Stocked or Wild? How do you tell?

[TigerTrout4wt]

I wanted to talk about how you tell the difference between stocked and wild trout. I was on a stream this year that I have a survey stating that they found wild brown trout in the upper section. I was fishing miles downstream from the end of the survey. I caught this brown and was amazed at the coloring. I know the section I fished the state stocked 0 brown trout there. They did stock brown last year only in the spring. I do know some other group that stocks this stream as well so browns could of been stocked, but I still have issues determining if a fish is stocked or Wild in a stream where both are present. Was hoping some knowledgeable veterans could help us determine what the difference is between them.

 

[csoult]

That one is stocked

 

[McSneek]

There is no better example of a stocked brown trout than the one in your picture. Worn fins, lack of color, spot pattern, no red on the adipose fin, no telltale blue eye spot. Sorry but if you are amazed at the coloring of that fish you haven't seen enough wild ones.

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Clearly a stocker.

 

[TigerTrout4wt]

I have fished wild only streams but I have not fished them alot. I have only fished about 5 different wild streams and I'm new to this sport. Looks like I need to hit a few of them up to try and get some good examples of the difference. Sometimes the only way to learn is to ask a stupid question lol. I now know what to look for. Thanks guys so can anyone post a picture of a wild brown for a good comparison?

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Welcome to the sport and good luck!

 

[Dave_W]

TigerTrout4wt wrote:
Was hoping some knowledgeable veterans could help us determine what the difference is between them.

It's been much discussed on the site...so much so that there's a lot of humor about it. There are many older threads dealing with this and they canbe worth reading through (don't refresh the old threads, just read 'em).

As others have mentioned the fish in your pic is stocked. As trout get older and larger, it is harder to tell stocked fish from wild fish, even for us old timers who have been looking at trout for a long time. For brown trout, some good indicators (but not definitive) that identify a wild brown are clean edged fins, red spots (not orange) on the adipose fin, and a blue spot behind the eye. Take some time to look through the many pics of wild brown trout on this site, such as the one posted above by Sal, and you'll start to get a feel for what wild ones tend to look like.

 

[Tups]

I agree with everything that has been said so far. The fish appears to be a stocker. Another indicator is a thick, milky grey tail fin.

There also seems to be a remnant genetic trait that causes some wild fish to appear less colorful than the one posted by Sal. These fish lack the red adipose and are more silvery than buttery brown. Also, some of their spots, especially near the tail, appear as X's rather than round spots. I have heard it said that these fish carry the phenotype of the Loch Leven (Scottish) browns, as opposed to the Vom Behr (German) browns, which are more like Sal's fish.

 

[ryansheehan]

Sal that's a freaking amazing fish, love it! Anytime you see lots of spots that join together it's a pretty safe bet it's a stocker. Wild fish will have clean crisp spots along the side. My buddies and I call them digibrowns when all their spots blend together. The more wild fish you see the easier it gets.

 

[ryansheehan]

Tups wrote:
I agree with everything that has been said so far. The fish appears to be a stocker. Another indicator is a thick, milky grey tail fin.

There also seems to be a remnant genetic trait that causes some wild fish to appear less colorful than the one posted by Sal. These fish lack the red adipose and are more silvery than buttery brown. Also, some of their spots, especially near the tail, appear as X's rather than round spots. I have heard it said that these fish carry the phenotype of the Loch Leven (Scottish) browns, as opposed to the Vom Behr (German) browns, which are more like Sal's fish.

I catch one every once in a while like that, they almost have a salmon look to them.

 

[ROVERT]

I wish I would have taken some pics of a few fish I caught this year near Weikert. They had good fins, red adipose and caudle, blue eyespot and blurred/joined spots. Everything screamed wild except for the joined spots. I'm thinking the pfbc spot genes are making their way into the wild population.

Here are a couple of wild fish that aren't so buttery as Sal's posted above:

Here's a stocker that is:

 

[csoult]

Sorry, I didn't have time to give a thorough explanation but those guys hit most of the major indicators. The biggest indicator that I notice and wasn't listed is when the spots start to run together it's pretty much a dead giveaway.

 

[jifigz]

Definitely a stockie. Here is my 2 cents....how do you KNOW the state didn't stock browns in There? I know you said others stock the stream as well, but there is no real way to know the PFBC didn't stock browns. I know you'll say you checked the stocking schedule, were there to help stock, etc, etc.

A story for you to show you what I mean. Years ago I was at Poe Valley SP having a picnic with some people and it happened to be their fall stocking day. The stocking chart read they were stocking 100% rainbows. When the truck showed up I strolled over to just be an observer and saw them dump in nothing but brown trout. There was even comments from the truck chasing crowd sitting on the bank like "oh, brown trout, they are the hard ones to catch." Then a bunch of them swam in circles near the shore all disoriented and such and I walked away.

 

[PennKev]

If they taste good without seasoning they are wild. If they taste bad they are stocked. So easy. Why do we need all these stocked/wild posts?

 

[wildtrout2]

PennKev wrote:
If they taste good without seasoning they are wild. If they taste bad they are stocked. So easy. Why do we need all these stocked/wild posts?

That wouldn't help the C&R folks.

 

[PennKev]

wildtrout2 wrote:

PennKev wrote:
If they taste good without seasoning they are wild. If they taste bad they are stocked. So easy. Why do we need all these stocked/wild posts?

That wouldn't help the C&R folks.

Who said I wasn't C&R ? :-o