Oh yea, the Triploids. We have a number of them planted in our lakes here in Washington. In some lakes they introduce them to keep the wild Brookie population from getting too large and over populating. Nothing like fishing for wild 9 or 11 inch Brookies and hooking up on a 20 inch triploid. Truth be told, I still enjoy the fight of the Brookies over the Trips.
Larry ---sagefisher---
I didn't assume anything. I just related what I know from my personal hands-on experience in handling hatchery troutQuote:
Originally Posted by Silver Creek
Let me add to this, if I may - over this way in the Smoky Mtns, those 9/11 inch Brooks are the very best eaters! A couple of us like to hike back in a ways off the beaten path, to a sort off hide-away place where there's a pristine little stream; and tote along a little back pack that has a frying pan, some salt & pepper and a little plastic container of a mixture of olive oil/melted butter. Come lunch time, build a little fire stream side, fry up and enjoy some of the morning's catch. Now for me, you'll have to go some to beat this kind of an outing.Quote:
Originally Posted by sagefisher
I've caught adult, wild trout which were total pushovers- for instance hitting a big stimulator during a BWO hatch, and I've fished for hatchery trout which were selective and difficult... and all variations in between. It is impossible to just compartmentalize "wild" vs hatchery trout.
Truth be told, trout are way over rated anyhow. I like to fish for them and have all my life (as long as they were where I lived...) but I think the religious fanaticism some folks have for trout is silly.
I think the largest factor is how often a given water is fished. Wild does not make a fish more selective in feeding or harder to catch. More often than not, I have found it to be the exact opposite.
I practice C&R for the most part, but only when the water needs it, or I have no desire to eat the particular fish I am catching. Not because I think it's ethicaly wrong to kill and eat them.
Don't you have to believe the first fly fisherman to assembly a rod and tie on a homemade fly and present it to that native trout that had never seen an artificial fly before was fishing to one of the easiest trout there every was? I primarily fish a 20 mile plus second of a the Chattahoochee River, a tailwater coming out of Lake Lanier. The first 8 miles is bordered by Forsyth on the west and Gwinnett on the east. The population of Forsyth in 2012 was right at 188,000, Gwinnett had 859,000 people in 2013. South of Forsyth is Fulton County just over 984,000 residents. That a tad over 2 million residents These counties cover the entire trout laden section of the tailwater for year around fishing. A trout here sees a hook or two during their lifetime and as Jimmy Houston said the biggest factor keeping little fish from becoming big fish is hot grease. Although, every trout in the river was originally stocked or came from stocked fish, a careless trout will end up in someone's hot oil.
It's the old argument of environment or genetics. Both seem to play a factor here as in other place in life.
Here is an example of how a small change in genetic expression can have a relatively profound effect on function and appearance.
"Kingsley is known for his studies of the evolution of a tiny fish called the threespine stickleback. The stickleback adapts quickly to changes in its environment. It becomes darker in murky lakes, and develops modified spine, fin and armor structures in response to different types of predators. Kingsley's research has shown that these adaptive changes are often driven by changes in the regulatory regions that surround and control gene expression, rather than within the coding regions of the genes themselves."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-sci053014.php
Who cares? They're just trout....
*ducking and grabbing some dry ranch mix to put on the buttered popcorn*
Quote:
Originally Posted by quivira kid
I do ....
(while sitting back with my feet propped up on the little computer desk)
Very much so. Plus hatchery fish are a lot easier to catch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver Creek
I avoid fishing hatchery streams for that reason. No challenge.
The river that I guide on receives 25 to 30 thousand brown trout a year from hatcheries. Right now - not much of a challenge but I invite you to come in August - no charge - provided I get to document your outing and post it here;)Quote:
Originally Posted by joekrz
So you want to document all of the fish I will catch? :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tig;500108...