How long would stocked trout last in the summer?

[TheBluegillMaster]

It’s been months since the trout were stocked, do you guys know if they’d still be alive? I’m fishing near the Catoctins in MD. There’s a couple freestoners, limestoners and some delayed harvest. I might take my brother out too, and he likes eating trout. Any idea if the trout would still be alive and biting?

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

If there's water that stays cold enough, they'll survive. They may even refuse liver pellet flies by now.

 

[GoldenStone83]

Have run into stockies as late as mid-July in areas with decent levels of pressure. So it's a possibility depending on temps as said above, pure chance, etc.

 

[JerryC]

I've seen them all summer in the Wissahickon, a local stocked stream. Usually see them near springs that feed the creek. You can actually feel the change in the water temperature when you wade through the area. Also around the mouths of small creeks that empty into the creek. By this time they've pretty much adapted and can be as spooky as a wild trout.

 

[jifigz]

In the right location and conditions stocked trout can and do live for years. In many places that they are stocked, however, they will start dying by now or in the next few months.

If a stream sustains wild trout, then it can, hypothetically, sustain stocked trout. Even in certain wild trout creeks they start to vanish, however, probably due to predation by herons and whatnot. This specifically happens in small trout streams whey they may not be as adept at contending with predators like wild fish. On other larger streams that are good wild trout streams, stockies are there year round and almost indefinitely, it seems.

 

[jrmyln]

It’s been months since the trout were stocked, do you guys know if they’d still be alive? I’m fishing near the Catoctins in MD. There’s a couple freestoners, limestoners and some delayed harvest. I might take my brother out too, and he likes eating trout. Any idea if the trout would still be alive and biting?

The Blair witch ate them all

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

There are a lot of cricks that hold over stockers from one year to the next. In cool, wet summers more make it. Habitat that helps hide them from predators is a plus. Over the years,my best days for summer stockers came in the days following significant precipitation events. Also, if I were looking for stockers in summer the last place I would try would be the places they get tossed in the crick. It seems like the places where I encountered them in good numbers in summer would be 100-300 yds below the points they get tossed from buckets.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

There are a lot of cricks that hold over stockers from one year to the next. In cool, wet summers more make it. Habitat that helps hide them from predators is a plus. Over the years,my best days for summer stockers came in the days following significant precipitation events. Also, if I were looking for stockers in summer the last place I would try would be the places they get tossed in the crick. It seems like the places where I encountered them in good numbers in summer would be 100-300 yds below the points they get tossed from buckets.

The dump locations for which have been directly under bridges that cross the creeks... at least for the last couple of years.

 

[JerryC]

In the right location and conditions stocked trout can and do live for years. In many places that they are stocked, however, they will start dying by now or in the next few months.

We have a creek around here like that. Valley Creek was always a stocked creek, but in the 80's the state quit stocking it because the fish had become contaminated with run-off from what became a superfund site.
Now it has a thriving population of wild brown trout. It's catch and release only, flies and lures only. No bait.

 

[jifigz]

We have a creek around here like that. Valley Creek was always a stocked creek, but in the 80's the state quit stocking it because the fish had become contaminated with run-off from what became a superfund site.
Now it has a thriving population of wild brown trout. It's catch and release only, flies and lures only. No bait.

Valley is a well known stream for sure. I'm sure it had a thriving wild brown population even when it was stocked but it probably vastly improved once stocking ended.

State wide wild trout populations have been expanding in the last 50 years due to cleaner water and more focus on sedimentation z erosion, etc..

 

[TheBluegillMaster]

I’ve heard of valley creek before, it’s the one near Philly right? How does valley creek have trout? it’s in an extremely urban watershed, and from from what I’ve heard, that should mean that trout can’t survive there. That being said, I know of a couple watersheds like that, but I couldn’t find many reasons, possibly geology?

 

[Mike]

Valley Ck is a limestoner. Has a fair volume of cold groundwater feeding it. And as suggested above, it had a Class A biomass at some sampling sites before stocking was discontinued in 1982 and a developing fair to good wild trout biomass at the other site, all within the stocked trout section. Coincidentally, the stream’s wild BT population was in an establishment phase in the waning years of the historical stocking period. No wild trout were found in the cir 1977 initial survey, but as the stream recovered from sedimentation, a population quickly developed BEFORE stocking was discontinued.

 

[afishinado]

Valley Ck is a limestoner. Has a fair volume of cold groundwater feeding it. And as suggested above, it had a Class A biomass at some sampling sites before stocking was discontinued in 1982 and a developing fair to good wild trout biomass at the other site, all within the stocked trout section. Coincidentally, the stream’s wild BT population was in an establishment phase in the waning years of the historical stocking period. No wild trout were found in the cir 1977 initial survey, but as the stream recovered from sedimentation, a population quickly developed BEFORE stocking was discontinued.

The reality is if not for PCB contamination on Valley, it still would be a stocked stream. I can't imagine the Fisheries Manager would cease stocking trout in popular fishing stream with hundreds of thousands of licensed anglers living a short drive from a stream which flows through a park open to fishing.

Here is a synopsis from VFTU of the challenges Valley Creek has gone through in the last 40 years >

Pollution Incidents – Valley Forge Trout Unlimited

 

[KeviR]

This is off-topic from the OP, but....
Holy Cow, it's amazing that anything is left in Valley Creek.
Thank you, VFTU for documenting this ongoing insult to the creek.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

No bait.

As it should be.