by Lawrence Pyne

Photo: Dave Sherwood/wildfilephoto.com

The species name for brook trout—fontinalis—tells you almost all you need to know about the native trout of the East. Roughly translated, it’s Latin for “from a spring.”

More than anything else, brook trout are a fish of clean, cold, undisturbed streams and ponds. Which is why wild, truly native brookies are such a precious commodity. They not only look like jewels, they have become almost as rare.

Once abundant from southern Appalachia north across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, brook trout now occupy a fraction of their native range. Habitat destruction, water pollution, and competition from non-native fish have eliminated the colorful speckled trout from all but the most pristine waters. Continued human encroachment, natural gas development, and climate change threaten even these remnant populations.
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