Some of you are probably going to roll on the floor laughing yourself silly (ROTFLYS), more of you are going to think to yourselves, "man I'm glad he asked that question now I don't have to feel like a fool".

What exactly is a 'BRAT'?

a pseudo-steelhead

What do you mean by psuedo-steelhead???

Hatchery winter-run steelhead are commonly referred to as 'brats'...

...many, such as myself, feel they are no comparison (inferior) to their wild cousins...hence the term 'pseudo-steelhead'

Thanks for the education Sparkey. I come from the same cloth with respect to my belief about hatchery vs. wild. At least the hatchery fish on the Skagit seem to pale in comparison to their native brethren.

To the contrary, here is what I found:

Pronunciation: 'brat
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from English dialect brat (coarse garment)
Date: circa 1505
1 a : CHILD; specifically : an ill-mannered annoying child b : an ill-mannered immature person
2 : the son or daughter of a career military person
- brat·ti·ness /'bra-tE-n&s/ noun
- brat·tish /'bra-tish/ adjective
- brat·ty /-tE/ adjective

So, now that we know what "brat" means, what does "pseudo" mean?

No Laugh here.

I thought he was talking about some kind of German Sausage.

Ooops, thats a Bruat, not a Brat.

I thought a German sausage is a brawt.

No, a german sausage is a Braut, as in Braut Wurst.

That's how it's pronounced, but it's spelled Brat, as in bratwurst.

I always though a brat was a hatchery fish, winter OR summer. And Sparkey's use of pseudo is, at best, dubious. They're not fake, they're real. They have value. Not as much as the native fish, but when you consider the situation without them (native stocks decimated, fishery nonexistant), I think it's preferred.

Skywalker is right. This fish snobbery over how native fish are so much better than hatchery has got to end. Without hatchery fish, it is likely that the whole fishery would be closed to us, and you would have to go be snobby about catching perch or northern pikeminnow.

I never call a Steelhead , "Just a Brat!" It's a "beautiful fish" to me and just wish I would have one on the end of my line right now instead of watching the rain.

I also do not catch many natives in December and January so bring on some beautiful hatchery fish and I'll enjoy them.

fp

Sparkey,

Why don't you come on down and fish the Nooch when it drops..........I know of a couple "brats" that think they can slap your ass silly.

Hmmm, Im lookin at my punh card and it says to mark steelhead with a M or U (marked or unmarked). I dont see a W or P (wild or pseudo)

Anyone who thinks that ALL hatchery fish are inferior to wild didnt fish the summer run on the Cowlitz last summer. Those fish were unreal, I didnt see any signs of inferiority in those silver bullets. Then again alot of the folks who think along those lines would never lower themselves to fishing the Cowlitz.


RL

Word up, RL. I don't run into many "pseudo" fish during the hatchery run, but I do see boatloads of "pseudo" fishers.

Well my reference wasn't from the standpoint of snobbery as much as shear mass with regard to hatchery vs. native run. Not all the time but usually on the Skagit when you catch a hatchery fish it will be in the 4lb to 8lb range. Sometimes they'll get around 12lbs but in my experience not that offten. The natives I've caught however, from late January through April seem to average around 12lbs. So given that information it's like the difference between a snot nosed kid and linebacker on pro football team.

It was a sarcastic remark...settle down!...if I truly thought they were pseudo-steelhead or that inferior, I sure as Hell would not fish for them as much as I do. <img border="0" alt="[wall]" title="" src="graemlins/wall.gif" />

A Steelhead...AKA Steelie, Ironhead, Chromer, Silver Bullet, Grey Ghost, Nate....and yes BRAT

Brats are a very poor replacement for the reel steel(natives), but they give us opportunity to fish when otherwise we probably wouldnt. Brats typically have a spoty track record, meaning some seasons they come back in big numbers like last year and then the next year they will crap out after 1 or 2 weeks, and when they do come, they typicaly fly to their rearing site in 3 to 10 days There are certain strains of "brats" that have very good track records, mainly summer fish.

Bring on the ugly stick snappin, spoon grabbin, knee shakin, boat rockin, back bending STEEL Native Steelhead