This is the first recorded painting Sharp sold to his Montana patron and friend, Charles Bair. Sharp's sales ledger for March 1905 states that Trout Stream, Pryor sold for $300. (Sharp Papers)Another version of this work, A Trout Brook in Winter, was painted the same year. (related image, # 309)

It is clear that this canvas was intended to lure Bair over to his favorite fishing hole.  The ripples in the lower left corner of the composition suggest that a trout is feeding and ready to be caught.