Trout Eating Plants
 

This is probably a bit weird that I know this, but when I keep a fish I usually inspect its stomach contents. Sometimes I get a free nymph/fly (rare) or just learn about the fish's diet.

I've noticed that many of the fish I've taken from stocked waters in the Canmore/Kananaskis region have bellies full of cabbage/seaweed. I thought at first they were scuds or small snails but nope. Definitely plants.

This is bizarre right? Can trout even digest plant matter? Does it actually provide nutrients to them? What might be the explanation here? Are they too thick to recognize what natural food is? Is there a lack of food so they're eating anything out of desperation? Maybe the food was on the cabbage and the plant matter was just ingested incidently?!?

Sorry for 100 questions.

I don't know about all cases but some of the lakes that I have fished that the trout seem to often have plant material in their stomachs are lakes that I would consider over stocked.

Could it be from caddis cases?

I once caught a Brook Trout in Cameron lake,the belly was fat and hard as a rock.It had a spruce cone in its stomach.

Fish are not strictly carnivores. They will eat vegetation especially when that vegetation is crawling with micro organisms. In effect they are getting meat with their salad.

I have watched trout in the Crowsnest eat "clumps" of algae because the clumps were loaded with insects.

Just found a reference to a study from the early 80s that said plant matter was often found in large amounts in trout stomachs and that "Plant fragments are probably taken 'accidentally' during the voracious feeding behaviour of rainbow trout."

So mystery solved? Just thought it was weird at first.

Does that mean you're right about them having trouble digesting the plant matter since it was all that was found in the stomach?

Not sure. Couldn't find anything on it but it doesn't sound like they digest it... just passes through. Ruf***e.

Edit: r u f f a g e is a bad word. Lol.

Are you sure you weren't sipping a wee bit of wobbly pop?:scared0018:

I'm pullin your leg, I've never heard of Trout eating vegetation but it wasn't so long ago that we were told that Chimps were strict vegetarians.
Turns out that isn't even close to the truth.

I've watched Coyote eat Saskatoons and seen cows eat meat like it was a special treat.

Anything is possible, still, I doubt lettuce would make good Trout bait.
Cabbage maybe but never lettuce.:scared0018:

I have found plant material in many trout from stocked lakes, including local community lakes.
My belief is that the trout don't know what to eat outside of a tank, they are used to floating pellets in relatively debris clean tanks so they just suck up whatever crosses their paths.

Pretty sure if there is food on some vegetation, he's grabbing it and whatever vegetation that comes with it.

darn, I thought this was about plants that eat trout.

Vegetarian trout?
 

I've watched on camera as trout have swam vigorously threw tall stands of weeds and knocked the snails off them, and then turned around and caught the snails before they have sunk to the lake bottom! I believe that the weeds in their stomachs are an " incidental catch" during acts like these?!

x2... I have always noticed that trout have weeds in there stomachs. I think that they also ingest some weeds when they pull snails off the weeds.

Lots of caddis and damsels in the weeds

When the Sea run trout come in on the east coast they will eat the shimp that cling to the seaweed and often end up with bellies full of it, maybe thats what makes them so tough! Lol

Maybe I can improve my luck if I put a bottle of thousand island dressing in my tackle box

Caught these bows today in Lake X. Never seen this before. One had this vegetation in its stomach...

http://i.imgur.com/nsz4dbA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/h9Muihy.jpg

And I just assumed the trout with plants in their guts were idiots...

What?

I just caught a bunch of brookies on the weekend and they had pieces of plants the same as the bottom one in the photo also lots of minnows. The wife fried up them brookies and they were delicious!!!