Where are the brown trout?

[Royal Coachman]

I for one get bored catching the same 10.5 inch Rainbows all day long. I'de like to see a return of the Brookies and Browns but it doesn't look like that is likely to happen anytime soon.

[Billfish715]

Originally Posted by Royal Coachman

I for one get bored catching the same 10.5 inch Rainbows all day long. I'de like to see a return of the Brookies and Browns but it doesn't look like that is likely to happen anytime soon.

Welcome to the NJFishing.com family. If you are joining us from another .com you will find the discussions here, both lively and informative. If you are solely a trout fisherman, your comments will be appreciated as well as anyone else's. There are, perhaps, more fly fishermen on this board than people may imagine, so please join in the conversation and feel free to start your own threads and be sure to encourage your friends to do the same.

As for the 10.5 inch rainbows..........you may be too young to remember when a 10.5-11 inch rainbow trout was almost a trophy in N.J. As a kid, a stringer of 9" skinny brook trout was something to be proud of. NJ trout production has improved by leaps and bounds except for the ability to control some pathogens. I would love to catch state-raised browns and brookies again soon. I understand the Division's caution to prevent the spread of disease, but it's time to get back to raising other trout besides just rainbows.

[Billfish715]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

Rainbows are no more or less costly to rear than the other 2 species. They're simply far more resistant to many pathogens that brooks, and to a bit lesser degree browns, are susceptible to. One of the few exceptions to this is 'whirling disease' which seems to primarily effect rainbows.

As far as PA not having issue, actually they have Furunculosis outbreaks at many of their hatcheries every year. They treat and stock the fish with little regard for the potential impacts on either existing wild pops or other species since furunculosis is not just a salmonid disease. There have been many outbreaks in other states that involved everything from smallmouth to sunnies.

And yet, we never hear about any drastic affects to stocking furunculosis riddled brown trout into Pa's waters. With all of the diseased brooks and browns that NJ unloaded into many non trout production waters, there has been no report,of which I am aware, of the effects of those infected trout on other fish species within those waters.

Let's just keep dumping thousands of rainbows into all of the streams and hope they don't affect the existing "native" browns and brookies. With all of those rainbows being stocked, shouldn't they present incredible competition with the other two naturally producing species? Shouldn't they be the ones, by now, that are naturally spawning and reproducing on a wider scale? I'm waiting for someone to be "salmonidically correct" and demand sections of streams to be protected for wild rainbow trout production just like the ones for brooks and browns. If browns and brookies are the ones that naturally reproduce in the streams, then start stocking them again and cut back on the rainbows.

[thmyorke1]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

And yet, we never hear about any drastic affects to stocking furunculosis riddled brown trout into Pa's waters. With all of the diseased brooks and browns that NJ unloaded into many non trout production waters, there has been no report,of which I am aware, of the effects of those infected trout on other fish species within those waters.

Let's just keep dumping thousands of rainbows into all of the streams and hope they don't affect the existing "native" browns and brookies. With all of those rainbows being stocked, shouldn't they present incredible competition with the other two naturally producing species? Shouldn't they be the ones, by now, that are naturally spawning and reproducing on a wider scale? I'm waiting for someone to be "salmonidically correct" and demand sections of streams to be protected for wild rainbow trout production just like the ones for brooks and browns. If browns and brookies are the ones that naturally reproduce in the streams, then start stocking them again and cut back on the rainbows.

I think the majority of wild populations arent in the same stretches as stocked trout. Maybe if the stocking points were lowered downstream, maybe some wild populations could have the chance of extending downstream too?

Browns and Brooks are just better at holding over and reproducing than rainbows for NJ's waters
(from my knowledge: Every stream that has wild rainbows also has the other two trout species, but never the other way around where it's exclusively rainbows.)
So just because there are now more rainbows being stocked doesnt necessarily mean there's going to be new streams supporting rainbow populations.

I am a bit in favor of that idea of stocking less where wild browns/brooks are. Some downstream sections of WTS do receive stockings, where I think wild trout could be swimming around fine instead.

[Drossi]

Originally Posted by thmyorke1

I think the majority of wild populations arent in the same stretches as stocked trout. Maybe if the stocking points were lowered downstream, maybe some wild populations could have the chance of extending downstream too?

Browns and Brooks are just better at holding over and reproducing than rainbows for NJ's waters
(from my knowledge: Every stream that has wild rainbows also has the other two trout species, but never the other way around where it's exclusively rainbows.)
So just because there are now more rainbows being stocked doesnt necessarily mean there's going to be new streams supporting rainbow populations.

I am a bit in favor of that idea of stocking less where wild browns/brooks are. Some downstream sections of WTS do receive stockings, where I think wild trout could be swimming around fine instead.

I think it has something to do with the Ph composition in NJ streams. The Ph is good for brown/brookie reproduction but not optimal for rainbows except for a few select streams.

[Skunk City]

But where did all those trout go? They stocked a ton in the Passaic and Hackensack that year as well. We caught some in the weeks after but never saw any again.

[fishingbuddies]

Pike food.

[Royal Coachman]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

Welcome to the NJFishing.com family. If you are joining us from another .com you will find the discussions here, both lively and informative. If you are solely a trout fisherman, your comments will be appreciated as well as anyone else's. There are, perhaps, more fly fishermen on this board than people may imagine, so please join in the conversation and feel free to start your own threads and be sure to encourage your friends to do the same.

As for the 10.5 inch rainbows..........you may be too young to remember when a 10.5-11 inch rainbow trout was almost a trophy in N.J. As a kid, a stringer of 9" skinny brook trout was something to be proud of. NJ trout production has improved by leaps and bounds except for the ability to control some pathogens. I would love to catch state-raised browns and brookies again soon. I understand the Division's caution to prevent the spread of disease, but it's time to get back to raising other trout besides just rainbows.

Thanks for the welcome. I've lurked on the site for many years, especially the saltwater message board. I'm a refugee from another message board that closed down recently.

I've been trout fishing for over 40 years so I do remember those years. Just saying I find it boring to catch the same cookie cutter Rainbow all day.

[Bruce Litton]

Can anyone offer a little dry-fly advice? The last spring of the brown trout stocking--which is why I want browns back so much, loved the brookies, too--I witnessed mid-May rises that amazed me, and I got in the action with my six-weight, too. All browns. Has anyone May experience with swarms of rising rainbows?

[Chrisper4694]

Originally Posted by Bruce Litton

Can anyone offer a little dry-fly advice? The last spring of the brown trout stocking--which is why I want browns back so much, loved the brookies, too--I witnessed mid-May rises that amazed me, and I got in the action with my six-weight, too. All browns. Has anyone May experience with swarms of rising rainbows?

with the stocked fish? your best bet is a fly tied in the shape of a hatchery pellet