Nothing better than a good ol "wild or stocked?".

[just_jon]

I’m going with wild. Most stocked brookies I’ve caught have short gill covers.

 

[krayfish2]

December 2023 was a rough month for the pa fly fish forum members. Fishstix banned on December 4th and SilverFox quit later that same day. Silent Ocelot hung in there until the 13th but sadly he also succumbed to the silence. RIP guys….. we miss you. A little.

Oh I almost forgot. I’m kinda leaning towards stocked. That pec fin doesn’t look pointy enough at the tip.

Isn't that like saying, man I miss herpes?

 

[5footfenwick]

Isn't that like saying, man I miss herpes?

Just trying to be funny! Maybe it’s just me that misses a little, I do miss the brook trout studies I never heard of. I don’t miss the putting others down and I don’t miss the kill all the brownies attitude. And I’m the most pro-brookie guy I’ve ever met. But blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make mine burn brighter.

 

[CRB]

Does it really matter, wild or holdover?
Nice fish either way.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Tough call for me because it's a really good looking fish! Just on the info you provided, I'd be a wild lean here as I didn't see anything with the fish itself that screams stocker or holdover ✌️

Does it really matter, wild or holdover?
Nice fish either way.

 

[PennKev]

Does it really matter, wild or holdover?

Yes. It does....


But...

Nice fish either way.

...Is also true.

 

[wildtrout2]

I'd be a wild lean here as I didn't see anything with the fish itself that screams stocker or holdover ✌

It's size has me leaning towards holdover. Any time I see a Pa brookie that big, it leaves me skeptical that it's native/wild. That fish has decent fins and pretty good coloring. I like the kype. A nice healthy brook trout either way.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

It's size has me leaning towards holdover. Any time I see a Pa brookie that big, it leaves me skeptical that it's native/wild. That fish has decent fins and pretty good coloring. I like the kype. A nice healthy brook trout either way.

Just go back and look at Sal's "Unicorn" wild brookie from several years back. I know where it was caught and is not exactly where you'd usually expect to find that sort of thing. There are similarities between Kray's spec and Sal's. While not common for sure, they do still exist.

 

[wildtrout2]

Just go back and look at Sal's "Unicorn" wild brookie from several years back. I know where it was caught and is not exactly where you'd usually expect to find that sort of thing. There are similarities between Kray's spec and Sal's. While not common for sure, they do still exist.

I knew somebody would mention Sal's brookie when I said that. Yes, they do exist like that, but they are very few and far between. I'm sticking with holdover on this one.

 

[Swattie87]

I know where it was caught and is not exactly where you'd usually expect to find that sort of thing.

Or is it? My best Brookie (13”) came from that same watershed, in a different trib, about 2 miles downstream. My neighbor got a 14.5”er in the main stem, a little upstream from those tribs. That’s 3 really big Brookies.

I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, yet, but the key for this watershed to keep producing big Brookies will be keeping the Browns in check. Bad news, they’re already there. I haven’t caught one yet, but I did lose a fish that I thought was a Brown last time I was there. And I’ve seen guys on YouTube catching a few Browns. One guy got like a 20”er.

I have a pretty good guess where kray’s fish here was caught. Different watershed, if I’m right.

 

[troutbert]

Does it really matter, wild or holdover?
Nice fish either way.

It matters to people who are interested in PA wild trout populations.

It has nothing to do with praising or criticizing the person who caught the fish.

 

[krayfish2]

To clarify even further, I'm extremely delicate and don't fish Nov 1 - Apr 1. I believe this was caught on Fri by a forum member who probably hates me for posting it.

Swattie, if you were thinking Susky.... negative. But the attached one below was from Susky

 

[Swattie87]

To clarify even further, I'm extremely delicate and don't fish Nov 1 - Apr 1. I believe this was caught on Fri by a forum member who probably hates me for posting it.

Swattie, if you were thinking Susky.... negative. But the attached one below was from Susky

That wasn’t my guess. I’ll PM you, but only tell me if I’m right.

The above Susky fish is a Tiger, FWIW. Haha.

 

[krayfish2]

I knew that. I believe that one was caught somewhere around Sunbury

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Or is it? My best Brookie (13”) came from that same watershed, in a different trib, about 2 miles downstream. My neighbor got a 14.5”er in the main stem, a little upstream from those tribs. That’s 3 really big Brookies.

I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this, yet, but the key for this watershed to keep producing big Brookies will be keeping the Browns in check. Bad news, they’re already there. I haven’t caught one yet, but I did lose a fish that I thought was a Brown last time I was there. And I’ve seen guys on YouTube catching a few Browns. One guy got like a 20”er.

I have a pretty good guess where kray’s fish here was caught. Different watershed, if I’m right.

I've been there myself and I also caught two that reached the 13" mark. With respect to that place we have in common, I believe the larger fish are travelers. The larger specimens seem to show up late Summer/early Fall. I say this because my typical catch there is in the 7"-10" range during Spring and Summer. My 2 PB there were caught in mid-late September. I have not caught a brown there yet but no doubt that it will happen at some point. As you know, that is a very special fishery for sure.

 

[Jessed]

Here is most likely stocked brookie I caught a few weeks ago in a Class A brown trout stream. I was closer to the mouth where it entered a larger waterway that has stocked tributaries. Nevertheless, a big brook trout is always gonna get my adrenaline pumping

 

[SlateDrake94]

Ive heard stories about the Swatty and Conny having holdover browns from the stocked streams. I feel like I need to give the bigger bass waters some attention this spring instead of only the summer like I do every year. Wild or stocked, I'd get a powerball after getting a brook trout like that!

 

[tomgamber]

Here is most likely stocked brookie I caught a few weeks ago in a Class A brown trout stream. I was closer to the mouth where it entered a larger waterway that has stocked tributaries. Nevertheless, a big brook trout is always gonna get my adrenaline pumping
View attachment 1641234431

A club used to stock brookies like that in little Mahoning in the fall. First time caught one I was rather taken aback.

 

[blitzinstripes]

Here is most likely stocked brookie I caught a few weeks ago in a Class A brown trout stream. I was closer to the mouth where it entered a larger waterway that has stocked tributaries. Nevertheless, a big brook trout is always gonna get my adrenaline pumping
View attachment 1641234431

Stocked or not, that is still a helluva fish. My PB brookie was a pair of 18 inchers (stockers), though I several times hooked and lost a monster club stocked fish that was approx 7-8 lbs. I would love to someday top the 20 inch mark on a brookie. Probably next to impossible to do with wild fish in PA. Even the big stockers are getting harder to find as the PFBC and clubs have drastically reduced the amount of brookies they are stocking. Possibly Big Spring for a shot at a trophy class wild brookie? Over 20 years ago I knew a fella that caught (and kept 😭) three enormous (to me) wild brookies between 16--20 inches. And yes they were absolutely wild fish. I know where he caught them at. One of the streams I fished often myself back then and caught a few around 13 inches, including a rare tiger about that size. The other stream was in an area I hunted but I never fished the stream. There was a remote little mountain reservoir that the stream feeds in to and out of, and I believe that is what contributed to their extraordinary size. He caught the pair on the same afternoon in the late fall of the year, no doubt spawning up above the reservoir. Someday I'm going to hike up in there and poke around a bit.

 

[blitzinstripes]

I knew somebody would mention Sal's brookie when I said that. Yes, they do exist like that, but they are very few and far between. I'm sticking with holdover on this one.

I'd love to see Sal's famous fish. Does anyone have a link to it?