Fly Fishing in Connecticut. Kevin Murphy

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      Trout belong to the family Salmonidae whose members include Atlantic salmon, char, and whitefish. Members are commonly referred to as salmonids. The three most common trout—and the ones stocked in Connecticut—are rainbow, brown and brook trout. The rainbows spawn in the spring; the browns and brookies in the fall. Other fish that an angler will meet in the rivers and streams of the state include tiger trout (brown/brook hybrids that do not reproduce), and Atlantic salmon. However, this text is limited to the three trout most common in Connecticut's inland waters.

      The brook trout is the only true native of the area, and is the most sought after of the three types of trout among long-time fly fishermen and fisherwomen. Thus, the expensive trips into northern Canada to catch native brookies or “squaretails.” Brookies have long streamlined bodies and a rather large mouth that extends beyond the eye. They have a silvery white belly, sides of olive-green or blue-gray, and thoroughly unique worm-like markings along their backs and on their dorsal fin. Brook trout require cool, clear, stream-fed pools.

      The rainbows are the most beautiful of the three species. Their body color is dark olive or blue-green on the back, blending into a silvery blue on the underside. Reddish-pink to light tan stripes and spots run down their sides, and an eerie sheen of mother-of-pearl helps to correctly identify this fish. Rainbows range in size from nine to eighteen inches in Connecticut waters. They are ravenous eaters and have been known to eat shiners—small silvery minnows— up to a third of their length.

      Brown trout (German brown trout) have large black, and sometimes reddish-orange spots on the upper half of their torsos. A pale border of silvery brown borders their lower sections, and they often present a white belly. However, brown trout colors range quite a bit more widely than those of brookies and rainbows. Generally speaking, if you catch a trout and don't see worm-like markings on its upper surfaces or reddish-pink stripes down its sides, what you have is a brown trout.