To answer a question I had offline, it does take a few years for a trout to break 20 inches. Based on a limited sample of otoliths, Rainbow trout in their 5th growing season (age 4+ years) could be 17-18 inches. In the 6th growing season (5+), they could range from 17.5 to 21.5 inches. For a Brown trout, it appears that they need around 6 years to break the 20 inch mark. 2024 was a remarkable year for Browns as a number of anglers had great success catching 18 to 22 inch fish. Not just a good size, but frequent catches. In the Barrels survey, Browns constituted about 38% of the catch.
