Every Trout Species Explained

Most trout are not actually trout. The brook trout is a char. The brown trout is European. The rainbow and cutthroat are the only true trout native to North America.

Rainbow Trout: the most widely distributed freshwater game fish on the planet — introduced to every continent except Antarctica. The steelhead is the same species
Brown Trout: introduced to North America in 1883. In virtually every stream where it established alongside native brook trout, it won. The brook trout retreated to the headwaters
Brook Trout: genus Salvelinus — closer to lake trout and Arctic char than to the rainbow or brown. That's why the Tiger Trout hybrid is almost always sterile — it crosses a true trout with a char
Lake Trout: documented individuals exceeding 60 years of age. Largest recorded: over 100 pounds. Functionally eliminated from most of the Great Lakes by sea lamprey — now slowly rebuilding
Cutthroat Trout: 14 recognized subspecies. The Lahontan cutthroat historically reached 40 pounds in Pyramid Lake, Nevada. Several subspecies are federally threatened
Bull Trout: classified as Dolly Varden until the late 1970s. Federally threatened. Requires water below 55°F. Must be released immediately — fines for keeping one are serious
Tiger Trout: the cross of a female brown trout and a male brook trout — a true trout × a char. Sterile in nearly 100% of cases. Produces the most aggressive strikes of any stocked trout
Golden Trout: native only to the Kern River drainage in California above 10,000 feet. Isolated in alpine streams since the last ice age. Hybridizing with introduced rainbows in its own native range

00:00 Rainbow Trout
02:08 Brown Trout
04:27 Brook Trout
06:16 Lake Trout
08:26 Cutthroat Trout
10:26 Bull Trout
12:25 Tiger Trout
14:10 Golden Trout

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