Little Juniata, Huntingdon County 9-15-13

[IneFishent]

Fished from about 7am to 11:30am. Started where Spruce flows in and worked my way downstream about a mile. Caught 3 football shaped rainbows 16-18" and 2 smaller browns. Saw another gentleman doing pretty well with a spinner also. Water was clear, no water temp but my car said about 39 degrees when I parked and 67 when I left.

Just outta curiousity, would the rainbows be fingerling stocked or does Spring Ridge stock bigger fish for it's clients? I think I noticed a clipped fin on one of them as well.

 

[albatross]

Rainbows are reproducing in the little J now, but I suspect the spring ridge club also stocks some for their clients.

 

[IneFishent]

As much as I'd like to think the bows I caught were in the stream for awhile, they looked stocked. They did have a lot of fight in them though so maybe I'm mistaken. Nice, thick fish either way.

 

[Maurice]

What makes you think they were stocked? Were the fins ragged or deformed? Just curious

 

[krayfish]

Naturally reproducing? Nice. I thought most were from the club waters on spruce and either swam or were washed downstream.

 

[albud1962]

yes I have caught many rainbows in the Little J of various sizes, obviously there is some reproduction going on. Some areas are better than others but the rainbows are there.

 

[IneFishent]

Maurice, I haven't fished the little J enough to really know what it should fish like but the rainbows I caught were all close in size with a clipped fin. I also noticed that spring ridge had signs up marking boundaries for a fly fishing tournament. I thought maybe they stocked to supplement the area for that. Not trying to start something by saying they were stockies, just seemed "fishy" 😉

 

[nymphingmaniac]

inefishnet,
Your comment about clipped fins caught my eye. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought fin clippings were something PFBC did to monitor fish origin. I would think that a private hatchery wouldn't bother doing so. Is this assumption incorrect? Clipping fins is time consuming and could lead to lost fish die to infection. Accepting these two assumptions, one might think whoever stocked them bought them from PFBC? Would they sell fish to a private entity, especially one that has been accused of stocking over wild fish?
I'm not challenging you on this. I just want to know what's going on in the J and if clipped fish are being stocked, it might be worth investigating their origin.

 

[albud1962]

I have purchased fish from hatcheries before and I know several operators. Typically they would tag fish if requested for a few dollars per fish. I don't recall them clipping fins, but it is possible.

 

[IneFishent]

I guess I will just have to go back and catch some more for a.better examination 🙂

 

[LetortAngler]

If you look at the little Js Biologist Report for 2010 by the PFBC, it states that they clipped the fins of the fingerling browns that they stocked. All the rainbows are from Spruce both wild and stocked

 

[Ebrant10]

Im surprised the Beaver didnt pop out of the bushes and give you a bill for catching his "trophy trout"

 

[IneFishent]

His minions were patrolling in their side by side atv. I especially like the signs warning of video cameras. The LJ is the only place near state college I've fished since moving to Cambria County in the spring. I hope to learn some more places before next year. Picked up Landis's book off ebay last night to help me decide where else to try.

 

[csoult]

Hard to beat the j

 

[TDB]

Good report. Love the J. They stocked about 200 fresh bows in August for a Casting for Recovery event. Not sure how they are allowed to continue this, but they did it. I don't think it has much, if any, impact on the wild brown population, but it could..

Thanks for sharing - we are catching more bows from top to bottom this year than any other year....

 

[IneFishent]

TDB-
Thanks for the info. That makes sense since I was fishing the area that had signs on the bank for the event. I did catch one rainbow that looked like it had been in the river for awhile, the others, not so much.

 

[gutcutter]

Wild LittleJ Rainbow (6")

Wild Little J Brown (5")