Taking and killing a Native Brookie from any PA stream

[steve98]

Many many years ago not knowing what I know now , I would catch some and eat some of what I caught.
As of this post all I hook/catch are released weather wild, native, or stocked.
But one of those many years ago I caught,kept,a legale sized not knowing that it was a Native PA brookie.
Took it back to the cabin along with other maybe wild stocked or other fish.
It was the only one with diferent colored flesh. And it was so much better tasting than the others.
That being said I have not kept anything I've caught since. Be it stocked, wild, or native.
Thinking I would sure like try to catch cook and eat another Native PA brookie
Your thoughts?

Steve98

 

[3wt7X]

I am sure there are more than a few streams where you could legally do it. By all means, if you would like to harvest a native or two then have at it. If I was going to do it, it would be on a camping trip as a small meal at the end of a day of fishing and I certainly would not make a regular practice of it.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

If you want to relive that nice, rich flavor you will find similar flesh on a wild Brown. It will probably be a little bigger as well. I have no issue if someone keeps a legal trout for a stream side meal, but we should do it responsibly. I keep a few wild browns from a well populated stream each year. They make a fine meal.

 

[PSUhorty]

I've done the same, although, infrequently. Last wild brookie I kept was up in Killington, VT two years ago. Largest wild brookie caught to date... juuust over 12". Caught from a large plunge pool which surely held more. Me taking that one would be inconsequential.

 

[KeviR]

I remember as a kid, my dad and I would kill everything we caught. Luckily, we weren't very good fishermen. Once I learned how to clean them, that was my job every time. I think most of the brookies we caught were wild, and they always had dark flesh, almost the same as salmon flesh, while the stocked rainbows' and browns' flesh was pasty white. I don't remember how the taste compared, but I have to imagine the brookies would be better. I have heard that the color came from eating crayfish. One of the biggest brookies I ever caught (as a kid) had a crayfish halfway down its throat when it ate my worm.
I don't kill trout very often any more, but I doubt that keeping a few a year would make any difference to any stream. Even a small brook trout stream. And if you wanted to insure that your harvest made no difference, just keep 7-8 inchers. Any good brook trout stream has loads of fish in the <8" range, and I doubt that a few could possibly make any difference. On the topic of trout flavor, I'm not very fond of trout as a simple broiled fish. Try smoking them - that's tasty. When I do that, I buy farmed trout from the market. Just as a disclaimer, the last time I killed a trout (two browns) was probably 15 years ago. Although it just occurred to me that in the years after I did that, that stream no longer produced for me like it once did. Either bad karma or I crashed the wild brown trout population.

 

[Dave_W]

Agree generally with the comments written above.^

I enjoy eating fish but there are some that I prefer to release for personal ethical reasons, including wild trout (other examples include smallmouth bass and sharks). I keep stocked trout all the time.

However there are a LOT of wild trout in PA and keeping some to eat from time to time is ethical and sustainable in my view. I've often thought that were I to spend more time wilderness hiking and camping I'd keep some wild STs (or better yet wild BTs, as lycoflyfisher points out) to eat. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[Tigereye]

Agree, done within reason and you don't make a pig of your self, I have no issues. Enjoy.

I know there are people who stack their freezers with stocked trout and don't eat half of them. They throw them away at the end of the year. To me that should be illegal. Wonton waste.

With full disclosure, I myself threw away 2 freezer burned Salmon fillets that were hidden in the back of the freezer. Bothers me some, but take solace in that the local crows had an easy meal. They need to eat too.

 

[Canoetripper]

Many years ago, our family had a cabin on state forest land near Pine Grove Furnace. We kept some of the native Brookies for breakfast. That was back in the 1970's.

I have kept two wild rainbows caught on an upper Delaware River canoe trips back in the mid-1980's.

I have kept a few for breakfast and supper on canoe/camping trips on the upper Greenbrier River and South Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia. These stocked trout were all for camping trip meals and never taken home with me.

I always have cooked and consumed any caught fish while camping.

Members are allowed a 5 kill weekly limit at my R&G club in the Poconos, which doesn't even put a dent in the population given how many are stocked. Most of the members practice C&R since it is so expensive to stock.

Sometimes I keep one for breakfast and one for supper. That is all I can eat at my age. Most members want the trout to holdover through the winter, and very few actually keep there 5 kill weekly limit.

Preadators like eagles, ospreys, and otters know how many trout were stocked. They are pretty well fed.

 

[wbranch]

I've knowingly, and inadvertently, killed two larger brown trout on the WB of the Delaware over the past thirty years or so. I'm not fond of freshwater fish but my wife told me those two browns (the meat was literally red) were the best trout she had ever eaten anywhere.

 

[Sylvaneous]

There are a LOT of streams with wild browns and brookies that, way up, don't get much fishing pressure at all. One reason I'm emphatic about releasing trout is that there are a lot of people hoping to catch that fish. Way up in the headwaters, who knows how often those fish get fished over. And a few gone wouldn't be missed. I don't because I don't like eating trout but 1 or 2 taken of legal size, like a personal 'slot limit' would be fine by me. If a small percentage of fishermen took just 1 trout out of Penns or Fishing creek for example, it would severely impact the population.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

There are a LOT of streams with wild browns and brookies that, way up, don't get much fishing pressure at all. One reason I'm emphatic about releasing trout is that there are a lot of people hoping to catch that fish. Way up in the headwaters, who knows how often those fish get fished over. And a few gone wouldn't be missed. I don't because I don't like eating trout but 1 or 2 taken of legal size, like a personal 'slot limit' would be fine by me. If a small percentage of fishermen took just 1 trout out of Penns or Fishing creek for example, it would severely impact the population.

What?! Do you mean would not? If Penns or Fishing Creek couldn't sustain some small amount of harvest then there isn't a stream in Pennsylvania that can.

 

[Bamboozle]

I don't keep fish for the same reason I don't hunt, I can't be bothered with the hassle of dealing with my catch or game after dispatching it. If I want fish or game, I'll buy it or barter for it, ready to eat or prepare.

However, I have NO issues with folks that keep fish or hunt as long as it is done within the law.

 

[FarmerDave]

I know there are people who stack their freezers with stocked trout and don't eat half of them. They throw them away at the end of the year. To me that should be illegal. Wonton waste.

How long do Asian dumplings last in the freezer?

P.S. I knew you meant wanton waste, but I couldn't resist. ;-) And I agree. I don't even put perch in the freezer. If I can't eat it fresh, I'll throw them back.

 

[poopdeck]

The lousy taste of trout, stocked, native, wild, is why I don’t keep them. Now a yellow perch has no chance of release. You don’t even need lemon for perch.

the limits are set by reason of sustainment. Have at it without remorse if legal and you like the taste of trout.

 

[laurelrun]

The only fish I regularly harvest are a couple salmon when I go to NY each year. I took my young nieces and nephews out on opening day this year and hooked a nice stocked bow that was bleeding pretty badly, so I decided to creel it. That's been my go to strategy. If you think you killed it, don't turn it loose.

I will say, though, that having owned a small pond that was full of stunted bluegill, a little bit of a dent periodically gives some room for a variety of sizes in a fishery to develop from my experience. Predation helps keep things in balance, whether it's by glaw, beak, tooth, or hook.

 

[blitzinstripes]

In my opinion the best candidate would be a nice sized wild brown that was caught in a native brookie watershed. Will benefit the wild brookie and provide a tasty meal.

 

[wildtrout2]

In my opinion the best candidate would be a nice sized wild brown that was caught in a native brookie watershed. Will benefit the wild brookie and provide a tasty meal.

I agree. So, I shouldn't catch any flack for having this 18" wild brown from the Nelson Branch mounted? I'd imagine he ate his share of natives to get this size. Despite my signature, it's one of only two wild trout that I've ever intentionally killed.

 

[laszlo]

Don't get me started with the Blue Heron's