Why this mind set...???

[WarrenP]

If a trout is raised on pellets in the hatchery until it is 8 inches long and then released into a river and a year later that trout is 13 inches long it is still considered "just a hatchery trout" looked down on by some fly fishers. Why? It grew 5 inches by eating from the river just like other trout. To assume that it cannot be "wild" would be the same thing as telling others that a wolf raised on a bottle by humans and then released into the wild is no longer a wolf but a pet. The trout and the wolf will become wild and elusive and given time will reproduce.

With the humans ruining the water everywhere, finding "wild" trout is about as hard as finding something 100% "American Made"!

I guess I am just tired of reading how some fly fishers look down on other fly fishers because they are just catching hatchery fish instead of "wild" fish. They make it sound like you are fishing in a fish tank.

Now go ahead and "jump" on me for posting this. It is just my feelings only and do not expect me to respond to your "thumping". I do not play those games.

My opinions only and nothing more.

[Jed]

Warren,
you said
"To assume that it cannot be "wild" would be the same thing as telling others that a wolf raised on a bottle by humans and then released into the wild is no longer a wolf but a pet."

I think that it is true that a wolf that has been raised by people is never totally wild. They tend to be less afraid of people, more willing to move into civilization and therefore they remain different. I think that with trout it is probably much the same. Hatchery raised trout do adapt and change, but that is not the same as born and raised.

Great story, a man was born in Vermont and moved to Martha's Vineyard when he was a young child. He lived there all his life and died at the ae of 84. In his obituary it read "John Doe, an off islander died...." Its true for us as well.

I don't think that people can really tell if a fish who has lived for several years in the wild is actually a hatchery raised fish or not, or at least I cannot tell. Those initial years living in constant fear for their lives must make some difference in the fish and must have some effect on the total population's gene pool.

As for looking down on hatchery fish, I have found hatchery fish when relatively freshly released do not fight as well and are generally less hardy.

Hope this helps.

jed

[gutbomb]

The great thing about hatchery trout is that you can glue a coffee bean to a hook and slay em if they were stocked recently. Does that qualify as bait?

[Avalon]

Dear Warren,

Speaking only about Pennsylvania waters it's well known that stocked trout have a horrible survival rate. It's rare for one to last through the season. The occasional fish gets by, but most are either caught and eaten, or they die during the summer because they lack the survival skills necessary to find thermal refuge.

I think a lot of people who catch late season fish or who catch early season fish need to examine those fish a little more closely particularly if you creel them. Quite often that brightly colored fall fish or plump early season fish is in fact a wild stream-bred fish.

I have nothing against the harvest of the occasional trout but I wish more people were able to distinguish between stocked and wild fish and took the time to carefully release the wild fish.

The stream closest to me has reproducting brook and brown trout that get hauled out each Spring once harvest is permitted. A quick glance at the stringers of anglers makes it easy to spot the wild ones from the ones that came from trucks.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I'd like to see the wild ones let go so they could continue to populate the stream.

Nothing beats a stream bred trout, and there could be far more of them if people knew more about them. I don't mean to sound snobby or high and mighty, but that is just the way I see things in my home State.

Best Wishes,
Avalon

[Jerry]

I use to fish Crane creek in SW Missouri. Why I haven't lately I will say later.
Over 100 years ago a train wreck occured in the small town of Crane. The train was hauling (among other things) trout from the McLoud river in California to someplace back east for stocking. Rather than letting the fish die they threw them in to a small spring fed creek near the tracks....the trout survived. I have seen fish in the creek as big as my leg. The fish I have caught from the creek are the prettiest trout I have ever seen, brightly colored and just gorgous. Crane creek and its fish are closely guarded by the Missouri Dept of Conservation, it is strictly C&R.
Three years ago a drought caused the creek to go dry...compelely dry, weeds were growing in the stream bed. Folks I have talked to about it say the fish probably went up the tribs (Biot Midge and others in the chat room).
A year later the creek did have water in it but very little. I was there just a few weeks ago...the creek was almost dry again...pools here and there but no running water.
I don't know if I will ever be able to fish the creek again or if the fish will ever come back...time will tell.
To answer your post....the trout that were once in Crane creek were wild fish...many generations of survival.

[Bluegill222]

Yep, there's a difference, for the reasons the folks above have described. As for looking down on the hatchery fish, any fish that eats my fly and offers me the joy of the fight and the beauty of the catch is a gift, and I never look a gift fish in the mouth, no matter what species the fish is or what it's origins might have been.

[biot midge]

One big difference in the wild trout in Crane Creek and the hatchery trout in Taneycomo is, that the Taneycomo fish will congregate at your feet and even bump your feet to try to get you to move them and stir up the gravel. Try getting that close to one of the Crane Creek fish! Oh yea, as Jerry stated the Crane Creek fish are the most colorful rainbows that I have seen.
Steve

[Buddy Sanders]

As far as 'creeling' fish goes.

In any 'stocked' water that has regulations that allow taking fish for the table, I always try to release all the fish I catch. I want someone else to be able to catch these fish before they get eaten.

However, if I want to 'eat' a trout, I will kill and eat ONLY wild trout fairly caught. To ensure this, I only fish for trout to eat in streams that have only wild fish in them.

They taste better. They mean more to me. Since it is allowed by the governing agency, I see no harm.

AND, they really do taste fantastic. A wild brown or brook trout, properly prepared, is an epicuian delight that few mortals will EVER have the chance to savor.

Just another way to look at this.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[Joe Valencic]

As I don't care for the taste or texture of trout (wild or hatchery), so they are all safe from my creel. But them bluegills better watch out! Don't get no better than a mess of gills in the grease with a side of hush puppies. Mmmmmmmmm...

Joe

[ohiotuber]

Joe V,
I'm with you on the gills...personally, I never have eaten a trout in my life, & as long as there are gills, I don't intend to!
Mike