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We'll let the photos speak for themselves

John...I have gone here before when I see you PA guys post Brown trout pics...Those look like two different species to me...The last two are closer to the buttery Browns we have here.

Looks good! Especially after this bastard of a winter here!

Spence

Nice john.

Spence, looks like different lighting to me. Overcast desaturating colors and giving a bluish cast in the first. And some sun popping out in the others. Both still have that metallic shine of spring fish.

Tough to tell with the lighting but the first looks like it may still be sporting "pelagic silver" meaning it is still in migration from winter to summer space. The smallmouth makes me wonder if that first trout wasn't caught lower in the watershed and will be moving outta there.

Could be...Its hard to tell though with these PA Boys Paul, they think nothing of putting hundreds of miles on their fishing wagons when it comes to chasing fish. :)

Last year I tailgated Tony, through the mountain back roads, in the dark,from Bellefonte to Carlyle, only to have Eric aim my truck back north to fish Penn's Creek! One nice day of fishing and a storm blew it out and back south we went to play on Big Spring and the Letort.

My head is still spinning, and I'm not totally sure they don't just do that to keep us invaders from Michigan from really knowing where in the hell their fishing spots are. :)

Spence

JohnW is heading this way in a few weeks to fish with me on the Au Sable. I have a couple floats planned for him. I was up for opening day this past weekend speaking with the guides who will direct us to trout...We were seriously considering a blindfold for John when we put in and tale out the boat. ;) At the least he'll be patted down for a GPS device.

Spence,
I am no salmonid geneticist however I can tell you I have consistently observed 3 distinct coloration patterns in our wild brown trout:
1 The prototypical "butter belly" look
2 the silvery "atlantic salmon" look
3 and a creamy yellow with an olive cast and spare reddish brown spots. This is by far the least common coloration on all of the rivers I regularly fish.
This trip was 100 miles each way for a little over 8 hrs of fishing.
Better invest in noise cancelling headphones too; I have a knack for stringing tidbits of info together.

Paul,
The lighting was not too terribly different for all of the fish maybe a little more overcast as the day wore on but the photos you see are very true to the actual coloration of the fish.
The first fish was actually caught the farthest up the river by a few feet from the fish in number 4 and the smallie, but all were roughly within a single mile of stream. All are residents as there is no real seasonal migration other than to the mouths of feeders in summer low and warm conditions.

Mack, This river is one fickle mistress. I am pretty confident that I can go to just about any wild trout stream and work up a fish or two; this river I expect the skunk to stick with me and am pleased to take a fish or two despite a very strong wild population.

Nice work, John. Anybody could be proud of a day like that on that stream.

That first fish, if lighting is true (there does appear to be a shadow), is wearing "pelagic" coloration, meaning she was oriented to the water more so than to cover or substrate. Bet she's been traveling.

Maybe we'll have to christen you Mr Lore II. :) I pity our guides then...Between you and I they won't get a word in...Maybe we should get them some ear-plugs? :)

Spence

I was thinking you would want me to wear the headphones!
I tend to be on the quiet side when around people who are in the know. It is amazing how much info you can garner by paying attention to the little conversations.

All nice trout. Did you get the smallie in a trout stream? Very dark smallmouth. Good to see some of you guys out there and fishing. I've yet to have even seen a wild trout this season. I'm thinking that my enthusiasm is at it's lowest point to all my trout fishing life. I'm hoping that a trip to the Delaware late next week will reward me with water in the mid 50's, air in the higher 60's, lots of Hendrickson's, and hopefully rising trout. That should should put the spark back in my step.

Matt,
The smallie came from the same pool as the two biggest browns shown. Unfortunately the big river are blown out and just closed for bass for a month and a half. Reports have the smallmouth fishing doing very well.
I'm sure you'll get your mojo back.

Matt, you and me both. The weather hasn't helped, and our trout streams are high and muddy around here. Not planning on wading anything for a week or two, I might try some pond fishing if the wind ever dies down enough to keep the kayak from spinning around on me...

Jonathon

Nice job John!