Brace of trout initially confiscated by state (4)
I believe the answer is:
stay
'brace' is the definition.
(I know that stay is a type of brace)
'trout initially confiscated by state' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'confiscated by' is an insertion indicator.
'state' becomes 'say' (to state something is to say it).
The first letter of 'trout' is 't'.
't' placed into 'say' is 'STAY'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for stay that I've seen before include "Defer" , "Thin strip used to stiffen a garment" , "Stop; support" , "Remain; steady" , "Stanchion" .)