Fingerling or wild Rainbow

[Andrwhite610]

Hate to do it but doing it anyway😁
This fish was caught in a Berks class A section brownie stream. The section is not stocked by state but is for a kids rodeo at one hole in mid spring.🤐 It was found just below a spring influence (I think) about a half mile up from that stocking point. All fins look perfect including dorsal. I’m pretty excited about it so hopefully no one bursts my bubble. Would love to hear some input, thanks.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Is there a Trout in the Classroom program at any nearby schools? That is where I go now that they switched from brookies to rainbows....

 

[Andrwhite610]

Is there a Trout in the Classroom program at any nearby schools? That is where I go now that they switched from brookies to rainbows....

I’ve done a google search for the local school that shares same name as creek🧐. Thought maybe the local news might have a write up. I’ve found nothing. I don’t know how else to look but considered that a possibility.

 

[Dave_W]

I'm confident saying that's a wild rainbow.

They're not that uncommon and appear in groups some years in different places and often fade away after a season or two. They're usually small. I get little ones like this in Yellow Breeches and my other local creeks from time to time.

 

[Andrwhite610]

I'm confident saying that's a wild rainbow.

They're not that uncommon and appear in groups some years in different places and often fade away after a season or two. They're usually small. I get little ones like this in Yellow Breeches and my other local creeks from time to time.

My next question is where do they come from?? Are a few wild bows going into the tributary from, in this case the Schuylkill and spawning successfully? Or did this little guy come from elsewhere and work its way all the way up into this tributary? Or did a stork come and drop it off in the creek?😂

 

[dc410]

I also feel it’s a wild rainbow and I’m going with the Stork! 😉

 

[The_Sasquatch]

My next question is where do they come from?? Are a few wild bows going into the tributary from, in this case the Schuylkill and spawning successfully? Or did this little guy come from elsewhere and work its way all the way up into this tributary? Or did a stork come and drop it off in the creek?😂

If it's the stream I'm thinking of, it probably came from the rodeo. Ya just need a few of those fish to survive the 'round up', hit it off, and bam. You got lil' ones. I've fished that stream a few times and have caught remnants of the rodeo months later.

 

[Andrwhite610]

If it's the stream I'm thinking of, it probably came from the rodeo. Ya just need a few of those fish to survive the 'round up', hit it off, and bam. You got lil' ones. I've fished that stream a few times and have caught remnants of the rodeo months later.

Did not know stocked fish reproduced.

 

[Bamboozle]

Did not know stocked fish reproduced.

You wouldn't have wild brown trout if stocked fish didn't reproduce...

I've caught stream bred rainbows and even brook trout (where they had been expatriated decades ago) in LOTS of creeks, some of which that are Class A headwaters to mouth.

However they were stocked at one time, stocked in other sections or tributaries or the mainstem are/were stocked so occasionally a stream bred fish gets caught.

 

[Jay_H]

Another vote for wild rainbow.

 

[bringthepain]

Neat looking fish either way, well done

 

[Andrwhite610]

I reached out to someone at a local School involved in the Trout in the classroom program and got a quick and pleasant response.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

Hate to do it but doing it anyway😁
This fish was caught in a Berks class A section brownie stream. The section is not stocked by state but is for a kids rodeo at one hole in mid spring.🤐 It was found just below a spring influence (I think) about a half mile up from that stocking point. All fins look perfect including dorsal. I’m pretty excited about it so hopefully no one bursts my bubble. Would love to hear some input, thanks.View attachment 1641233654View attachment 1641233655View attachment 1641233656

Going by your description, in your second post, I'm fairly certain I know the stream.
There was, I don't know if it still is, a small undocumented wild rainbow population in the headwaters above where you were.

 

[Mike]

Wyomissing Ck has been the recipient of TIC ST in the past within the park in Mohnton, which is part of Section 02, the state adult trout stocked section as well as being a section historically stocked by a Cooperative Nursery. Wild or wild appearing fingerlings could come downstream into Section 03 from any of those sources. Additionally, fishing rodeo RT remaining in Section 03 could also reproduce on occasion. In all cases mentioned above, reproduction of RT would be very spotty if at all and populations of fingerlings would be quite small except perhaps for an unusual year.

Wyomissing Ck was electrofished by my crew and me on numerous occasions and at various sites throughout and no fingerling RT or any signs of RT or ST reproduction were found. We did find TIC ST one year about two to three months after they were stocked and the survival of which for that long was quite surprising. They were about 100 yds upstream from their stocking point. Coming from the other direction, it’s unlikely that any RT fingerlings or wild RT moved into Wyomissing Ck from the Schuylkill R, although a real long shot would be a wild appearing, relatively young RT from the fingerling stocking program in the Schuylkill Haven to Pottsville stretch.

 

[dc410]

That dang Stork!!!

 

[Andrwhite610]

Whatever the case it turned a rather dull outing into an interesting one.

 

[jifigz]

I would bet my money on that fish being a wild rainbow. They are pretty common, more so than a lot of people realize. Dave is right. In most places they seem to pop up, exist for a bit, and then disappear for a while.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

When someone didn't get the hint....

 

[rustbeltwilds]

I'm pretty sure it's wild they are around in more places in Pa that you think.. maybe not big numbers in most cases. But they are there... Think of all the stocked bows over the years that do successfuly spawn and .... Well there's your answer

 

[Old Town]

The Breeches gets a stocking of fingerlings once in a while from the Fish Comission. A friend of mine who is on the stocking truck said when Huntsdale has excess fingerlings they stock them in some local streams. I was on the Breeches below Boilingsprings a few years ago and watched them stock them. They do not anounce it so many think they are catch wild rainbows and even a few browns but they can be stocked fish. This explains why they are there some years and not others.