Biggest Native Pa Brookie?

Caught an 11 inch brookie in the headwaters of Slate Run. The stream has so many caddis larva on the rocks I could imagine fish growing faster than 1 inch a year. There are lots of small fertile streams in central pa that don't get fished. Or at least the upper sections don't. So I could believe that if someone fished them hard over a season some 14 inchers would show up.

I know of a number of these streams that have small restricted reservoirs on them. At times I can get a glimps of larger trout in them that probably go 14 - 15 inches.
 
Padraic wrote:
PaulG caught a magnificent brookie in Fishing Creek. I'm confident it was a wild fish, but who's to say if it was a true native? Anyway Paul would have to tell you the length, but it was definitely in the teens.
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It's been awhile, not sure about the size anymore, without a doubt biggest wild brookie I ever caught, beautiful fish!

PaulG
 
My biggest was just a couple of years ago from a small stream in the Laurel Highlands that's not even listed as Class A water. I'm guessing it was between 11 and 12 inches. The lower end of the stream is stocked, but I'm 100% sure this was a wild fish. The coloration was amazing and it swam out of a lie that was damned near impossible to reach with a fly. I saw the thing move about 4 feet to take a my cricket on top.
 
greenghost,

Most of the streams where the brookies average a little bigger, are not class A. In fact, when it comes to brookie streams, class A covers only a very small percentage of the streams. Apparantly small fish don't add up in biomass very quickly....
 
My largest was a 13" brookie from a spring crrek. As a boy I was with my great grandfather when he caught and kept 2 brookies over 14 inches on a small stream hat wasnt stocked. He was really excited about these big natives and this was a man who wasnt excited by very much.
This was, and is, an incredible stream. It flows through meadows and woods, with occasional beaver dams. Its quite small but has produced many large fish, including stream-bred browns upwards of 20''. I once found a dead brown trout below a beaver dam that measured 23''. It is now fully posted and the owners dont give access to anyone.
 
pcray1231 wrote:
greenghost,

Most of the streams where the brookies average a little bigger, are not class A. In fact, when it comes to brookie streams, class A covers only a very small percentage of the streams. Apparantly small fish don't add up in biomass very quickly....
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pcray,
That's interesting. On the surface, you'd tend to think the opposite. The higher the biomass, the better chance for larger fish.

Maybe it is, the higher the biomass = higher reproductive rate=more fish=more competition= smaller size?
 
Ive always been a lurker, but wanted to share some of my photos as the topic lends itself well to the images.

The largest I have caught is about 10" or 11".

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Pretty Pics. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the board!
 
Great lookin fish, it dont get any better then that!

PaulG
 
I agree pcray.....the largest brookies I have caught have not been from streams that have the "class a" advertisement.
 
My brother and I used to catch some 10 to 12" brookies in a stream in Schuylkill Co. that was and still is completely off the radar--except for a few locals.
 
Other than the 21 inch brook trout that we once electrofished from Big Spring Creek's ditch area, the source of which was questionable, the biggest native brookies that I have seen in my electrofishing surveys throughout much of the state over a 30+ year period have been in SE Pa. Each of these streams has produced 15 inch fish and one has yielded a 17 inch fish to an angler (verified by us and returned to the water). These streams that produced 15 inch fish harbored numerous fish up to 12 inches long and any fish longer than that were very limited in number.
 
Mike: First of all I am surprized by your 30 years, in my mind I had you plugged as mid 20s early 30s years of age. Also I am surprized that the biggest brookies came from SE Pa, what are the streams like, are they limestone? Must be Chaz's area?
 
It doesnt surprise me one bit. Most people dont think that their are even wild brook trout streams down here much less go explore them.

Im sure there are streams like that tucked away somewhere in the north also. So many to fish and electro shock up there, they and we can possibly hit them all. Iam willing to bet that they were limestone spring creeks, the far lesser known ones.

beyond that i did catch that 14 incher right here in lancaster county ;-)

p.s. mike last year i saw a 16-17 inch brookie rising at the ditch. That fish was extremely selective and i was unable to catch him. By now that fish could be 18-20 inches long. While it does seem suspicious its also not entirely impossible.
 
fritz wrote:
My brother and I used to catch some 10 to 12" brookies in a stream in Schuylkill Co. that was and still is completely off the radar--except for a few locals.
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;-)

In an answer to the original post, around 13", although I get a few each year in the 10"-12" range. When I was around 11 my brother caught one about 17", which we unfortunately took home and ate. Sorry. We were kids and didn't know any better.

Boyer
 
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