Difference between East Coast and West Coast trout anglers

[Danny Klein]

Since moving back to Southern California from Boston I've noticed something different about trout fishing. On the west coast trout are measured by their weight almost exclusively:on the east coast we measure trout by their length in inches. Why do you think that is? Just a thought.

Danny

[dockboy]

I think it has to do with size. We have much larger rivers out west on average, especially in the Rocky Mt. region stretching from Colorado to Montana. Take a look at the trophy trout spots in the US, and there is much more trophy trout water here than back East. If you say you caught a 21" fish on the Madison, people nod and say cool, but say you caught a 6lb fish, people get excited (even if that 6lb fish is 21" in length). I think that mostly has to do with population density, because even in the most populous Western state, 70-85% of the state is rural. You dont have that so much back East, and some of those places have been heavily fished since the colonial era. But, we don't have the same type of fishing. In some of those Eastern waters, a 12" brookie is a trophy, but its one of the most beautiful fish you can catch, just a different type of aesthetic than catching a 5lb brown :)

[City Dad]

I think catch-and-release fishermen tend to talk about size in inches rather than weight. The logic being it is safer to put a ruler along side a fish than to lift it from the water and suspend it from a scale.

[gogreeenz4]

ive always judged a fish by lenght in inches compared to wieght..i cant remeber the last time i wieghtd a fish i just measure them and relase them to swim in the stream i took them out

[tinfish]

My .02 is that in CA true trout are measured in inches IE: stream fish, coastal rivers ect. The put and take lakes tend to stock fish that have HUGE girth but fairly short for there weight...so weight will prevail and the lake will always advertise the weight of the fish stocked ....not the length.

[hnscaddis]

ditto gogreen

[gogreeenz4]

ditto gogreen

i love fishing not eatn or harmin fish so i do everything possible to keep the fish as healthy as it was before my dumb a@@ took it out of its habitat..i try not to even take the fish outta the water when i de hook it and if i measure it i do it in the water..to wieght a fish is to put un needed stress of the fish and therefor lessen its chance for living and you catching it agian

[pasadenafishin]

and we use alot less shiners under a bobber and with the rod propped up on a Y shaped stick HAHA... Oh and im not hating, i live in cape cod 3 months out of the year

[Marley]

...i try not to even take the fish outta the water when i de hook it and if i measure it i do it in the water..to wieght a fish is to put un needed stress of the fish and therefor lessen its chance for living and you catching it agian

Um, is that you in your avatar?

[EL_CHIDO]

Um, is that you in your avatar?

LOL...busted!!

[gogreeenz4]

Um, is that you in your avatar?

sure is but its different when your on a 5 day float trip on the smith river in montana and you cooked that fish for dinner..but i have yet to harvest a trout other then in montana for dinner on that float trip..i dont see anything wrong with harvesting a fish where there are 5000 mature trout per mile on the smith river apparently.. but somewhere locally where there are 50 trout per mile i see a issue with that

[Marley]

sure is but its different when your on a 5 day float trip on the smith river in montana and you cooked that fish for dinner..but i have yet to harvest a trout other then in montana for dinner on that float trip..i dont see anything wrong with harvesting a fish where there are 5000 mature trout per mile on the smith river apparently.. but somewhere locally where there are 50 trout per mile i see a issue with that

Props for that fine fish. Looks to be around 7 or 8 pounds and was quite delicious, I'm sure. Absolutely nothing wrong with killing and eating fish; that's what God put them here for and why he gave you the talent to catch them.

[gogreeenz4]

glad we agree on that and it was a 24 inch brown and like i said i dont wieght fish so i have no clue how much she wieghtd but i measured her...but defiantly was tastey in the trout tacos we had that night