" fish and call it a 20" were far too numerous to count....I always got a good chuckle out of that.

 

[RCF]

Girth is what really matters.

You mean like this?

 

[dirty dog]

Brown trout 18" to 20" in a deep hole on the Deschutes river.
16" rainbow in the upper Rogue river.
14" Coastal cutt in any of the coastal steams.
20" Westslope cutt in the CDA
The 5 lb. cutt out of Omak lake, wow!!!
7 lb. from Chief Joe res. I had to chase it down in the boat, to big for the net.
The 18" Eastern Brook out of a back country lake here in OR.
The list of my favorite size trout goes on and on, plus more to be caught.

 

[Old Man]

Since I only try to fish when it's nice and warm out. I really enjoy Trout from 10" to 16". Any thing larger is a surprise. Plus I just fly fish with a 3wt rod.

 

[BriGuy]

You mean like this?

View attachment 17682

Or this:

You mean like this?

View attachment 17682

Or this

 

[Salmo_g]

What kind of question is this to be asking trout fishers? What angler has ever said, "Oh, that trout is too big; I'll try a different spot?" I guess I want to catch a 30" trout because the largest trout I've caught that wasn't a steelhead was 29". So 30" it is. On the other hand, while trout fishing, trout 12" and larger are more interesting than trout less than 12". Why is that? Because trout under 12" are too small and bony to eat. That was my logic when I used to fish a lot of stocked lakes in the spring. Trout less than 12" were stocked legal trout whose flesh looked and tasted like the pellets they were fed in the hatchery. Trout over 12" were holdovers that had spent a year feeding on natural feed and were superior table quality.

 

[DoesItFloat]

In my local ditch, where a 10" fish is a good one, I'm happy with small trout all day long on the tenkara rod. It's made getting through my least favorite season of the year more bearable. Just got back from an adventure to Montana, and that's a different story.

 

[SculpinSwinger]

A year ago I went to some of my roots exploratory trout water where a 10-12” fish was about max. That small water canyon stuff is way more dangerous than any of my present swing water fishing. As long as you grab the right sized tackle you are going to have fun catching trout!

 

[Phil Fravel]

18 to 20. Seem to be the best lb to fire ratio.

 

[EBT]

Brown trout 18" to 20" in a deep hole on the Deschutes river.
16" rainbow in the upper Rogue river.
14" Coastal cutt in any of the coastal steams.
20" Westslope cutt in the CDA
The 5 lb. cutt out of Omak lake, wow!!!
7 lb. from Chief Joe res. I had to chase it down in the boat, to big for the net.
The 18" Eastern Brook out of a back country lake here in OR.
The list of my favorite size trout goes on and on, plus more to be caught.

Could you PM the info on that Eastern Brook lake? Seriously - great list!

 

[Old Man]

Brown trout 18" to 20" in a deep hole on the Deschutes river.
16" rainbow in the upper Rogue river.
14" Coastal cutt in any of the coastal steams.
20" Westslope cutt in the CDA
The 5 lb. cutt out of Omak lake, wow!!!
7 lb. from Chief Joe res. I had to chase it down in the boat, to big for the net.
The 18" Eastern Brook out of a back country lake here in OR.
The list of my favorite size trout goes on and on, plus more to be caught.

Didn't you catch a Grayling that time when we fished together here in Montana. Out of the Big Hole.

 

[Brian Miller]

A big fish can be fun, some just knock your socks off. Sometimes I think the bigger fish know what's up and tug hard but come in waiting to be released, or something, I don't know. 12-14" fish seem to really give it a go. Small ones can be really frantic/flippy and pretty. I dig them all.

This is what I usually observe also. Small ones are also aggressive.
Long-long ago though while trolling a simple LGF marabou damsel pattern with my G-Loomis Signature IMX 6 weight and a SA-1 click drag reel I did land a 5lb rainbow at Lenice that took me into well my backing a couple of times; a memory that has aged well.

On the mid-gradient small water I love so much now, even a 6" fish on a slow full-flex T-rod is fun, and a 14" fish is epic. However a chunky 14"-16" fish on a moderate mid-flex Tenkara or Keiryu rod is also epic. I have a plan to target larger fish reported to be in a stream I frequent with a robust tip-flex T-rod using stealth and streamers this summer.

 

[headduck]

Guppie size, I love guppies!

cheers

Ohhh... I thought it said groupies....

 

[dirty dog]

Didn't you catch a Grayling that time when we fished together here in Montana. Out of the Big Hole.

Yes I did and thanks for the reminder.
It was just a little guy, but my first Grayling.
There is a little lake up on a mountain south of Helena that has Yellowstone cutts and Grayling in it.
I caught some Grayling that were up to 13".
The cutts were up to 12" and very fat.
I'll look it up for ya. You can drive right up to the shore line

 

[Brute]

The one that gets me into my backing...that means two of them (so far)...

 

[Peach]

So many different factors really determine the fighting ability of trout

• Stillwater vs Moving Water. Most of my experience is Stillwater, but I do have to give the advantage to fish caught in moving water as more aged and intelligent trout use the current and structure to their advantage that adds more excitement to the fight. Stillwater trout you do have to worry about weed beds and underwater structure at times. But for trout – I still believe that the bigger fish exist in lakes, and just because of the size you can get a better fight – but a Deschutes 14 inch redside caught in said river is more exciting than most 14 inch rainbow caught in a lake.
  
  
• Water Temperature - Water too cold and the fish can be lethargic. Water too warm or hot then the fish again becomes lethargic, and the trout’s mortality becomes a concern.
  
  
• Health of Trout – Obviously the better fighting trout will be the chunky fish with shoulders, especially rainbows. Some slim fish can put up a good fight – but in general your better fights will come from your more thic trout. I have caught some obese rainbow trout that at are shaped like bass and even the fat trout can fight well. When they jump, I wonder how they get their fat ass out of the water like that. Exceptions are maybe the large snaky Browns that are 20 inch plus that are caught in the famous Montana rivers.
  
  
• Spawned out fish – Again stating the obvious but when a trout is dark and obvious in spawning colors their fighting ability is reduced. On a lake, once I start catching those darker fish that don’t put up a fight – I start looking for different area as spawning fish have a tendency to stack up in certain areas, even in lakes that aren’t close to the inlet or outlet or other moving water.
  
  
• Male vs Female - Not sure if this makes much of a difference – but to me when I do catch some “duds” of larger fish that don’t fight as well as they should, it seems to me those are Male Trout.
  
  
• Wild vs Stocked - Biggest difference in my book and is what I am looking for when investigating fisheries, I want to try. Most experienced fisherman know that wild fish put up a better fight. The exception is when trout are stocked as fingerlings or very small < than 5 inches. Fingerling trout that are given the opportunity to grow to the 14-to-20-inch range fight just as well as wild fish, IMHO. For some reason, when trout stocked as legals (8-to-10-inch range) that survive initial stocking and grow – still don’t fight as well as their wild and fingerling peers. Those Trophy trout stocked at the 13 inch plus range can be fun – but most experienced fisherman can tell the difference. And then there are Broodstock. Yuck. I avoid altogether. I get why they are popular as they can be huge – but ugh they aren’t fun to catch and don’t fight worth shit.
  
  
• Species of Trout – The most controversial factor. My preference is Rainbows. They take flight more often, have great initial runs, and take multiple runs. Browns are fun to catch as well – but seem to bulldog a bit more and get down and dirty to get back down to the bottom. Cutthroat in my opinion is don’t fight as much until they thrash in the net and I haven’t caught enough big Brookies to really have an opinion but it seems they fight more like a Brown or Tiger trout than they do a Rainbow. But again I am a Stillwater fisherman so Rainbows are more available to me.
  
  
• Location – I find it weird that all of the above factor are equal – but for me there are certain lakes in which the fish just seem to fight better at one particular lake than another. I have also seen it where the lakes fish fighting ability digresses over the years, once a lake know for hard fighting fish is no longer.
  
  So to answer the question – what size of trout do I like to catch – it is a wide range but I often won’t hit a lake unless I know that there is at least potential to catch a 14-20 inch wild or fingerling Rainbow that is a bright chrome or silvery fish. As mentioned earlier in this post, this is the class they are the most athletic. There are huge exceptions but that is my personal preference, but I am sure most Fly Fisherman would like this as well. Of course, breaking that 20 inch mark is a magical goal – but I have caught a lot of old and lethargic fish at that size that just don’t fight as well as those in the 14-20 inch range.
  
  Peach
  
  

 

[Salmo_g]

and the trout’s morality becomes a concern.

I must confess, I have never given any thought to trout morality. I have thought some about the morality of fishing for trout, and other species, but that can't be the same as trout morality. But now that you've got me thinking about it, my educated guess is that trout are amoral.

 

[Peach]

I must confess, I have never given any thought to trout morality. I have thought some about the morality of fishing for trout, and other species, but that can't be the same as trout morality. But now that you've got me thinking about it, my educated guess is that trout are amoral.

Ha - good catch. Edit made in my orginal post