Stocked or wild

[ryansheehan]

I caught this today on a stream that does not stock brook trout. I've only caught wild brooks in this area but this fish has me second guessing a little. There is a possibility of a stocked fish swimming up many miles and through a barrier though.

 

[HopBack]

Tail fin and dorsal are imperfect so I would say stocked but would like to believe wild.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I caught this today on a stream that does not stock brook trout. I've only caught wild brooks in this area but this fish has me second guessing a little. There is a possibility of a stocked fish swimming up many miles and through a barrier though. View attachment 1641231232View attachment 1641231233

It's a good looking brook trout and I'd say in the stream for awhile but stocked.

 

[Schaefer406]

I caught this today on a stream that does not stock brook trout. I've only caught wild brooks in this area but this fish has me second guessing a little. There is a possibility of a stocked fish swimming up many miles and through a barrier though. View attachment 1641231232View attachment 1641231233

Looks like a fish that has been in the system for a bit of time, but likely stocked at some point. Regardless, that's one beautiful fish and its origin should not diminish the catch! I wish I caught a brookie like that recently. Seems like you had a great day on the water

 

[Wild_Trouter]

I caught this today on a stream that does not stock brook trout. I've only caught wild brooks in this area but this fish has me second guessing a little. There is a possibility of a stocked fish swimming up many miles and through a barrier though. View attachment 1641231232View attachment 1641231233

Whatever the results of 23andMe are, that's a beautiful fish 👍

 

[wildtrout2]

Regardless of it's origin, that's a great catch.

 

[Swattie87]

Good opportunity for me to embrace my new “heel” board persona.

It’s stocked, and yes, that does make it less of a catch.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

Stocked holdover. Will a stocked brook trout reproduce, or does it need to be stocked as a fingerling for that to happen?

 

[Mike]

Dorsal fin strongly suggests that fish was formerly a stocked trout. Has been in the wild for at least a year because the fins don’t restore themselves to that extent in just a few months. As for the caudal fin, I can’t say much about it because the first location that I would have checked appears to be compressed by the angler’s palm. The splits on the trailing edge of the caudal fin are inconclusive, as they can happen in the wild, and furthermore they are in conflict with the obviously healed dorsal fin. Those splits show signs of initial healing. Additionally there is a section of untattered and straight edging below the first split. Below that straight edge is more tattering, as is also seen on the trailing edge of the anal fin, but this can happen during spawning or other agonistic behaviors. It’s a very nice fish, stocked at one time in my view, and its condition is indicative of a very good food supply wherever it has been living.

 

[gulfgreyhound]

It's a nice catch. GG

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

The splits on the trailing edge of the caudal fin are inconclusive, as they can happen in the wild, and furthermore they are in conflict with the obviously healed dorsal fin. Those splits show signs of initial healing.

After I stopped killing every trout I caught, I replaced my nylon string bag landing net with one having a rubber net. Trout will split fins flopping around in a string net.

 

[wildtrout2]

After I stopped killing every trout I caught, I replaced my nylon string bag landing net with one having a rubber net. Trout will split fins flopping around in a string net.

I'm thinking that could happen using any net.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

I'm thinking that could happen using any net.

True, a softer net is no substitute for overall gentle handling.
The molded mesh in the net I use is fairly thick and is always wet when I scoop up a fish. The material is stretchy enough to soften the thrashing too. Using the rubber net, I haven't noticed any damage on fish except for what the hook happens to incur (other than the obvious tank abrasions on stockers or predatory scars). String will get in between the rays of fins and open things up like pulling a zipper.
We used "gentle" cloth nets when the younger boys were still fishing with spinning rods. We stopped using those the final time we had to cut out a treble hook that got twisted into the cloth.

 

[PennKev]

Waiting for this thread to be ruined just like every other thread on this board.


But, yeah stocked. Sorry. Pretty fish though.

 

[rustbeltwilds]

Great lookin fish def a holdover nice either way.. get some like this every year in a stream in sw pa.. past two yrs anyway.. they havent stocked brookies in last 2 years but when they sometimes still show up they almost look wild... but hard to believe that they still been holding over so long

 

[GANGGREEN]

It doesn't actually relate to your fish, but I've recently gotten information about a small stream in my area that is said to hold some very large Brook trout. It's never been a stocked stream and would be miles above any stocked portion, but it's my belief that if there are fish of the sizes that have been alleged, that they surely must have come up from downstream and lived in there for years. I've simply never seen native brookies of the size that's being mentioned and the person that told me about this is a reliable source. I actually went on a short scouting mission myself and only hooked wild browns, although I did break off a fish that was very large and which I didn't see. I'd love to think it was a wild brookie, but who knows.

 

[Swattie87]

It doesn't actually relate to your fish, but I've recently gotten information about a small stream in my area that is said to hold some very large Brook trout. It's never been a stocked stream and would be miles above any stocked portion, but it's my belief that if there are fish of the sizes that have been alleged, that they surely must have come up from downstream and lived in there for years. I've simply never seen native brookies of the size that's being mentioned and the person that told me about this is a reliable source. I actually went on a short scouting mission myself and only hooked wild browns, although I did break off a fish that was very large and which I didn't see. I'd love to think it was a wild brookie, but who knows.

Where is this? It merits further investigation from board members, and anyone else who reads this thread.

 

[Dave_W]

Count me with the consensus - a very nice stocked fish, perhaps a holdover.

Like many of you, I've seen some stocked trout, including some big brookies, show up in strange places. I've caught them when bass fishing miles form any stocked tributary. They get around.

 

[troutbert]

It doesn't actually relate to your fish, but I've recently gotten information about a small stream in my area that is said to hold some very large Brook trout. It's never been a stocked stream and would be miles above any stocked portion, but it's my belief that if there are fish of the sizes that have been alleged, that they surely must have come up from downstream and lived in there for years. I've simply never seen native brookies of the size that's being mentioned and the person that told me about this is a reliable source. I actually went on a short scouting mission myself and only hooked wild browns, although I did break off a fish that was very large and which I didn't see. I'd love to think it was a wild brookie, but who knows.

How large? The probability of a big brookies story being true varies inversely with the stated size of the brookies.

 

[Andrwhite610]

There is a YouTube guy, extreme Philly fishing. He has a couple photos of him holding big brook trout right in front of the art museum in Philly out of the Skook. Looked like it was summertime as well. Thought that was pretty bizarre.