Browns stocked vs wild

Keppenbill

Keppenbill

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Jun 30, 2011
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I have recently started fishing a wild brown stream I have not fished for years mainly 6-10 inch fish on a regular basis. Now here is what confuses me, yesterday evening I was at one of my normal spots and there were no rises no activity at when at this time there always is so I make a few casts no takers then on my third cast a 20 inch slab of a brown takes it and starts going crazy. So my question is the jump from the 6-10 inch fish to this monster is it also wild it has the same markings as the smaller fish it just threw me off what is normal on this stream for me.
 
Keppen,
Congrats on the big fish! For what it's worth.....I'd suggest you not over analyze this but rather consider it one of the great surprises that make FFing so much fun and a sport that never gets boring.

To answer your question (or what I think your question is): this is really pretty common on PA wild brown trout streams. Streams that often have an abundance of typical sized wild fish, under 12" - often have a few giants that nobody knows are there. This is esp true if the stream is mid to larger sized. These big fish are often nocturnal and nobody knows they're there as they lay up under cover during the day. Sometimes in the autumn they move out from cover during daylight to spawn but many anglers don't fish that time of year. Hit that spot next year - maybe he'll be 22 inches. :)
 
On my home waters up in the less suburban areas I catch mostly small to medium sized browns, but every once in a while there's a real monster that decides to come up from the deep. Mostly these fish feed at night and on larger prey, so they don't come up for dries unless there's a major hatch, and then only in deep shade or an overcast day like today. The reason the little ones weren't rising was the big guy was there. Either it ate all the little ones or chased them out of a good lie, take your pick.
 
Yes, F/I and Chaz have it figured out about right. These few big browns are nice surprises. Unfortunately for me, when I manage to hook one, I somehow usually manage to lose him.
 
Dear rrt,

I'll agree with Chaz and F/I and yourself and say the dude got a nice surprise.

I'll also tip my hat to you for admitting you don't land all the 20 inchers you hook.

The missed ones give me a reason to come back.

Regards,

Tim Murphy :)
 
Ya i hooked one on the tully that didn't even give me a chance. This last one was a nice fight put a nice bend in my rod couldn't imagine it on my 2wt
 
The chances of tying into a big brown go up the later into the evening you go, although this year, I caught a few head scratchers; broad daylight, noon, and a 15 inch brown comes to hand after I missed him twice. Since I just returned from doing some night fishing for browns, I'll say that you've won a big part of the battle, in that you've identified where a big fish is. You can't catch big fish if they aren't there, and identifying where the big fish is increases your chances of catching it again. Take a deer hair mouse back there some evening and have some fun :)
 
Salmonoid- I have never really done any night fishing, I know many people do. I usually just call it a day when I cant see the fly or indicator anymore. I can imagine light would spook the fish. How do you effectively fish and cast at night? Just by knowing the stream really well?
 
Yes, the largest part of night fishing is knowing the stream well IMHO.
 
never tried ff at night either think a headlamp would spook them. Maybe a colored lens i though blue colored light makes them feed not sure just thought i heard it somewhere
 
More than likely wild. I have had the same thing happen to me on a few streams close to home. like the old saying goes " they don't get big by being dumb."
 
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