manasquan river / ken lockwood gorge /sunday

[Tony Cav]

Originally Posted by Wilson

So which is this one???

Looks like a wild brown in full fall coloration.

[Tony Cav]

Originally Posted by shucker

Yeah yer right, I dont trout fish.Maybe you could show me a thing or two.Wilson,that looks to be a brown fish with either chiken pox or measels.

Bro, that was a question and not a statement. It appeared by your statement that you were unaware of the degree of natural reproduction of brown trout here in New Jersey. That's all.

I have not caught a trout in 3 years. I have trout/flyfished from Utah to the West Branch of the Penobscott. From the Bighorn, Green, Snake, Provo, Madison and the Firehole to Balls Eddy, Cairns Pool, Junction Hole, Spring and Fisherman Creek.

I have met and talked with Harry Darby, Poul Jorgansen and Art Lee.

Ever trout fish the Passaic River?....There are stream bred bows, browns and brookies.

P.S. The concept of identifying a trout as wild by the conditions of their fins was not made up by me....it's pretty much an accepted practice in places where there is an abundance of stockies, their holdovers and stream bred fish

[acabtp]

i think the point that shucker was making was just that, brown trout aren't a native species to new jersey, so none of them in this state are native, doesn't matter if they are born outside a hatchery. he doesn't need to fish the streams with little trouts up here in northern NJ to figure it out... it just depends on what the original range for the species was before us humans decided to spread them around.

browns born and reproducing in streams in europe are native. browns born and reproducing in streams here in NJ are wild, or could possibly be described as feral as well.

brook trout, pumpkinseeds, chain pickerel, shad born in new jersey are native.

largemouth bass, bluegills, walleye, muskies, pike, etc are wild.

[Lard Almighty]

Any stocked fish will reproduce in the wild under the right conditions. That's why streams classified as wild trout streams are not stocked; to prevent the gene pool from being diluted by stocked fish.

I'm not 100% sure, but unless the fin of a fish is clipped I believe it can completely regenerate after a period of time. I have caught trout in various stages of fin redevelopment, from fresh out of the raceway to almost flawless. I don't doubt that there are some that I have mistaken for wild fish when in reality they had been stocked.

As a point of comparison, the photo on the left is of what I suspected to be a stocked brown that grew back its fins. On the right is a photo of what I believe is a wild brown.

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

to prevent the gene pool from being diluted by stocked fish.

some other states stock near sterile hybrids like splake for this reason also

[Tony Cav]

Originally Posted by Lard Almighty

Any stocked fish will reproduce in the wild under the right conditions. That's why streams classified as wild trout streams are not stocked; to prevent the gene pool from being diluted by stocked fish.

I'm not 100% sure, but unless the fin of a fish is clipped I believe it can completely regenerate after a period of time. I have caught trout in various stages of fin redevelopment, from fresh out of the raceway to almost flawless. I don't doubt that there are some that I have mistaken for wild fish when in reality they had been stocked.

As a point of comparison, the photo on the left is of what I suspected to be a stocked brown that grew back its fins. On the right is a photo of what I believe is a wild brown.

I believe that if you were to closely inspect the holdover, it's pectorals would not have that full lobed appearance of the wild trout on the right.

[Super]

Just to clear up some trout terminology:

A “native” trout was born wild and is native to the area. Only brook trout are native to NJ, so you can’t have a native brown, rainbow or lake trout here in NJ.

A “heritage native” trout is a native trout from a water body that has never been stocked, so it’s DNA hasn’t been crossed with other strains of trout not native to the area. Again, in NJ these can only be brook trout.

A “wild” trout is a trout that was born in the wild.

A “hatchery” trout came from a hatchery.

A “holdover” trout came from a hatchery and survived a season, typically referring to the summer or stocking season.

It can be easy to tell if a trout came from a hatchery based on color and fin damage, but it’s nearly impossible to tell with 100% certainty if a fish is wild unless it’s from an area that has no history of stocking. Hatchery trout are pale because they are fed protein pellets that don’t have the minerals to support the vivid color you find in wild trout that eat insects, and their fins are often worn or deformed from rubbing against concrete walls. Typically wild brown trout have a blue spot behind their eye and a red adipose fin, but a trout stocked as a fingerling can also have those characteristics.

If you look at enough trout and add all that up, you can usually guess where it came from.

[Lard Almighty]

Originally Posted by Tony Cav

I believe that if you were to closely inspect the holdover, it's pectorals would not have that full lobed appearance of the wild trout on the right.

You may be right. I couldn't tell, as I forgot my microscope that day.

Whatevs, as long as they put a bend in the rod I'm not picky about where the trout come from.

[flatcreek]

I'm with you Lard!

[ReelErIn]

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