wild vs native trout

[kevin07]

This is a dumb newb question but is the brookie the only native trout to pa? Or are all trout just wild and not native in Pa

 

[Swattie87]

Brookies are the only stream trout native to PA. Lake Trout technically are native to Lake Erie and maybe a couple other northern tier county lakes.

Browns and Bows are not native to the area, but have established wild populations through stocking. Long story short...Browns and Bows can be wild, but not native. In the case of Brookies, the terms wild and native are essentially interchangeable when discussing wild fish.

Same Kevin07 from PAAnglers? If so, good to see ya.

 

[kevin07]

thanks thats what i was looking for.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

There are piles of brookies that have been stocked and have established wild populations too. In my opinion thats were alot of wild brookies have came from.

 

[Gorosaurus]

I agree. True native populations are probably rarer than you'd think reading this board.

 

[Swattie87]

Paco and Goro are correct in that regard...most of our wild Brookies probably have at least some stockie in them from somewhere down the line and a truly "native" or "heritage" strain fish would be quite rare.

From a practical, working definition perspective though, Brookies are the only stream trout "native" to the area, hence why they're often called that.

 

[pcray1231]

Regarding heritage, there is some debate as to how common and "pure" heritage strains may be. But when you get into this strain debate, you are forced to define how pure a "strain" must be to call it a separate "strain." Even evolutionary biologists don't necessarily agree on that definition.

So determining wild vs. native strains is going to result in a lot of disagreement. Thus, we revert to something we can all agree on. And that something is that the overall species, brook trout, is indeed native to the area.

For browns and bows, we have a mix of different strains in different streams as well. But the species themselves aren't native, so regardless of the strains, "wild" is the best descriptor.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I agree......

 

[mike_richardson]

If we get really technical isn't a brookie actually a char so there are no true native trout in PA.

 

[Swattie87]

^Yes...was waiting for that one.

And Lakers technically are char too. There really is no "keep it simple" when it comes to this debate!

 

[mike_richardson]

LOL i only wanted to be a smart alec because i got crushed on here for saying native brown. So i thought i would crush some one for saying native brook trout. LOL

Common misconceptions I will still say native brown. Technically native americans travled a land bridge also so there are no tru native americans. LOL

Making my head hurt. cant wait to tie some flies at lunch