Quote Originally Posted by cycler68 View Post
I've had a terrible time trying to catch stocker trout after that first two weeks when they are all bunched up and hitting almost anything. But then yesterday I caught a couple near some wood on a 1/80th oz. jig fished under a strike indicator. I'm just wondering if after they disperse they start relating to structure somewhat like bass or do they still just mainly just cruise around looking for something to eat.
My experience in TN is that they eventually disperse. The longer they are in the river, the more they start acting like natural born wild trout. However in TN many of them are harvested so we see the same stocked cycle (and behavior) over and over. Occasionally you catch a RB that has been there for a while, gained real river colors and some weight. I have had good luck with a homemade Woolly Bugger which uses Sulky Holoshimmer (from Joanns) excusively in the tail on these stockers in TN.