Those colorful stocked browns....really!

[Mike]

Just a heads-up for those who plan to fish streams stocked by Benner Springs Hatchery. You will do a double-take if you catch their brown trout. I certainly did this spring before I learned of a diet experiment. The caudal fins told me that the fish were stocked trout because the colors did not (or at least not enough so that I had confidence in a coloration ID ). I had to check the fins because the yellows, reds, and oranges were so vivid. Not quite a good as wild trout, but close enough that color was not as reliable as fin wear. These fish will be difficult to ID as stocked trout when the fins of the fish in the best condition heal by late spring.

 

[troutbert]

Won't this cause a problem for determining trout populations? If the electrofishing crews have trouble distinguishing wild from stocked trout?

And are the dietary additions natural or synthesized?

 

[bigjohn58]

hatcheries sometimes add peperica or however u spell it to the fish food which adds color at least to brook trout.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

John, do you mean Paprika? Wonder how a little cayenne pepper would work? :-D

Mike - This explains what I've noticed so far this year. Those browns DO look pretty good! If the fins weren't obviously worn, it'd be tough to tell they weren't wild fish. Certainly better than those awful looking golden rainbows (yeah, I know, the kids love 'em).

 

[Maurice]

Lemme at 'em Mike..I can tell the difference!

 

[afishinado]

Mike,

I meant to ask for while. When I looked at the trout raised by the Queen City Hatchery on the LL as an example, the trout they raised are very colorful. But I've noticed that overall, the trout stocked by the FBC were more colorful. A few years back all trout stocked were a pale silvery color, and now they are much more colored up.

Change of diet huh? What type of food makes them more colorful?

 

[Fishidiot]

Mike
Interesting. I think, down here in my neck of the woods, we get fish almost excusively from Huntsdale. I'll have to check the stocking list to see how far south Benner fish are stocked. Do you know if the state intends to expand this new "color diet" to other hatcheries? Are they feeding this stuff to 'bows and brookies and or does it even affect them?

 

[MKern]

When I worked as a fish salesman I read a lot about companies raising bugs as fish food, instead of using left-over fish parts.

 

[Mike]

My conversation wasn't long enough to get all of the details; however, I did learn that a subset of the RT stocked by Benner Springs was also fed the special diet and that they are brightly colored fish. These, I understand, were mixed in with other loads of rainbows so that you might catch a few pale ones and then a brightly colored one from the same stream. The diet is more expensive so that could limit its use in the future. As for skewing electrofishing results, color is a big help for speedy ID of stocked vs wild fish, but at some point I pretty much go by a combination of color and lasting fin deformities, and then drop the color criterion all together. I really think it will be much tougher for anglers to tell the difference, which may cause some anglers to report that there are wild fish present in streams where there really are not any wild fish. Paprika has been used in the past to add color to the fish; I don't know what is being used at present.

 

[wildtrout2]

Just another example of mans manipulation of everything he comes in contact with. Next, they'll be giving them steroids. I'm glad everyone's happy with them though. Give me real wild trout or give me death. :-D

 

[wgmiller]

On a philosophical level, we probably shouldn't even be "creating" fish but instead let nature take its course. So if we're going to create fish, might as well make them 'purty! :-D

 

[jayL]

wgmiller wrote:
On a philosophical level, we probably shouldn't even be "creating" fish but instead let nature take its course. So if we're going to create fish, might as well make them 'purty! :-D

Yep. They're already man made. The color, to me, is not a very good example of man's meddling with nature.

I like the idea. It seems like a relatively easy to implement way to improve the enjoyment of fishermen. I still prefer wild fish, but I'd be fooling myself if I said I wasn't going to chase at least a few stockies this year.

 

[troutbert]

In salmon aquaculture, the fish feed is commonly juiced up with synthesized carotenoids manufactured by Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland, to give the fish some color.

They would otherwise be very pale, but the synthethic pigments make them look a lot like the real thing.

I'm guessing that's what's going on here.

 

[pete41]

and of course that nice red meat in the supermarket is natural-lol
fish often times reflect the coloration of their diet-not to worry.
and I had a thing for blondes-
althought they didn't last long.

 

[tomgamber]

This is what wild trout look like in Idaho

 

[vcregular]

Right on Troutbert. SalmoFan anyone?

 

[Mike]

Tomgamber: You don't have to go to Idaho to find that very red coloration in trout muscle. That is exactly the way the brookies meat looks in the Schuylkill River. We have filleted a number of them for contaminant analyses....(See rear of Summary Booklet that comes with your fishing license for the results).

 

[tomgamber]

Mike wrote:
Tomgamber: You don't have to go to Idaho to find that very red coloration in trout muscle. That is exactly the way the brookies meat looks in the Schuylkill River. We have filleted a number of them for contaminant analyses....(See rear of Summary Booklet that comes with your fishing license for the results).

Yes, but I don't feel as guilty eating a wild Cutt or Rainbow out there as I would a brookie here. I grew up swimming and skiing the schuylkill. I can only imagine.

 

[pcray1231]

Yeah, its been quite a few years, but I remember keeping a few wild brookies for a campfire frying pan. Red meat like a salmon. I suspect wild rainbows have it too, depending on the diet, but I never tested that theory and don't plan on it anytime soon....

Our great lakes steelhead are mostly white meat, but there's a tinge of pink there....

 

[troutbert]

So is the PFBC using synthesized carotenoids to color up fish? If so they should inform the public.