The PA Wild Trio

[drakeking412]

This past weekend I had the pleasure to fish the Laurel Highlands with a new friend I met over on the reddit fly fishing sub. He was a much much better angler than me and I was able to learn quite a bit from him all the while catching fish on new streams I was excited to fish!

Possibly the most exciting thing for me though was finally punching the ticket on the PA wild trio! On one stream I was able to hit a rainbow and a brook and on another I had to work for a wild brown but he was nice sized and acrobatic too! Overall it was a very exciting day hiding under laurel bushes bothering wild fish with a new friend.

 

[tomgamber]

I think they refer to it as a Hat Trick but when you are doing it I don't think you care much what they call it. Nice job!

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Congrats. Never got it in PA. In Vermont I did, but that's easy! PA is another story!

 

[FarmerDave]

Double points if you catch all three (wild) from one stream.;-)

 

[wildtrout2]

FarmerDave wrote:
Double points if you catch all three (wild) from one stream.;-)

FD, I believe that is what makes it a true "wild trout trifecta".
Whatever it's called, or how you achieved it, it's still a great accomplishment. Congrats!

 

[pcray1231]

I've done a wild trout trifecta a number of times. Mostly from one drainage.

But once I did it in a different stream, and it didn't include a rainbow. It did include a tiger.

Congrats man. It's always an interesting accomplishment.

 

[maxima12]

Very nice to read a thrilling story of brotherhood and fishing! They really go together well! Hats off!

 

[Fly-Swatter]

pcray1231 wrote:
I've done a wild trout trifecta a number of times. Mostly from one drainage.

Me, too (thanks to you)! int:

 

[wildtrout2]

Fly-Swatter wrote:

pcray1231 wrote:
I've done a wild trout trifecta a number of times. Mostly from one drainage.

Me, too (thanks to you)! int:

It's probably the same place where I've done it a few times as well. There's only a handful, or two of streams in all of Pa that hold all three wild trout. Where I went to achieve it was about 7 hours away. :-o

 

[Arminacast]

Well done drakeking! I am blessed to live in the laurel highlands but I never thought about trying for a trifecta. I think I'll add that to my bucket list.

 

[wbranch]

It didn't happen in PA but about forty years ago my Dad and I were on Nelson's Spring Creek in MT. In one day he landed four species of wild trout; brown, rainbow, cutthroat, and most surprisingly, a 11" brookie. I had fished that creek dozens of times and never caught one or even considered it a possibility.

 

[FarmerDave]

wildtrout2 wrote:

FarmerDave wrote:
Double points if you catch all three (wild) from one stream.;-)

FD, I believe that is what makes it a true "wild trout trifecta".
Whatever it's called, or how you achieved it, it's still a great accomplishment. Congrats!

I do remember the first time I did it. Was fishing with my little brother and he did it fairly quickly with spinning gear. Not to be outdone I stuck it out and did it too with flies. The brown took the longest and was sub legal, but I counted it anyway.

Small stream. Both of us caught just one brown that day, but his was about 11 inches.

 

[FarmerDave]

oops, double post.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

pcray1231 wrote:
I've done a wild trout trifecta a number of times. Mostly from one drainage.

But once I did it in a different stream, and it didn't include a rainbow. It did include a tiger.

Congrats man. It's always an interesting accomplishment.

Oh...you can get a trifecta if you get a tiger? Well then. I've done it on one stream.

 

[wbranch]

Has anyone ever caught a Super Slam in PA? Brown, Rainbow, Brookie, and Tiger in one day? In any water, stocked or wild since it i s so hard to accomplish.

 

[rrt]

Yes, but the rainbow was a stocked trout that somehow appeared in a wild trout stream. I supposed a "bucket biologist" put it there, but it may have escaped from a cooperative hatchery that is located along the stream. The tiger was a 7" "monster."

 

[FarmerDave]

The_Sasquatch wrote:

pcray1231 wrote:
I've done a wild trout trifecta a number of times. Mostly from one drainage.

But once I did it in a different stream, and it didn't include a rainbow. It did include a tiger.

Congrats man. It's always an interesting accomplishment.

Oh...you can get a trifecta if you get a tiger? Well then. I've done it on one stream.

Wait... How is a brook, brown and tiger a trifecta when a tiger is simply a cross between the other two? It is not a different species.

IMO it doesn't count, but mainly because I never caught a tiger trout. ;-)

 

[jacob]

I’ve always called the trifecta as a brook, brown, and bow.

The PA trout slam, IMO, should include a laker too.

The PA slam is tough - the trifecta is definitely doable.

Just an idea - I’ve seen this elsewhere... but with the diversity of fish we have in the state, it would be cool and a lot of fun for PAflyfish to put together a “most species” event, where teams of 2 anglers get a weekend to catch as many different species as possible on the fly. Submit time stamped photos of the fishies and win a hat or something. A small fee to enter, and donate the $ to casting for recovery or the winners local TU chapter.

Just like this: https://youtu.be/ASkyeVY5eu0

 

[Acristickid]

Nice. It’s a challenge to accomplish in one day.

Pennsylvania is missing the boat by not having a native/wild angling challenge. States like CA, WY, UT , NV have angling programs.

Attracts many anglers from other states and generates new Angler interest. What is the down side? Get a certificate for $10 or something.

An angler would have to learn about the fish, anglers would become aware of their environments and threats to those environments and make memories that last a lifetime.

 

[Sylvaneous]

That's great to see. I always wondered why, when some streams have wild rainbow reproduction, they didn't take off in a lot of other waters. In Southern Appalachia, they try to keep the rainbows at bay to save the wild brookies.
Anyway, there is 1 drainage around here that you can get the wild triple 'slam' pretty consistently. Ironically, the wild brookies are the hardest of the 3 species to catch. They don't do great when up against wild 'bows and browns.
But it's a real credit to the quality of the watershed.