Aren't brown and rainbow the same except looks?

[Steve King (Admin)]

No. There are big differences between the two species. The strain of brown trout we have in Missouri is a combination of two types that were originally brought over from Europe in the 1890s. One type came from Loch Leven, near Edinburgh, Scotland, and the other type came from slow meadow-type tributaries of the Rhine River in Germany. Rainbows, on the other hand, originally inhabited swift mountain streams. With these vastly different backgrounds, it is not surprising that rainbows and browns behave far differently. One big difference between the two species is that browns are much more strongly attracted to large objects in the stream than rainbows are. Brown trout are much more wary than rainbows and are usually far harder to catch. Rainbows are more adaptable in their spawning requirements and can sustain themselves in Ozark streams where wild brown trout populations cannot. In the Missouri Wild Trout Management Areas (Barren Fork Creek, Blue Springs Creek, Crane Creek, Eleven Point River, Mill Creek, North Fork of the White River, and Spring Creek) you will encounter only rainbow trout because the water temperatures in these streams exceed the 53° F maximum that green brown trout eggs can withstand.

Source: www.MissouriTrout.com