Wild Trout in Lancaster County

     I am not a fisherman, but I have had a few intimate experiences with wild, native brook trout in cold water streams here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  One winter day I was walking on a four-inch snow cover in a woodland when I came upon a clear brook by an uninhabited cabin.  I saw a tin cup on a nail in a tree, so I thought I would like to taste the water in that tiny waterway.  I laid down in the snow and was about to take a sip directly from a "hole" of deeper, slower water when I saw a small trout just inches below my face looking up at me.  I backed away to not disturb the fish more, but it darted away under a stream bank.
     Years later, I was walking along a brook in a woods during October.  Golden and orange leaves carpeted the ground.  I saw a six-inch fish, and then another about the same size, dash upstream along the bottom of a deeper, slower pool in the waterway and disappear.  I sat on a log above the leafy carpet and watched that stretch of stream where the fish were and saw one of the fish in my binoculars.  It was a brook trout in full breeding colors of mostly brown on top and red on the underside; an attractive creature, in cold, clear water, in a pretty woodland on a lovely day.  
     Trout are kinds of freshwater fish that live in, and often dominate, cold, flowing streams with crystal-clear water, stony bottoms and no vegetation in woodland habitats.  They are powerful and streamlined fish, well able to cope with the constant current of their flowing water habitats. 
     Two species of trout live wild and reproduce themselves in several nearly-pristine streams and brooks in the more natural areas of Lancaster County.  They are brook trout that are native to much of northeastern North America, and brown trout that were introduced to much of the United States from Europe to replace brook trout in waterways that became too warm or polluted for the health of the more demanding brook trout.  
     Brook trout and brown trout are handsome fish, each in its own, camouflaged way.  They can be hard to see against the stones on the bottom of waterways.  Brook trout are mostly pale-brown above with lots of yellowish spots and squiggles and a few red dots, and red below.  Each of their red fins has a white leading edge, followed by a vertical, black bar.  That white edge is the single most characteristic mark on this species.  Brown trout are brownish all over with many black spots on their upper parts and sides, and some red dots on their flanks. 
     Both these species spawn in autumn in their cold waterway homes.  Their eggs lodge between stones on the bottoms where they are protected from crayfish, predatory insect larvae, young dusky salamanders and other critters that would eat them. 
     Both these species of trout feed on the aquatic larvae of mayflies, stoneflies and other kinds of insects, young crayfish, dace, which are a kind of minnow, and other small critters on the bottom, in mid-stream or at the surface.  The camouflaged trout generally hide to ambush their prey.  And these powerful fish also jump out of the water to catch insects flying just above the surface.  These two types of trout might compete a little for homes and food, but brown trout are a bit more tolerant of warmer water than brook trout are.    
     Trout leaping out of the water after prey gives away their presence and thrills fishermen and other people.  Fly fishermen like to catch trout on their lines, but anyone can thrill from seeing live, wild trout in their beautiful, natural habitats.               
     Though wild trout are hard to see because of their camouflage and hiding under stream banks and under rocks, they are worth the effort of looking when spotted.  And even if they are not seen, it's still fascinating to note they are lurking in clear, flowing streams and brooks, here in Lancaster County and throughout much of North America.