Wild/stocked/fingerling?

[phiendWMD]

http://i.imgur.com/klIh2qx.jpg

It's colors and fins look wild to me. Just for some reason I don't it's a wild fish. Usually I can just let it go and be happy I caught something but this fish has has me wondering for a few days now.

 

[csoult]

No way to tell if it was a stocked fingerling unless they clipped the fin.

 

[wildtrout2]

That looks like a wild brown to me.

 

[troutbert]

Is the stream stocked with fingerlings? Is it stocked by the PFBC or coop hatchery?

Or is it an unstocked stream? Does it flow into a stream that is stocked with fingerlings or other trout?

These are relevant questions in the stocked/wild/fingerling inquiries. A photo is one part of the puzzle, but not the only one.

 

[pcray1231]

Fingerlings, by appearance, are often tweeners. FWIW, every physical marker I know of points towards this one being wild. Perfect translucent fins, very pronounced eye spot, red adipose, red spots as opposed to orange, non-distended anus, etc.

That's not to say a fingerling couldn't screw me up, and as troutbert says, location is an important consideration.

1. If a source of wild browns is obvious and a source of fingerling stocked browns is not, I'd call it a wild brown without blinking.

2. If wild browns are rather rare and fingerlings relatively common in this location, I'd still say it's likely to be one of the wild ones, but I'd be far from sure of myself.

3. If both are common in this location, I'd be a strong lean towards wild, but not 100% sure.

I'm thinking the body shape is probably what has you questioning. It's a rather fat fish with a small head; football shaped. While that's common on stockers, the CAUSE is growth rate. This is a youngish fish that grew fairly fast. But that occurs in wild fish as well, if the stream and their specific holding spot offers enough food to do so.

 

[Maurice]

Wild.

 

[phiendWMD]

Ok here is some additional info. It was caught in the Little Schuylkill, which is on the natural reproduction list. It is heavily stocked by the state and TU.

I am not sure about fingerlings. Some people have told me they are stocked, but the PBFC doesn't list it here http://www.fishandboat.com/stock_fingerling.htm The 2014 page won't load so it's kind of an educated guess that since it isn't listed in 2013 or 2015, that 2014 was left out.
Just to make things fun though, http://www.paflyfish.com/forums/Open-Forums/Paflyfish-General-Forum/Fingerling-stocking/2,4742,compact.html it seems like the PBFC improvises sometimes.

So yeah, that should help narrow it down haha... it could be anything.

 

[Mike]

WILD

 

[Chaz]

Little Schuylkill is stocked, I don't know of any fingerling stockings. Clubs do stock it, because the pectoral fin looks questionable, I'm calling it stocked. But it could be wild. I guess the next question though is what section? It matters.

 

[greenghost]

Weird pec fin. Looks like someone took a torch to it.

 

[PennKev]

greenghost wrote:
Weird pec fin. Looks like someone took a torch to it.

Its sticking out towards the camera.

 

[Oregon_Owl]

I would pay attention to response #8 in this thread.

Looks wild to me.

 

[Mike]

That is how pectoral fins are supposed to look. Fish can adjust their positioning.

 

[Maurice]

I'd put that fish at 10"-11" in its second year(18mos old, still some remnants of parr marks). So if a fingerling stocked it would have to have been stocked in the fall.

The pelvic fins are translucent, you can see the finger through them. Tats a dead giveaway that the fish has been out of a hatchery for over 6 mos for the opacity from feed to go away. usually longer.

Also the red spots are so red and sharp that would be unlikely in a hatchery to fingerling setting then in the wild for only six months.

So in this case its the size, red spots and the clear fin that convinced me.

Note the absense of the irridescent eye spot. Could be a camera angle issue or perhaps only on the other side of the fish...I dunno but I still stick with wild. Its definitely been in the water from a very young age. (fry stage).

 

[phiendWMD]

Maurice the eye spot is I think what is really throwing me off. Its so black and well defined. I'd typically describe it as blue and hazy. The picture makes it seems more pronounced than I remember it being, but as you can tell the light wasn't the best.

Chaz, somewhere above the mouth of Panther Creek.

 

[evw659]

If that's not a wild brown, I don't know what is....

 

[Chaz]

It could be a fish that moved down from the "Nursery" waters. I've never caught any wild browns up that way, in fact all I've ever caught up there are a few rainbows and brookies. I can't say either way whether is wild or stocked, but there are wild browns in Locust creek.