Some Recent Fish

[wbranch]

I think it is a gizzard shad, not an American, or Hickory shad.

Someone wrote; "Sorry, but they are pellet feed fish coming from that size of water. I see them all the time on Spruce Creek".

Extremely unlikely. There is always some naysayer just waiting to say a gorgeous trout is stocked. How can you be so sure they are not wild?

 

[ryansheehan]

Pictures 4 and 7..clearly stocked ;-)

 

[wbranch]

Pictures 4 and 7..clearly stocked

Absolutely.

 

[jacob]

Sorry, but they are pellet feed fish coming from that size of water. I see them all the time on Spruce Creek

You should be sorry...

...but not for the awesome fish NS catches consistently. The dude is a big fish machine and is humble about it too. Not sure if you have ever seen his other posts - Probably not because I don’t recall any jealous naysayers on the other ones :hammer:

Way to go NS - I always look forward to your posts!

 

[troutbert]

Why do so many people say "sorry" when expressing an opinion?

There isn't any need to apologize for expressing an opinion.

 

[rrt]

NS -- Congrats on such nice fish. Who really cares if they are stocked?

Well, maybe you do. No matter, I am impressed with the size of these monsters.

Unlike you, I have not done well in the high, muddy water. I have gone out some, but I have landed only a few trout and few of them were very nice. I obviously do not have your "touch."

I have landed 2 trout over 2' this year, but both of them were obviously stocked fish, slightly downstream from where they grow pellet pigs. One was a rainbow, so I don't even know if it counts.

Anyhow, your fish are indeed nice trout.

 

[redietz]

rrt wrote:
Who really cares if they are stocked?

Actually I think make a huge difference (and I'm not accusing NS of chasing pellet pigs -- his fish are likely wild.) If you plant a brood stock fish of thirty inches, the person who catches it on the first day or week hasn't accomplished very much. I've caught large fish that I wasn't proud of at all.

Catching a thirty inch wild fish, that's spent a lifetime avoiding being caught, requires considerable skill, and doing so consistently as NS has deserves some praise. He's clearly put in the effort. (Of course, a fish stocked as a fingerling is just as good.)

Well done, Night Stalker.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

^that

 

[JasonC]

I haven’t been a member here for long so I went back through some of NS’ past posts and there is a recurring theme. The man just flat-out catches big fish. Obviously, when they’re wild trout, the scouting and studying of those fish’ movements have been meticulously detailed by NS and it shows. Congrats on those catches, they sure are some trophy fish! But this argument keeps popping up again and again, wild versus stocked. Does it really matter in the end? Don’t we all enjoy simply catching trout? I’d like to be a big wild trout hunter like NS but at this point in my life and career, I simply don’t have the time to put in the necessary work. So for now, I catch my average sized wild brownies and stalk the big stocked bruisers that are close to home. I just like getting out and catching trout is what it comes down to for me.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Among stocked fish there is also a huge difference imo between freshly stocked fish and holdovers. It is easier to tell a holdover from a stocked fish in the spring when the new stockies are still fresh, but after a few months most stocked trout act much like their stream bred brothers.
Either way NS has proven time and time again to catch large wild and or holdovers that have spent a long time in the stream and it is a great accomplishment.

 

[Acristickid]

Nice hogs. Does streamer fishing require lotsa skill?

 

[jacob]

^ like anything in fly fishing...

Assuming they can cast- anyone can buck a streamer into the water and pull it back to them. Anyone can throw a nymph rig up there and let it drift past them. Anyone can cast a dry and have it float by.

Every technique has nuances that people learn and practice to become successful consistently. Key here is consistent... to be successful consistently with a given technique takes skill, knowledge, and intent.

Also, it’s fishing - so luck is always a good thing to have to!

Another thing to add- I find most dedicated streamer guys grew up huckin rapalas and jerk baits around. It sure helps the learning curve, and is actually how I got my start in fly fishing - I already knew some of the nuances of streamer fishing from my rapala days and it was more comfortable to me starting out.

Whenever I streamer fish, I’m thinking less like a fly fisher and more like I’ve got a husky jerk on.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Absolutely.

Lines, floating vs sinking with flies sinking or unweighted, strip, twitch, dragging, dead drift, swinging....
All have different looks and presentations.
Studying baitfish habits, studying abundance of baitfish or the combination of them....

It's endless and a very skilled streamer fisherman is as good as a very skilled dry fly or nymph guy.

 

[rrt]

rd and Sal -- Yes, you're right, it does matter. I didn't mean to sound disparaging. NS is obviously a much better big-fish fisherman than I'll ever be.

I catch some nice/big trout every year, some wild. But, I would guess that the majority of trout that I have caught over my life that have been truly big ones have been stocked trout. Unlike some of you, I have never caught a 30" trout.

NS is to be complimented on his skills.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

rd and Sal -- Yes, you're right, it does matter. I didn't mean to sound disparaging. NS is obviously a much better big-fish fisherman than I'll ever be. I catch some nice/big trout every year, some wild. But, I would guess that the majority of trout that I have caught over my life that have been truly big ones have been stocked trout. Unlike some of you, I have never caught a 30" trout. NS is to be complimented on his skills.

Hey man, no sweat and don't cut yourself short. We all catch more small fish than trophy fish. Mark it down, because its true. I have never caught a 30" brown myself, however I have been really close. Even still, I'm sure as long as you have been doing this , you also have pieces to PA's trout fly-fishing puzzle. We all do. We all pick our places and things to learn. From casts and techniques to specific locations do's and dont's from experiences , times of year, flow conditions, flies all in how to catch trout. Then there is other species and their places. It's whats beautiful about our sport, its ever growing and seemingly infinite in knowledge. Even better, that's just PA, now all the other states, the amount of all fly- fishing to learn is very vast.

We are all novices.
I'm going to catch a big'n tomorrow I hope. I know right where he is.
This noob will post a pic if I do.