Unique Penns Creek Brown Trout Markings

[PSUturf91]

Hi all,

New to the forum here. I caught this brown last night out of Penns Creek and noticed some rather unique markings. I cant find anything else like it online. Wondering if anyone else has seen anything like this before??? Thanks

Ben

 

[Troy]

stockie!

 

[foxtrapper1972]

Stocked trout. Came from above Coburn or out of Pine/Elk.

 

[PSUturf91]

What would cause a stocked fish to have these unique markings? I've caught hundreds of stocked fish out of the au sable river in upstate new York, and Catskill streams and I've never seen one with markings like this.

 

[Swattie87]

PSUturf91 wrote:
What would cause a stocked fish to have these unique markings?

The PFBC.

Some of the strains they use for Browns have the irregular, blotchy type of spots as opposed to the nice clean circular spots. There's plenty of examples way blotchier? than this guy. Some strains though have very nice looking spots, much more akin to wild fish in PA. Nice fish btw.

 

[PSUturf91]

Interesting for sure. I had no idea. Based on how vibrant his colors are, and how pristine his fins are I just assumed a unique wild trout. Thanks for the info!

 

[Swattie87]

I wouldn't for sure say that's not a wild fish. I mean, it's probably stocked, but you can never be fully certain especially on big, decent looking fish that are colored up like that.

Some of those funky looking blotchy strain fish have probably successfully reproduced in the wild at times, and to a minimal degree may have some genetic influence in the wild Brown populations in PA.

 

[PSUturf91]

All great info! Thank you! Either way its one of the prettiest browns I have ever caught and he put up one heck of a fight. Considering getting a repro done!

 

[HopBack]

Looks like a typical stocked trout to me. The fins are in better shape than most stockies but they are still look pretty round. A wild fish of that size should have some paddles and the head looks like it belongs on a 20 + inch fish.

 

[PSUturf91]

Are you saying the head looks too big, or too small for the body? This fish was 18.5 inches.

 

[troutbert]

Regarding the markings. Brown trout's original range was the UK, the majority of Europe, parts of Asia, and even north Africa (Morocco).

This a vast territory. They are all the same species, but their markings and coloration varied greatly in different places.

Various strains were imported into the US, and you can see quite a bit of variation in brown trout here, in both wild and hatchery browns.

If you Google "brown trout" and look at the images, you'll see a lot of variation.

By the appearance of the fins, I think it is a hatchery trout.

 

[PSUturf91]

What are the tell tail signs I should be looking for in the fins to decipher a wild trout from a hatchery trout?

 

[McSneek]

That is a cool looking fish and one I would be happy to catch but I would also say it was stocked. The fins and tail lack the translucency and size you would typically see on a fish that size. There's just something about how it's proportioned too that doesn't look natural. It's 18.5" long but sort of looks "stubby" to me - like the back half of the body isn't proportionate to the front half. Also, that spot pattern just looks like a stocked strain. Still - cool colors and a nice fish. What did you get him on?

 

[PSUturf91]

This picture gives a better representation of the fins. What is the difference between these fins, and what you would expect to see on a wild fish?

 

[raftman]

Nice fish!

 

[geebee]

don't shoot me, but I think that's not a pure brown. I think that's a tiger.

looking at the vermiculations on its dorsal and the spot pattern I think its a stocked tiger.

the original donor fish for those stockies, would have been a Loch Leven brown, rather than a German one.

cheers

GB

 

[PSUturf91]

The consensus on a different forum has been tiger trout as well.

 

[bigslackwater]

Really? That's a stocked brown all the way in my opinion. A very nice one, but the larger ones typically do look more wild or at least different than your average 12" stocked brown.

 

[foxtrapper1972]

Looks like a stocked holdover Brown Trout to me. I wouldn't say it's a tiger.Although there are quite a few tigers being stocked in Elk/Pine recently. I've caught and seen several that had similar markings but were not as colored up. Someone else recently posted a pic of one on this forum somewhere.

 

[HopBack]

I really don't think its a tiger trout. Google tiger trout images and you will find that they have vermiculation's that closely match brook trout and no spots. It looks like a lot of the PFBC stocked browns that I see. There have been a couple of pictures of beautiful stocked browns with the digital spot pattern posted on here from Clarks creek but I can't locate them.