Caught my first wild brown yesterday

[mgmunson]

I am a member of a club that has access to a private section of a small class A that has natives, wild browns and wild bows. Been smackin' brookies pretty consistently since early spring, but have yet to see anything else (with the exception of some stocked monsters, that luckily have since been eaten by the local bear(s)). I've taken a good bit of time off of fishing, what with the low water and general busyness of life and all. Went out yesterday and caught a decently average sized brookie. Hooked two of similar size that jumped the hook. Then I hooked a (subjectively) sizable fish. In the excitement of making sure I got it in the net, I didn't realize it was a brown until admiring my picture this morning! So.. I present to you my first wild brown.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

No one better give him a hard time about not being over the moon about those precious little gemmies instead of the brownie either.... I am looking at you Fish Sticks 😁

 

[mgmunson]

No one better give him a hard time about not being over the moon about those precious little gemmies instead of the brownie either.... I am looking at you Fish Sticks 😁

for the record; much more stoke for the brookies. That's why i was so excited, thought I had a near personal best native on the line! but a wild brown will do 🤷‍♂️

 

[silverfox]

for the record; much more stoke for the brookies. That's why i was so excited, thought I had a near personal best native on the line! but a wild brown will do 🤷‍♂️

I was fishing a little headwater stream back in the spring one day up in Clinton Co. and was catching nothing but brookies. It was a great day. I was getting into skinny water way up on top the mountain and thinking about heading back when I came across a really cool plunge pool with a huge boulder hanging over the pool and made that my last stop. On the first cast in the pool I hooked into something good and got extremely excited. Turned out to be a ~13 inch brown trout. What a buzzkill.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I was fishing a little headwater stream back in the spring one day up in Clinton Co. and was catching nothing but brookies. It was a great day. I was getting into skinny water way up on top the mountain and thinking about heading back when I came across a really cool plunge pool with a huge boulder hanging over the pool and made that my last stop. On the first cast in the pool I hooked into something good and got extremely excited. Turned out to be a ~13 inch brown trout. What a buzzkill.

Yea when you want to hit a brook trout stream and hike in and get a brown instead its like getting Smirnoff iced. All depends on what your looking for angler to angler. I enjoy catching a brown trout in some streams its just when you catch them with brookies you know its a big threat to those brookies long term presence in that stream so that kills it for me personally.

 

[FarmerDave]

I was fishing a little headwater stream back in the spring one day up in Clinton Co. and was catching nothing but brookies. It was a great day. I was getting into skinny water way up on top the mountain and thinking about heading back when I came across a really cool plunge pool with a huge boulder hanging over the pool and made that my last stop. On the first cast in the pool I hooked into something good and got extremely excited. Turned out to be a ~13 inch brown trout. What a buzzkill.

How did it taste?

 

[Fish Sticks]

How did it taste?

I kept some wild browns out of a local
Stream with brook trout and they tasted great. As long as its not freshly stocked brown trout. Used some lemon/pepper and butter and put some potatoes in-between the fillet

 

[silverfox]

How did it taste?

Not great, but I had been living off freeze-dried bagged food for a few days, and the fresh meat was a welcome change in my diet.

 

[Prospector]

I am a member of a club that has access to a private section of a small class A that has natives, wild browns and wild bows. Been smackin' brookies pretty consistently since early spring, but have yet to see anything else (with the exception of some stocked monsters, that luckily have since been eaten by the local bear(s)). I've taken a good bit of time off of fishing, what with the low water and general busyness of life and all. Went out yesterday and caught a decently average sized brookie. Hooked two of similar size that jumped the hook. Then I hooked a (subjectively) sizable fish. In the excitement of making sure I got it in the net, I didn't realize it was a brown until admiring my picture this morning! So.. I present to you my first wild brown.

View attachment 1641231294

Tell me more about the bears eating the big browns!!

 

[mgmunson]

Tell me more about the bears eating the big browns!!

It’s a very low pressure stream. Most members use the club for other activities; swimming, golfing, shooting—very few use it to fish and those that do go maybe 1-3x/yr… yet, there’s a damn highway beat down along the bank. I’m sure many animals use it since it’s the path of least resistance, but I’ve seen some big bear prints.

They stocked a boatload of massive fish (a few up to 24”+). I was bummed. My local brook stream was now a damn aquarium. You could literally catch them with a net. A few weeks of dry weather and I stop down to see what I can find, and not a single stocked trout left. Good job, bear!

Went back down yesterday itching to catch some natives, but damn if I only caught a wild rainbow. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Fish Sticks]

It’s a very low pressure stream. Most members use the club for other activities; swimming, golfing, shooting—very few use it to fish and those that do go maybe 1-3x/yr… yet, there’s a damn highway beat down along the bank. I’m sure many animals use it since it’s the path of least resistance, but I’ve seen some big bear prints.

They stocked a boatload of massive fish (a few up to 24”+). I was bummed. My local brook stream was now a damn aquarium. You could literally catch them with a net. A few weeks of dry weather and I stop down to see what I can find, and not a single stocked trout left. Good job, bear!

Went back down yesterday itching to catch some natives, but damn if I only caught a wild rainbow. 🤦‍♂️

View attachment 1641231328

Lol sounds like their flooding it with invasive species, not really even using it, and fueling reproduction of said invasive species. Strong work club.

Do they have a pond?

 

[silverfox]

It’s a very low pressure stream. Most members use the club for other activities; swimming, golfing, shooting—very few use it to fish and those that do go maybe 1-3x/yr… yet, there’s a damn highway beat down along the bank. I’m sure many animals use it since it’s the path of least resistance, but I’ve seen some big bear prints.

They stocked a boatload of massive fish (a few up to 24”+). I was bummed. My local brook stream was now a damn aquarium. You could literally catch them with a net. A few weeks of dry weather and I stop down to see what I can find, and not a single stocked trout left. Good job, bear!

Went back down yesterday itching to catch some natives, but damn if I only caught a wild rainbow. 🤦‍♂️

View attachment 1641231328

This reminds me of a private stream I grew up fishing. It was always native brookies and a few rogue stocked rainbows that would travel great distances to over-summer in the cold water. A few years ago, I contacted the new owner, whom I've known since we were kids, and asked about fishing it. He said yes, and then proceeded to boast about the number and size of trout he's been stocking there yearly. What a mess.

This stream gets pretty low in the summer, and all the fish would pile up in the deepest pools. I only fished it once, and it was just packed with stockers. I didn't catch any brookies. He's extremely protective of his properties. He's more of a hunter than an angler, and I know he doesn't let anyone but friends and family fish there. So I guess it's his to do what he wants with it, but it's painful to see. I did mention to him that it used to be almost exclusively brook trout in there, and now it's all stockers. He just shrugged his shoulders.

 

[mgmunson]

Lol sounds like their flooding it with invasive species, not really even using it, and fueling reproduction of said invasive species. Strong work club.

Do they have a pond?

It's exactly what they're doing. I do give the benefit of the doubt and blame it simply on ignorance. I've been doing my best to preach the wonders of brook trout in an effort to educate them. I'm going to stay vocal and try to convince them before spring rolls around again NOT to stock, and rather put efforts to building/maintaining habitat for wild trout. This stream is a tributary for one of the most actively stocked/fished streams in the area, so while they're not solely responsible for invasive fish making their way into the stream, it's all the more reason not to exacerbate the problem by introducing them directly.

There is a pond on property, but I haven't been back to see it. Hopefully they would be open to stocking the pond and maintaining the stream for a wild trout experience.

 

[mgmunson]

This reminds me of a private stream I grew up fishing. It was always native brookies and a few rogue stocked rainbows that would travel great distances to over-summer in the cold water. A few years ago, I contacted the new owner, whom I've known since we were kids, and asked about fishing it. He said yes, and then proceeded to boast about the number and size of trout he's been stocking there yearly. What a mess.

This stream gets pretty low in the summer, and all the fish would pile up in the deepest pools. I only fished it once, and it was just packed with stockers. I didn't catch any brookies. He's extremely protective of his properties. He's more of a hunter than an angler, and I know he doesn't let anyone but friends and family fish there. So I guess it's his to do what he wants with it, but it's painful to see. I did mention to him that it used to be almost exclusively brook trout in there, and now it's all stockers. He just shrugged his shoulders.

And this is exactly why PA needs stocking reform. I didn't dig too deep into the newly proposed rules, but the discussions I've seen in news article comment sections is your typical "GubMeNt caNt TelL mE wHat to Do oN mY pRoPertY!". I think they should exclude private ponds up to a certain size, but any private landowner or club should be required to obtain a permit before stocking any stream on the natural reproduction list at the very least.

 

[silverfox]

And this is exactly why PA needs stocking reform. I didn't dig too deep into the newly proposed rules, but the discussions I've seen in news article comment sections is your typical "GubMeNt caNt TelL mE wHat to Do oN mY pRoPertY!". I think they should exclude private ponds up to a certain size, but any private landowner or club should be required to obtain a permit before stocking any stream on the natural reproduction list at the very least.

Which brings up a point I've been curious about since I first heard about the private stocking "reform." That is, who is educating the public that they need to notify the state of their stocking activities? From what I understand, PFBC has no real jurisdiction over private hatcheries. That falls under the Dept of Ag. So I'm not sure the private hatcheries are going to be notifying customers that they need to fill out this "notice of stocking." Even if they do, for now anyway, there's no enforcement attached to the notice.

I have a strong feeling that very few will actually send in the notice of stocking. If I'm right, I'm not sure what the value of the program will be. How could they base decisions on this if they're not getting everyone to participate? They might come out later and say, "welp, looks like only 3 people in the entire state privately stock public waters," which everyone knows isn't true. That's obviously an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Until they make a stocking permit mandatory and enforce it through private hatcheries/accounting, I'm not sure what value the current iteration has. The supposed data they glean from it will be virtually worthless because it will only represent those who knew about it, and then voluntarily filled it out.

 

[Fish Sticks]

It's exactly what they're doing. I do give the benefit of the doubt and blame it simply on ignorance. I've been doing my best to preach the wonders of brook trout in an effort to educate them. I'm going to stay vocal and try to convince them before spring rolls around again NOT to stock, and rather put efforts to building/maintaining habitat for wild trout. This stream is a tributary for one of the most actively stocked/fished streams in the area, so while they're not solely responsible for invasive fish making their way into the stream, it's all the more reason not to exacerbate the problem by introducing them directly.

There is a pond on property, but I haven't been back to see it. Hopefully they would be open to stocking the pond and maintaining the stream for a wild trout experience.

Yea i would push for pond stocking, esp if stocking in stream and they ate dissapearing. Can argue club fish leaving club and its a waste and just hurting stream

 

[Mike]

Pectoral and pelvic fin twisting/past erosional appearance plus color suggest stocked BT.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I say wild despite fin twisting. It doesn't have a distention on the anus.

 

[wildtrout2]

That fin twisting is interesting, otherwise it does appear to be wild. I think the way it sits in that net makes the caudal fin appear split.

 

[mgmunson]

Pectoral and pelvic fin twisting/past erosional appearance plus color suggest stocked BT.

If I had any doubts I’d defer to those more knowledgeable than me. But nah, it was definitely wild. Just based on size alone. It felt large for a brook trout (hence, “subjectively” sizable), but it was half the size of any stocker I’ve seen. It was borderline keepable. Probably closer to 7-8”.

That fin twisting is interesting, otherwise it does appear to be wild. I think the way it sits in that net makes the caudal fin appear split.

The net is definitely giving a different perspective than what it looked like in person. The picture looks a bit silvery and dull. It appeared much darker in person, which is why I initially just assumed brook trout. It wasn’t till I saw the picture and it looked entirely different than I recalled.