How To Tell The Difference Between A Male (Cock) & Female (Hen) Trout
One thing that is very interesting to know about South African Fly Fishing and the Trout species is that it is not as difficult as many people think to tell the difference between a male and female Trout... Whether it is a Rainbow Trout or a Brown Trout.
A
male Trout is referred to as a Cock and a female is known as a Hen. The
obvious difference between a Cock and a Hen Trout is that when a Hen is
gutted in spawning season they contain orange eggs inside... Some Hens
have these orange eggs all year round. However I have come across a few
Hen Trout that have not had eggs in spawning season...
When the Trout are in full spawn the Cock (Male)
fish develops a very prominent "underbite" where it's jaw extends quite
far out, similar to Salmon when they breed. On larger specimens, out of
the spawning season, a bigger jaw can be observed on the Cock fish
opposed to a rounder proportional mouth that the Hen has. Please see the
images below for differentiation:
