Brookie, Stockie or Wildie?

[troutbert]

Check out this photo of a big brookie. Do you think it's a stockie or a wildie?

http://www.huntingpa.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=394303#Post394303

My vote is: stockie.

 

[jayL]

I say stockie. I've caught some absolutely beautiful 15+ inch brookies, but they were all stocked.

Looks like he's held over well though. Perhaps a holdover from spring stockings? Though, this is uneducated because I've never caught a fall stocked brookie before.

 

[RLeeP]

I vote stocked fish as well.

Scrolling down the thread where the pic is found, the angler estimated the fish to be 15". While this does not totally preclude it being a wild fish from a PA waterway, it puts it a lot closer to pink unicorn territory than to the world we know...

Also, the gill flap that is showing on the fish is stunted or not fully formed or something. While I've seen this sort of thing on wild fish, it's pretty rare in my experience. On the other hand, deformities of this sort are actually pretty common in fish from the raceways.

Nice fish either way though...

 

[rrt]

I don't know; it's a lovely fish. It's colored nicely if it is a stocked fish. I hope the guy got it back in the water quickly. Anyhow, that pic motivates me to go fishing right now instead of waiting till this afternoon.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

WOW! what a wonderful fish......my head says stockie but my heart wnats to say wild. it would be interesting to know if it was caught on a limestone spring creek or in a freestoner. its hard to tell....but i guess ill listen to my head... ill say stocker. :-D

 

[Squaretail]

Stockie.

 

[tomgamber]

If being caught in June makes any difference...but I still say its a stockie...but who knows?

 

[Maurice]

Stockie, If you have ever been around brookies reared in a nursery, this time of year that is what they look like. Also notice the gill plate is not quite covering the goods. pectoral fins are leathery, red spots pale. Plus the weight to length ratio screams pelletfed.

Maurice

 

[tomgamber]

Mo, I wasn't caught recently. According to the date on the post..it was caught in June. I still think it s a stockie for all the other reasons I;m just sayin'....

 

[pete41]

My guess would be the hatchery was cleaning out some of the brood stock.
The only Brook trout that I have seen this time of year were in the west.From a pond I mention that was near my house.They were in spawning colors and full of spunk.It would be tough for Mother Nature to come up with more beautiful specimens so probably I have an unrealistic idea of what Brook trout look like but the one in the picture sure looks pen raised.Not a varied diet.

 

[pete41]

Dang Tom-nailed me again-lol
I thought it was just caught.
Still say its a brood fish that was past its prime.

 

[JackM]

I think it is a stocked brook trout, though I think it was in the stream for a year or more. It does have some very distinct blue halos, however.

 

[Maurice]

The stubby caudal with rounded edges tells me it was a new stockie....FWIW.

As for it being caught in the springtime, Headwater nurseries with consistant temps can grow brookies inthe 15-16 " range easily. We see it every year from one club in our area, but on the less consistant water temperature stream sections, it takes another 4-5 months to get that big. (fall)

 

[Squaretail]

Well said about the gill plate Maurice. I never really discussed that with anyone before but have noticed that on many stocked brookies, though not on all of them. Never once have I noticed that on a native brook.

 

[Chaz]

The fins are just too beat up for a wild fish, my vote is stockie. I've seen gill plates that are short on wild brookies, sometimes it's genetics sometimes it's pollution, but this is clearly a stocked fish.

 

[Mark_Griffin]

He says it was caught just a couple days ago, so it's probably a fresh fall stocker. This is a fresh fall stocker I got a few years ago that's pretty much the exact same size and colors.

 

[Maurice]

Mark_Griffin wrote:
He says it was caught just a couple days ago, so it's probably a fresh fall stocker. This is a fresh fall stocker I got a few years ago that's pretty much the exact same size and colors.

Mark,

Spank!, Tom already mentioned that the post was from April.

The tail on your trout is sharply cut on the corners...not saying its wild, but in good shape. I agree with the weight and shape though. Nice pic.

Maurice

 

[Fishidiot]

Stockie

 

[Mark_Griffin]

Maurice, here's the date he started the thread.

He said it was caught that evening, so it was just caught on Saturday.

 

[tomgamber]

You are correct sir...after revisiting the original post I was incorrectly using his "registered on" date rather than the post date...my bad!

I stil think its probably a stockie, but a holdover would further explain the nice coloration.