Holdover Trout

[Chaz]

Definition: A holdover trout is a trout that is stocked and lives in a stream for over a year beyond the original stocking. I would go even further by saying it spawns at least once, but that isn't included in PFBC definition.
All of the surveys that are conducted show that stocked trout only holdover in very tightly defined circumstances. Since nature plays the biggest role in these conditions nature determines how many trout will holdover. Fins take years to grow back after the torment they are exposed to in the hatchery environment, even on wild fish you can count on fins taking a long time to grow back. I have personally witnessed this on a couple of surveys myself. Fins just don't grow back in a year or even 2 years even in the most fertile streams.
As for fingerlings, surveys show that about 1 in 1000 fish survives fingerling stockings, unless conditions are ideal, this is apparently the contributing factor in why fingerling stockings in the Tully were halted. It is also why no matter where fingerlings are stocked in such high numbers.

 

[LehighRegular]

Chaz

As for fingerling survival, I believe a survivial rate of 5-10 percent is considered GOOD.

What is considered the typical survial rate for wild YOY trout?

 

[afishinado]

Chaz,

With regard to fingerlings, and specifically in the Tully – fingerling stocking was curtailed because more raceways were needed at the hatchery to hold some trout longer to increase the average size of stocked fish. That’s according to Mike, the biologist from the PFBC for the SE region. I can assure you that the fingerling survival at the Tully was very high based on the catch rate by many fishermen. That may not be true for all waters, but it is for the Tully. In addition, the Little J is a good example of a river that has success with fingerling stocking.

Fingerling stocking allows the PFBC to stock more fish at a lower cost in waters with little or no natural reproduction. The fish have a chance to become more evenly distributed in the stream, have more fight, and more color. Not wild trout, but a better option than just stocking adult trout.

 

[Chaz]

For an egg to adult Ibelieve the rate is about 1 in 1000. Seldom do wild trout produce 1000 eggs in a year, that's one reason why it is so hard for trout to come back after a natural disater such as a flood. Some populations get nearly wiped out by flood events, so it takes a while for the population to recover. But if under typical conditions, if you have 1000 fish and they produce 100 eggs each, which is conservative, it would be enough to sustain a population. On the other hand stocking the same number of fingerlings will not, that is why they have to keep stocking them. I'm not against stocking fingerlings, I would be conservative as to where I did it, and I would want to use fingerlings from wild fish to jump start a population as in the case of Driftwood branch for instance.