What kind of trout is that? Here's how to identify them while you're fishing this season

There are several species of trout you may encounter when fishing across Pennsylvania.

While every fish is fun to catch, it’s also good to know which type of trout you caught when you tell your friends and family about your success.

Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission provides the following descriptions to help anglers understand the differences:

Rainbow Trout

They are known for their pink lateral stripe, dark spots and shiny scales. They have a greenish color and their tails have dark spots. The majority of stocked trout in streams and lakes in Pennsylvania are rainbows.

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Brown Trout

Brown Trout are more brown and gray in color. They have shiny scales but don’t have the pink stripe down their sides that is found on rainbows. Browns have dark black and red spots.

The fins are clear, yellow-brown and unmarked. The belly is white-yellow. 

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Brook Trout

Brook Trout are a darker colored fish that have red spots with bluish halos that dot the length of the body. Sometimes they have orange coloring on their lower half. Brook Trout is the state’s official fish.

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Golden Rainbow

The easiest to identify is the Golden Rainbow Trout. They have a deep yellow or orange coloration and are easy to spot in shallow waterways.

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They are a gold-orange rainbow trout raised under artificial fish culture conditions and stocked as a novelty for angling sport. The PFBC reports the golden rainbow was developed from one fish, a single female trout with a genetic mutation that gave her a mixed golden and normal rainbow trout coloration. She was found in the West Virginia hatchery system in 1954. Through selective breeding with regularly marked Rainbow Trout, an all-gold, Golden Rainbow Trout was developed. It is a stronger hybrid species of the similar colored Palomino trout that was previously stocked in Pennsylvania.

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Lake Trout

Lake Trout are similar to a Brook Trout, but have light spots across their sides and have a distinct forked tail. They are found in large waterways like Raystown Lake and Lake Erie.

Steelhead

If you fish around Lake Erie, you may encounter steelhead, which is a type of rainbow trout that lives part of the year in the Great Lake. They are a more silvery colored fish that has earned the nickname “chrome” by some anglers. They can grow to more than 30 inches long.

Anglers fishing in Lake Erie tributaries in northwestern Pennsylvania during trout season have special regulations because the anglers are not permitted to catch steelhead smolts. If you're fishing in a Lake Erie trib, review the regulations for that area.