Native Brook Trout

[foxfire]

I fish in a stream that has both native and stocked brookies. I catch quite a few from from 4" - 7". I'm assuming they're the natives???? Is there a definitive way of identifying the natives from the stocked??

 

[Swattie87]

There isn't a 100% accurate way to tell without killing the fish, but IMO Brookies are the easiest to tell stockers from wild fish, and in most cases you can make a pretty good guess. I'd bet most of the Brookie guys on this site could get it right 90%+ of the time.

Wild Brookies (especially freestone Brookies) will generally have rather streamlined bodies and usually are not very "fat." Their fins will generally be clean, and sharp and have straight black and white edges on them. Their dorsal fin is often a brilliant orange color with black spots. Their overall coloration can vary a lot, but there is usually a distinct contrast between the spots and background colors, regardless of the overall color tone...meaning the colors don't run together.

Stocker Brookies are usually wider bodied. Their fins are often rough or tattered on the edges, or completely deformed in some cases. The edges on the fins lack the straight, sharp black/white lines too...the black and white often run together. The dorsal fin often lacks the brilliant orange color and is a duller orange/brown in many cases. They can have pretty decent color patterns depending on what they were being fed, but they almost always lack contrast between the spots and the background colors...the colors seem to blend together more.

All that said...There will be some stockers that will look wild (especially if they were fingerling stocked or escaped a hatchery, etc), and some wild fish that will look like stockers (worn fins after spawning, apparent lack of contrast between colors/spots based on diet, etc).

Location trumps all though IMO...Does the stream you're catching them in have a hatchery on it, or get a stocking of fingerling Brookies from somewhere (club/kids program/etc)? If not, just based on the numbers of sublegal fish, I suspect you're probably catching wild fish. Some "short" stockers sometimes get mixed in with the state's stockings, but not enough in most cases that you'd be regularly catching them.

Take and post a few pics if you can...we love stocked/wild trout debates around here!

 

[foxfire]

Thanks for great reply. Will do. FYI The stream is Linn Run in Westmoreland. I've seen a number of posts regarding Linn Run.

 

[Swattie87]

Sure thing...did a little quick research on Linn Run as I've never fished it, nor heard of it.

On the Nat Repro list, but not Class A, so I'm not sure what species it's on the list for. Given its location, I'd suspect Brookies though. Gets stocked with Brookies from the state. I did find some info indicating it has (or had) a hatchery on it near Rector. Sometimes (especially during floods) the hatchery fish can escape their raceways and get into the stream, so that's a possiblity too, assuming the hatchery is still active.

Maybe one of the local guys who knows the stream will chime in with some more info.

 

[stevehalupka]

Linn Run has some very nice wild brookies in it as well as a few browns... depends where you fish.

the wild browns obviously have come up from the stocked sections of itself and larger tribs (loyalhanna)

not my first stream I fish in the area, but def. not one to pass up all year

my boys hog brown from that stream:

your average wild brook:

what really surprises me about that stream is the fact there are no wild bows in it being so close to rolling rock's water. At least I've never pulled on from there, but it's been a solid 2 yrs. since I've fished it.

 

[Fishidiot]

Good answer from Swattie (as usual)

Yes, the small brook trout you're catching are probably wild simply due to their size. The PFBC stocks very few fish under about 8 inches.

 

[foxfire]

I didnt know there was access around the mouth of where Linn run flows into the Loyalhanna??? I assume the brownies dont make it all the way up to the park area?

 

[osprey]

Linn run i a great place to fish but the stocking of brookies by the state and others has probably watered down the gene pool of any NATIVE the only sure fire way is a DNA test.

 

[osprey]

Native Brook trout don't have spots on their dorsal fins they have vermiculations , squiggley wormy looking markings.....just sayin

 

[pcray1231]

Linn run i a great place to fish but the stocking of brookies by the state and others has probably watered down the gene pool of any NATIVE the only sure fire way is a DNA test.

That's pretty much true of all of our native brookie populations. I'm not saying a true heritage strain doesn't exist in PA. It may, I dunno. But most of our populations have watered down DNA.

 

[Swattie87]

osprey wrote:
Native Brook trout don't have spots on their dorsal fins they have vermiculations , squiggley wormy looking markings.....just sayin

You're right, probably more accurate to have said that. The point I was making was the contrast in the brilliant orange background on the fin with the darker markings on wild fish.

 

[foxfire]

Yhanks guys, very helpful. The vermiculations are what I noticed, I'll compare that to any larger stocked fish I may catch.