Wild or Stocked?

bjb27_99

bjb27_99

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I caught this brook trout last year, but never gave much thought to it being wild vs. stocked. Then I caught a similar looking brook this past weekend in another stream and it got me thinking. Is it wild or is it a stockie? I'll disclose the stream later as I'm afraid it would sway people's opinion.

 

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I recognize that fish. It's a stocked fish out of Darby creek.
 
I think the top one is wild but......
 
Looks wild to me... Sharp fins, vivid colors, and white tips.
 
Not sure how JasonS knew that, but yes, the trout did come from Darby Creek in Delaware County in April 2010. 3 or 4 casts later, I caught a similar looking brook (only slightly smaller). I haven't caught or seen any brooks in Darby Creek since then and I fish that stream very heavily throughout the year.

This past weekend I caught this wild brook in Chester County and the coloration and dots looked very similar to the Darby brooks and that's what got me thinking. I know Ithan Creek (which is a trib to Darby Creek) is documented to contain natural reproduction, but I assumed it would be wild browns. Anyone know if there's a possibility it came from Ithan?

 

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Brook A and B are the same fish.....match up the spot patterns. You caught the same fish two years in a row.

Gosh I hope it was from the same crik.

Does Darby have natural Repro? I would say off the cuff, Wild Fish.

A testament to C&R
 
Maurice wrote:
Brook A and B are the same fish.....match up the spot patterns. You caught the same fish two years in a row.

Wow! Your right! I didn't notice the first time I read this post but those fish are identical. :-o Maybe they are twins?!?! :roll:
 
I'm still saying the first two fish are stockies. Look at the anal fin, it's all jacked up. Look at the anal fin on the third fish, it's perfect. And I know fin wear is not an exact indicator, but it's something.
 
Sorry for the confusion. The pictures in my original post were of the same fish caught last year (2 different angles of the same fish).
 
Fish in question is probably a stocker given the creek you caught it in, however it likely has been in the stream since a fingerling.

All that said, had you not mentioned the stream, I probably would have voted wild. I also find it odd Jason guessed the creek and he also guessed stocker. So he is probably right.

Its a beautiful fish either way!

 
Man I have never seen a stocked trout that colorful, neat fish and I'm thinking maybe someone stocked fingerlings that found cold water to hold over somewhere?
 
Stocked or Native, I think its pretty cool that we need to have two pictures to analyze to make an educated guess. Hopefully all the trout will be like that again one day.

Isn't anyone else curios as to how the hell Jason knew that? I know some people recognize a fish they caught by some obvious markings or if the person said where they were fishing, but you came in with confidence knowing that it was a fish you knew of. Thats pretty cool.
 
This 1st fish is definitely a wild PA brookie. Great color and nice orance coloration in the dorsal fin.

The 2nd fish is a stocker from PA. He still has good color for being a stocker, but it seems like all of the stockers I catch have that gray dorsal fin.

Makes me wonder if the fish at question is a holdover. Not sure. I don't fish any streams where there would be the possibility of wild and stocked brookies in the same place.

Nice looking brookie either way!
 

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bjb27_99 wrote:
Not sure how JasonS knew that, but yes, the trout did come from Darby Creek in Delaware County in April 2010. 3 or 4 casts later, I caught a similar looking brook (only slightly smaller). I haven't caught or seen any brooks in Darby Creek since then and I fish that stream very heavily throughout the year.

This past weekend I caught this wild brook in Chester County and the coloration and dots looked very similar to the Darby brooks and that's what got me thinking. I know Ithan Creek (which is a trib to Darby Creek) is documented to contain natural reproduction, but I assumed it would be wild browns. Anyone know if there's a possibility it came from Ithan?
Yes, Ithan has a small population of wild browns. I have caught a couple of them over the years, but they are mostly small. Except for a "big" 14" wild brown I caught under that little spillway in the woods (south of Bryn Mawr Ave) down from that little concrete bridge with the railing. There are no brookie in there though. I don't think they put brookies in Darby either. That is strange for sure!
 
Hmph. Interesting. I'm not sure on either, so the following are just educated guesses and would be my first impression....

Post #1: Stocked. I'd have guessed stocked as a fingerling, though, he's pretty colored up. Unless they have some fancy new diet in the hatcheries, he's been on a natural diet for some time now. But it is rare for a wild fish in PA to have that many red spots. So to me it looks like modern stocky genetics on a wild diet.

Post #5: Wild.

That said, while I haven't fished Ithan, I have done a little research on it, and was also unaware of wild brookies. As its a trib of Darby, that makes me think its more likely both fish are of the same population. In which case, I dunno. Both could be of hatchery origins from fingerlings, or both could be wild.
 
The possibility must be considered that some brookie lover has been planting wild or stocked brook trout in the tributary and or main creek. This could result in a mixed genetic wild culture.
 
afishinado wrote:
Hey Doc,

That first pic looks like a wild brown with parr marks.

NOT a wild brown in the 1st picture.

But, how about we call this guy the wild brown with par marks?
 

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The 2 fish in the first post are te same fish, look at the red spot patterns. I haven't any idea whether they are both stocked or both wild twins. But they are virtually the same size so if they were caught a year apart they are twins from different broods.
I have no reason to believe that PFBC would stock brook trout in Darby Creek, and I don't think they would. However, the other possibility is that they were released as part of the EBTJV by a local school. The above brown is a stocked fish.
 
Stone_Fly wrote:
However, the other possibility is that they were released as part of the EBTJV by a local school.
Do you mean Trout in the Classroom? Why is the EBTJV releasing brook trout?

The above brown is a stocked fish.

The above brown is a wild fish, unmistakenly, a wild fish. It has all the indicators and no indicators of a stocked trout.
 
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