Siltation resulting from heavy rainfall and soil erosion is a major environmental stressor in rainbow trout farms that are dependent on surface flowing waters. It often leads to significant fish mortality and severe economic losses for farmers in the Indian Himalayan region. Therefore, we investigated the short-term physiological responses of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, 15-20 g) exposed to suspended silt under controlled laboratory conditions. Fish were divided into two treatments: silt-exposed group (2.5 g/L of <100 µm natural stream-collected silt) and control (no-silt) group. The 24-hour silt exposure was conducted in 50 L aerated tanks maintained at 17 ± 1 °C. Silt was kept in suspension by continuous vigorous aeration (>170 NTU at 24 hour), and identical aeration was also provided in the control tanks. Water quality parameters such as turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH and total ammonia nitrogen were monitored at regular intervals (0 - 24 hour). After the acute exposure, fish were subjected to various eco-physiological assessments. The routine metabolic rate showed a significant increase in the silt exposed group, indicating elevated energy demand for stress coping. Nevertheless, we observed no changes in the maximum metabolic rate, metabolic scope, incipient lethal oxygen concentration, and blood oxygen carrying capacity (haemoglobin and haematocrit levels) after the short-term silt exposure. Histological examination of gill tissues, however, revealed pronounced structural damage in the silt-exposed fish. It included lamellar disorganisation, epithelial lifting, hypertrophy, necrosis, and fusion of adjacent lamellae indicating inflammatory responses. Likewise, biochemical assays showed reduced activity of liver superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase, as well as a significant decline in total antioxidant capacity in both liver and gill tissues of silt-exposed fish, suggesting compromised antioxidant defences. On the other hand, thermal tolerance assays revealed a paradoxical but concurrent increase in the critical thermal maximum by 1°C and critical thermal minimum by 0.7°C, in the silt-exposed group. Overall, this study demonstrates that even a brief (24 h) acute exposure to suspended sediments can disrupt aerobic metabolism, gill tissue integrity and anti-oxidative status in rainbow trout. Further long-term studies are warranted to ascertain the exact mechanisms underlying increased mortality during prolonged silt exposure in trout raceways.