a stream on a comeback

[salvelinusfontinalis]

i did some traveling yesterday and fished a stream that has been takin off of the stocking list. it has only been off of the list for one year. i can remember there being many wild browns in this stream but since it was being stocked (which attracted more attention) the wild population was dwindling. now its on a comeback. i caught 4 nice wild browns in the 10-12 inch range and missed 7 smaller fish. i fished a 1 mile stretch, which this doesnt seem like a big population, but before it was almost nill. i belive in a year or so the stream is going to be fabulous!
now i know this isnt "scientific data" but just my observation. without the stockies eating up the food and the fisherman keeping thier catch, the wilds will thrive. i noticed, on the sand banks, no footprints. no one is fishing it. :-D

 

[ryanh]

sal,
That is the essence of what I have been trying to do in SWPA. I guess that it would not be an issue if i had an unlimited amount of time to go and explore. I have scouted lets say 5 streams this summer. 3 were terrible and 2 were good. Of those three that were terrible whose to say if I was in the wrong location or it was just a "bad: day.

And i always fish the sh(*t crick behind the house in the hopes that one day I will pull a trout out. What are your thought on finding productive h20?

Also why did they take that off of the stocking list? I know if the quality of the water goes down they will take it off but that does not seem to be the case here.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

the ultimate killer, landowner postings. funny thing is, alot of the stream is still open. less than half, but enough to make a enjoyable experince.
my advice for finding productive water is to get a delorme and look for high gradient streams in woodland areas. if the headwaters are in the woods and its not polluted it most likely has some population of trout. other than that, its all about guessing.
one thing you could try is if you have old stocking lists you can compare them to the streams now. once you find a stream that isnt on the list anymore (and it was stocked with browns) they may have reproduced and made a wild population. i say browns mainly because they have an easier time repoducing than rainbows (time of year they spawn) in pa and can stand warmer water than brookies. either way, just gotta keep trying. if i had a penny for eachtime i explored and found a great chub factory i would be rich, but finding those special jewels with wild trout all on your own, PRICELESS! :-D good luck man!

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

heres an article that may help you....or maybe not.
link