Brook trout in Stony Creek

[HoboWithAFlyRod]

I went to Stony creek for the first time recently and caught a decent sized (for me, at least) brookie near the entrance to the state game lands. I assumed it was a stocked fish because the colors didn’t look vibrant at all, but I’m looking at the PFBC stocking schedule to confirm and it says they stocked rainbows and browns in Stony creek, so does that mean I got a wild brook trout? Maybe it’s a holdover from earlier stocking? Either way it was a lot of fun in a beautiful setting. Tough wading though. Thanks!

 

[PennKev]

I went to Stony creek for the first time recently and caught a decent sized (for me, at least) brookie near the entrance to the state game lands. I assumed it was a stocked fish because the colors didn’t look vibrant at all, but I’m looking at the PFBC stocking schedule to confirm and it says they stocked rainbows and browns in Stony creek, so does that mean I got a wild brook trout? Maybe it’s a holdover from earlier stocking? Either way it was a lot of fun in a beautiful setting. Tough wading though. Thanks!

FWIW, I've caught stocked brook trout in several streams that are listed as only getting bows and browns. I think that sometimes a few get mixed into the wrong raceway or mixed up at some other point in the stocking process. It could also be a fish stocked by some other organization. That particular fish looks like a fairly recently stocked example.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

I think there is a club(? Palmyra Sportsmen?) that stocks brookies in Stony Creek. PFBC has a link to streams stocked by cooperative nurseries. Maybe you can look there and see if I'm right

 

[Swattie87]

I think there is a club(? Palmyra Sportsmen?) that stocks brookies in Stony Creek. PFBC has a link to streams stocked by cooperative nurseries. Maybe you can look there and see if I'm right

I think there’s a couple clubs that put Brookies in it. IIRC the co-op nursery on Indiantown Run used to designate some fish to Stony too. They had been stocking Brookies for years, but I had heard they transitioned to mostly Rainbows. I haven’t fished either of those streams in a while though.

If you go far enough up (into Lebanon County), there are some (but not a lot) wild Brookies in Stony, but the fish in the OP in an obvious stocker.

 

[Bamboozle]

I've caught a few wild brookies way up Stony, near the remnants of Dresden Lake.

 

[troutbert]

I've caught a few wild brookies way up Stony, near the remnants of Dresden Lake.

I've also caught a few wild brookies in that area. Their population would probably increase if they quit stocking in the section of the creek that has native brookies.

The brookie in the photo is clearly a hatchery fish. You can tell by the pectoral fin.

 

[HoboWithAFlyRod]

I think there is a club(? Palmyra Sportsmen?) that stocks brookies in Stony Creek. PFBC has a link to streams stocked by cooperative nurseries. Maybe you can look there and see if I'm right

I bet that’s it, it seems like a lot of Stony is private below the game lands.

 

[Bamboozle]

I've also caught a few wild brookies in that area. Their population would probably increase if they quit stocking in the section of the creek that has native brookies.

The brookie in the photo is clearly a hatchery fish. You can tell by the pectoral fin.

FWIW - Stony doesn't even make the natural reproduction list but Rausch Creek does. I seem to recall someone on PAFF closer to the situation & location commenting that most likely those wild brookies in Stony are coming from Rausch.

 

[Bamboozle]

I think there is a club(? Palmyra Sportsmen?) that stocks brookies in Stony Creek. PFBC has a link to streams stocked by cooperative nurseries. Maybe you can look there and see if I'm right

In addition to the PFBC, the Palmyra Sportsman’s Association stocks Section 2 (from Military/Cold Spring Road to the SGL 211 gate) with brook trout & brown trout while Dauphin County Angler’s Club stocks Section 3 (from the SGL 211 gate to the mouth) with brown trout, rainbow trout and golden rainbow trout.

Consider the OP’s brookie a gift from the the Palmyra Sportsman’s Association. 😉