wild or stocked

[daman1277]

Ok guys when talking to other people about flies I hear that this will do good for stocked trout or that will do good for wilds. When buying or tying flies what is about a fly that makes it better for 1 over the other. I know stockies like bright stuff that like plops in from the surface cause of being fed in the hatchery. But there has to be more then that. I also know that natural looking things will do well for wilds. But really is that it, what is the discerning factor here?

 

[Fishidiot]

You do indeed hear the "good for stocked/wild trout" claim with regards to different fly patterns. However, I'd suggest that you not put too much stock in these claims. There's simply too much variation in trout fishing here in PA to allow very firm claims for this sort of thing. Perhaps a better way of looking at this is to use "pressured vs unpressured" rather than wild vs stocked. In the case of pressured fish I tend to be much more careful about fly selection as pressured fish - whether stocked or wild - for obvious reasons tend to be more selective.

 

[MKern]

I aggree with the pressured and unpressured thing.

There are way too many factors in catching fish.

I will say this, my personal oppinion is to have the most realistic but yet durable pattern. This should be in balance, as close to 50/50 as possible. However, maybe a 10-15% leaway to one side or the other is still okay.

Think of it like this...if you were getting skunked would you do what ever it takes to catch a fish (change tippet/leader, change flies, weight, etc.)? That means the fly (or tippet or time) is less valuable than the experience of catching a fish. Well, whats the difference between fish number 1 of the day and fish 10, or 20? They are all special and if it means sacrificing a fly to catch it oh well.
(or if not just 1 fish to break the skunking, but a trophy fish)

 

[crs5942]

I do believe that at times the wild fish seek out something entirely different, but this changes from day to day. As an example, I was fishing a stream last year and was catching several stocked fish using a wooly bugger. I switced over to a brook trout streamer and caught only wild brook trout on the streamer. The stocked fish wanted the bugger and the wild fish wanted the streamer. Both flies were about the same size as well.

 

[shademt]

for what its worth. I have always felt that stocked fish become no different from wild, once they are in a stream long enough to forget the hatchery form of feeding. A trout becomes familiar with its regular diet. regardless of whether its in the form of a hatchery pellet, or a caddis fly, stonefly nymph, minnow ect. that being said trout are opportunist as well, feeding on the occasional grasshopper ect. newly stocked trout seem to pounce on things that just look like something to eat...whether it be a bright attractor fly, a kernel of corn, a glob of that smelly power bait ect... whereas streambred trout seem to recognize their natural everyday food. I personally don't think fly fishing is the rocket science we make it out to be....As i mention trout are opportunist...they need to eat to survive. Streambred and holdover trout are different from newly stocked trout. their accustomed diet is different....the way they co-inhabit with other fish is different... their feeding schedule ect... keeping those things in mind helps to determine your fishing methods, presentation ect.

 

[Leteras]

If you fish with a stick of dinamite you don't have to worry about stocked, wild, pressured or unpressured fish. You will get them all. On a side note dinamite makes catch and release a bit tricky. Lol