The brown trout is another worthy opponent when caught trolling.  They also make excellent tablefare and can have exquisit coloring.  Browns are most often caught in the springtime, but can be caught anytime of the season.  Although not as plentiful as years past, there are still some nice browns plying the waters.  With the predominant springtime fishery, browns are often caught in shallower water and can put up a dogged fight.  Once in the boat, you will be proud to have your picuture taken with one of these beauties.  Sometimes they show a white body with moderate amounts of spots and other times a tannish body with plentiful spots.   Average sizes range from 2-6#, but often larger 10-15# fish are taken with the occasional monster over 20#.

Michigan DNR description:

Brown Trout Salmo trutta 

Identifying characteristics: (Non-Native Fish) Two dorsal fins including one adipose fin, broad square tongue with 11-12 large teeth, light pectoral fins, squire tail, 9-10 rays in the anal fin.

Brown trout is something of a misnomer for many Great Lakes members of this species, since lake-run browns are predominately silver in color. In addition, the body spots, so characteristic of their stream-dwelling cousins, are often obscured in lake-dwellers.

Brown trout are close relative of the Atlantic salmon, and also were brought to North American waters as exotics. These natives of Europe and western Asia were introduced into New York and Michigan waters in 1883. Brown trout have thrived in their new home, and have become firmly established in all of our upper Great Lakes waters.

Lake dwelling brown trout are a wary lot. They hide in shallow water weed beds and rocky, boulder-strewn areas, and prefer a water temperature of 65-75 degrees F. Since brown trout spawn in tributary streams in September and October, they begin to take up residence near stream outlets in spring and early summer. After ascending a particular stream, brown trout spawners choose shallow, gravelly or rocky areas. The female creates a shallow depression (redd) in the gravel, in which the spawning fish deposit the eggs and sperm. When the process is completed, the female covers the redd with gravel. The average lake run adult weighs 8 pounds, although individuals can grow to be much larger. Young browns are preyed upon by larger fish and by predatory birds such as mergansers. The diet of adult brown trout includes insects and their larvae, crustaceans, mollusks, amphibians, small rodents and other fish. They enjoy a rather long life-span, it appears, since researchers have observed them at up to 13 years of age.