Strength

[Squaretail]

A thought that always left me wondering. Maybe this boards already discussed this before I started visiting. What makes the trout from Penns and Fishing Creek (Clinton Co) so strong? The only thing I've noticed is they both have great caddis populations. Are caddis like steroids to trout? Everyone I know who's fished there has commented on their fighting abilities and stamina. Other streams have lots of insect life in them, but the trout dont fight like they do at those 2 streams.

 

[Padraic]

Those streams have good wild trout populations. It seems to me that a wild trout always fights harder than a stocked trout.

 

[Chaz]

Compared to what? I think wild trout are always stronger then stocked trout, because they live in a harsher environment and in part because of stream gradient. I find fish in steeper gradients among wild populations have more fight then fish laying in pools all day.
In the real world size matters, even though wild trout may not get as long as stocked fish they are generally fatter then stocked fish of the same length. Of course this is very subjective.

 

[Wulff-Man]

I agree, there's no doubt wild trout fight much better than stocked trout. That's a lot of the reason that they are preferrable to fishing for stocked trout, in addition to the aesthetics.

 

[jayL]

I've found the trout in the tulpehocken, also a caddis stream, to fight much harder than other fish.

 

[Wulff-Man]

That might be because, up until last year, only fingerlings were stocked in the Tully, so the adults have been holding over for years and are becoming "wilder."

 

[ryanh]

Maybe wild fish have something to fight for.

 

[tomgamber]

Try this..let someone hand feed you cheetos ad-nauseum for about a month, nver leaving the old recliner, then try pulling your car up the driveway with a rope. Then chase down your own high protein wild game diet for the next month and try pulling that car again. You might notice a difference.

 

[Wulff-Man]

Good one, Ryan! There may be some truth to that!

Nice analogy, Tom.

 

[Maurice]

I think Tom nailed it. Its all about protein and resistance. Think about weight lifters (minus the steroids of course). They consume lots of protein (For fish that'd be the bugs) and go through daily training programs to build muscle (for the fish that's be like going into strong currents to feed).

Where as, stocked trout have been feeding on a lower protein diet with fillers and little opportunity to move around.

When they get stocked into a stream. The first thing that shocks them (besides different water quality) is the current changes. Imagine living your whole childhood and adolescent life with no exposure to wind or resistance and then one day you are put into a wind tunnel. If you have ever helped to stock, or float stocked fish you know what I am talking about. Some fish put into even mild currents swim around dis oriented looking for refuge, some go nose striaght to the bottom and find a rock. Some even turn around and go with it. They have to adapt to the new enviromment of changing currents and feeding on their own.

My point it, some stocked fish do better at this than others and have the opportunity to change their diet while adding exercise to build muscle tissue. Others, "never get out of the lazy boy" (just like our own society)

Wild trout on the other hand, have to be in training all the time to survive and be caught to allow you to ask this question.

Thats the way I see it ...with one crooked eye.

 

[MKern]

I do find that wild trout fight harder as a whole. However, the hardest fighting trout I have ever encountered were stocked rainbows that lay in the riffles. I also have caught 18 in. fish on Fishing Creek that let me pull them to shore with as little as a few head shakes. So my theory is not food, but preference of stream habitat.

 

[Maurice]

MKern wrote:
I do find that wild trout fight harder as a whole. However, the hardest fighting trout I have ever encountered were stocked rainbows that lay in the riffles. I also have caught 18 in. fish on Fishing Creek that let me pull them to shore with as little as a few head shakes. So my theory is not food, but preference of stream habitat.

Matt,

I had a similar experience at the Gunpowder last may or June...must have been June. The sulfurs were like an #18 so yeah...June, mid june. Water was low...real low. My son and I found a nice bend with a plunge up around the dam. We caught a few smallish fish before dark and he quit. While I was putting his rod away, I decided to cast to what I thought I saw porpoise a few times in this current seam. I hooked it on the first cast and knew it was big. It went down to the bottom, 1 run to the other side. (10 ft) and then came to the surface and to me like a stick.

My theory is in a heavily pressured fishery where the fish that are large are caught numerous times, they begin to understand the drill. The less I fight the sooner I won't have to. Kind of.

But maybe I give them too much credit. Anyway, the fish was 17" the biggest I've ever caught at the Gunny. Also the least sporting fight I've had there.

Go figure.

 

[JackM]

Just as some people instinctively lose the will to live in the face of an inevitable death, so do dumb trout. Yep, that one was caught before and just figures he got lucky. He wasn't feelin' so lucky when you caught him.

 

[Squaretail]

The question wasn't wild vs stockie. Theres very little comparison.
Though mostly wild, I have caught plenty of stockies at Penns and hatchery escapees at Fishing that seem to have the same strength. Either that or they were the dullest colored wild trout ever reared in a stream and never ate one crustacean.
What I didnt know was that trout get more nutrition from insects than trout chow? I guess I always kinda figured that stuff was filled with protien and vitamins to ensure growth rate. But come to think of it, some stockies do have quite a bit of fat in them compared to wild/natives. The cheetos effect. Before you grab the torches and rope, I havent opened up a wild/native trout in well over 10 years.