# Lower Provo Browns



## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

So I keep seeing people talking about how browns are less than desirable table fare, and in my experience eating them for the last 4-5 months I've found some are less tasty than others for sure. Here's the one I just filleted, and I can tell it's going to be a good one because of the silver-blue scales and orange flesh. Fish with the more classic brown trout color tends to be white or gray fleshed and doesn't taste nearly as good. So my question is, what's the deal with that? Most of the big brown-yellow trout I've caught are obviously female but I'm sure some of them have been male. I know it's largely diet but are they really running right next to each other and eating different stuff?

At the very least I hope people realize they can actually eat and enjoy some brown trout.


----------



## polarbear (Aug 1, 2011)

Are you sure that's not a rainbow?


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Definitely a brown.

I've eaten a ton of Provo browns, especially back when I was a starving bachelor and most are just fine. I'm a bit worn out on their taste, but I'll still eat a brown from the Strawberry River, below the Soldier Creek dam. 

I've never had a bad one and there aren't too many places I like catching browns more. Flesh is usually quite pink and delicious.

As far as male/female flavor variances go, I find the females of most species to be pretty consistent with good flesh. 

This time of year, any brown should be good, but getting into fall, the females are hollow (loaded with eggs - thin rib meat) and the males are gooey.


----------



## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

Eat them all....


----------



## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

martymcfly73 said:


> Eat them all....


Caught a big honkin female and let er go yesteday, Marty. Gotta make sure those tasty trout are always available. Sorry!


----------



## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Jedidiah said:


> Caught a big honkin female and let er go yesteday, Marty. Gotta make sure those tasty trout are always available. Sorry!


With the better than perfect brown trout spawning conditions available in the Provo River, you will be blessed with foul-fleshed lesser-trout offspring for seasons to come!


----------



## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

When I attended BYU....sometime around the cretaceous period.....76 to 1980....survived on Provo browns (use to like to smoke them too)......the rainbows from the lower Provo tasted not so hot. Always have preferred browns to rainbows.....but brookies are even better.

Ya know those fillets look like they're contaminated with some type of brain eating bacteria.....if you could freeze them (and any others you might have) and send them overnite to me I will definitely check them out..... :mrgreen:


----------



## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

DocEsox said:


> When I attended BYU....sometime around the cretaceous period.....76 to 1980....survived on Provo browns (use to like to smoke them too)......the rainbows from the lower Provo tasted not so hot. Always have preferred browns to rainbows.....but brookies are even better.
> 
> Ya know those fillets look like they're contaminated with some type of brain eating bacteria.....if you could freeze them (and any others you might have) and send them overnite to me I will definitely check them out..... :mrgreen:


Browns over rainbows??? Your tastebuds are horribly misaligned!;-)


----------



## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

What I find in half the trout from the LP are those non-native New Zealand mudsnails. I think they're the culprit, which means the rainbows would sometimes be gross too. I definitely find that the better tasting trout have been eating other fish and sow bugs, generally.


----------



## DocEsox (May 12, 2008)

Back when I fished heavily.....1976 to 1985 there were no New Zealand mudsnails to taint the flesh of my brownies......haven't eaten a Provo brown in near 30 years. First the interloping, invasive brown trout....now the nasty, really alien New Zealand mudsnails.....heck, soon, you may have little Godzillas crawling out of the Provo (hopefully they'll eat all the invasive carp in Utah Lake). -O,-


----------

