Wild or stocked fish?

The chief forum moderator and self-appointed speaker of what the majority thinks has spoken.
 
anyone think this one is wild?

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What's your call on these swattie? And it's hard to see their fins but that's my 'keep them wet' policy photos 😁
Same stream / river and all came from a 5 mile stretch.


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HopBack said:
Maybe it’s because for years we didn’t have to worry about whether or not a thread would turn into a brook trout discussion. It’s not a matter of if anymore, it’s when.

Everyone has grown tired of it…. The persecution of the wild brown trout enthusiast, when will it end 🤔🤔
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Lol the persecution??? You mean the people who have gotten their way every where except Antarctica???

Did you ever think there are people who are tired of every thread being at risk if becoming a wild brown trout discussion??
 
1 and 2 and 5 look like they may have been stocked as fingerlings
3 and 4 look like recent stockers
🤷‍♂️
 
2 and 3 definitely wild.

1 and 5 probably wild. 4 too, but I have no clue with bigger Rainbows, I personally don’t see or catch enough of them to know.
 
Fish Sticks said:
Did you ever think there are people who are tired of every thread being at risk if becoming a wild brown trout discussion??
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Having been a fairly dedicated and active member on this forum for a decade now, I don't recall every thread turning into a management debate regarding wild brown trout. I recall the forum being an environment of knowledge passing on fishing tips, tricks, reports fly patterns, reviews etc. Yes, we debated management and the management of wild trout, even species specific at times, but it was definitely nothing like it is now with regards to the brook trout conversations.
 
jifigz said:
Having been a fairly dedicated and active member on this forum for a decade now, I don't recall every thread turning into a management debate regarding wild brown trout. I recall the forum being an environment of knowledge passing on fishing tips, tricks, reports fly patterns, reviews etc. Yes, we debated management and the management of wild trout, even species specific at times, but it was definitely nothing like it is now with regards to the brook trout conversations.
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I think most of us "long timers" share the sentiment. It's getting ridiculous. Any time I see a 5 page thread now, I just assume there are a few folks who took it down "that road", once again. There is a time and place for those discussions. Not every thread in the General Forum...
 
Swattie87 said:
2 and 3 definitely wild.

1 and 5 probably wild. 4 too, but I have no clue with bigger Rainbows, I personally don’t see or catch enough of them to know.
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I was thinking the same...2 & 3 definitely wild. I believe #1 was wild as well. #5 might have been a holdover. The bow is baffling. It's a clean fish and some natural reproduction has been documented on feeders to this creek....but those are miles and miles from where I've caught some of these nice looking bows.

Some stocking is done but in such small numbers, it's not really a factor. I'm starting to believe the bows have a small reproducing population in this smallmouth water.
 
silverfox said:
The chief forum moderator and self-appointed speaker of what the majority thinks has spoken.
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Read above. Appears that I am not the only one who's feeling it's a little over the top. My inbox indicates that even more. By all means, start a brookie thread and go to town in it. Unnecessary to try and make every thread a NFC pulpit. In case you haven't picked up on it, you're going to turn off more people than you'll have join the cause.
 
1 & 5 - lean wild. Could be fingerling stocked or something. #1 especially questioning, DNA looks PFBC strainish with the dense squarish black spots, and I see no eye spot. It just doesn't look right. But red on adipose, translucent tail, and good body proportions say he's been in the stream a long time. A true tweener. 5 looks wild to me but I can't see the whole fish to be confident of it. Lacks the eye spot, but still lean wild.

2 & 3 wild without much doubt.

4 lean stocked, but I suck on rainbows. I've seen dull colored wild bows a lot. Not a real great pic of fins. I think I see a distended butthole, lol, which is typical of stocked fish. And also has that small head for the body look, which typically means grew very fast, which is common in hatchery settings. That's what makes me leaned stocked. Certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was wild, though. And a location with known wild bows would probably make me lean that direction. I ain't sure either way.
 
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The rainbow is tough. I was fishing in the LL last Monday and the freshly stocked rainbows looked very good to me with good fins, some even tipped with white. It makes the wild/stocked debate harder.
 
pcray1231 said:
1 & 5 - lean wild. Could be fingerling stocked or something. #1 especially questioning, DNA looks PFBC strainish with the dense squarish black spots, and I see no eye spot. It just doesn't look right. But red on adipose, translucent tail, and good body proportions say he's been in the stream a long time. A true tweener. 5 looks wild to me but I can't see the whole fish to be confident of it. Lacks the eye spot, but still lean wild.

2 & 3 wild without much doubt.

4 lean stocked, but I suck on rainbows. I've seen dull colored wild bows a lot. Not a real great pic of fins. I think I see a distended butthole, lol, which is typical of stocked fish. And also has that small head for the body look, which typically means grew very fast, which is common in hatchery settings. That's what makes me leaned stocked. Certainly wouldn't surprise me if it was wild, though. And a location with known wild bows would probably make me lean that direction. I ain't sure either way.
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I'm unaware of any fingerling stocking on this water. Here's 2 Delaware river fish and 2 from the Lehigh. Color makeup can vary from stream to stream as you know but that rainbow looks pretty darn good if it is a stocker. And no, that is not a #12 ISO in that fishes mouth 😁. They don't eat those things

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krayfish2 said:
Read above. Appears that I am not the only one who's feeling it's a little over the top. My inbox indicates that even more. By all means, start a brookie thread and go to town in it. Unnecessary to try and make every thread a NFC pulpit. In case you haven't picked up on it, you're going to turn off more people than you'll have join the cause.
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I've found this feature to be quite helpful.
 

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