Rainbow Trout

MassWildlife has been exceptionally kind to me this year, for they've put several large rainbow trout in the Fort River, which is my favorite stream to fish both for its proximity to home and its perfect size & mix of aquatic habitat for a lone fisherman's piscatory enjoyment. The first one that I caught was a surprise and in pleasing contrast to the usual smaller brown trout that I'd been catching. Now, with each excursion, I catch them anew, and they fight just like the wild mountain trout of the Rockies that were their forebears, as if they'd never known man nor the pang of sharpened brass before. But, alas, they are hatchery fish and horribly non-native at that, as we might guess by their flamboyant display of color and their elitist nonchalance in our most rapid streams. They are the only trout I have ever kept to eat, for they are big enough that a single fish makes a meal for both Shannon and myself, and I have no qualms about removing a non-native fish from our waters that are so depleted in native species. Their flesh is pink like a salmon's, and they taste very nearly like salmon as well. I have been releasing them so far just for the chance to catch them again, but I feel that I must ultimately harvest them out of moral obligation to our native fisheries...if not for my own satiety!