pcray1231 wrote:
Has anyone else ever heard of a "pine trout" in Pa?
Not specifically. But local names are common for subgroups of trout. I'm guessing here on where the name came from, but for instance, historically in PA there were two groups of wild brookies.
1. Permanent small stream residents that we still have.
2. Large stream residents, that when and if necessary, became migratory to oversummer in the smaller, cooler waters of tributaries.
Unfortunately the latter group is a shadow of its former self. I suspect the limestoner brookies (Big Spring, BFC, etc.) are remnants of these. But in the big freestoners like Tionesta, Oil, Brokenstraw, Kettle, 1st Fork, the other Fishing Creek, etc. they are pretty much gone, those were all excellent wild trout streams at one time.
The boom/bust flows and sedimentation due to the logging boom pretty much did them in.
But that 2nd group hung on in Pine for a long time, may still be there though not nearly as impressive in number as they once were. Could it be that your "Pine Trout" is a local name to differentiate these Pine Creek brookies from their small stream brethren, which they cohabitated the small streams with at certain times of the year?
They'd certainly look different than the small stream guys, though the difference likely had more to do with size and diet than genetics.
