Natural‐colored brook, brown, and rainbow trout (12 to 15 months of age) have been obtained within 1 to 2 months by dietary administration of extracts of fresh raw crayfish to low‐pigmented fish. It was shown by thin‐layer chromatography and spectral studies that the crayfish xanthophylls present in the diet are essentially those deposited in the skin, fins, and flesh of the trout fed. As little as 30 to 50 meg of xanthophylls in the skin will produce average natural colors in rainbow and brown trout and 50 to 100 meg in brooks 14–16 months old. An extract of paprika pepper added to trout food deposited an undesirable yellow pigment in the skin, which was not produced by crayfish extracts. Crayfish‐fed trout showed advantages over controls and paprika‐fed trout in color and taste. Lutein (a pigment normally present in wild trout) obtained from marigold petals and incorporated into the diet, was rapidly deposited in the skin, fins, and flesh of brook trout as a golden yellow color. Again, thin‐layer chromatography and spectral studies indicated that this pigment was deposited in these tissues without modification. Observations indicated that well‐colored brook trout shifted their pigments from the skin into the flesh under the influence of a light background and back from the flesh to the skin when exposed again to their original dark background.