If I am fishing a stocked stream, unless they have parr marks or are really colored up, I assume they are stocked. Same goes for finding a monster fish in a stocked stream that typically holds much smaller fish.
That looks very much like the size of stockers that my state puts in.
Ordinary_Plum6728 on
In my local parts, stocked fish have their fins snipped. Either a corner of their tail or the adipose will be removed… but I’m sure that’s not 100% of all fish stocked. Browns are stocked much less in my area too compared to rainbows, so if I catch a brown without any body mods, I consider it wild. But in the end, who really cares? I catch & release 99.9% of the time so it’s all for fun anyhow, wild or stocked.
Fishnfoolup on
Honest answer is that there really is no good way to tell for sure unless the fish has a tag or fin clip, excessively worn fins etc. Wild fish can have worn fins. Hatchery fish with fin wear can regenerate etc. What I see is a good looking fish that was probably really fun to catch. Great job.
4 Comments
Stocker all day
If I am fishing a stocked stream, unless they have parr marks or are really colored up, I assume they are stocked. Same goes for finding a monster fish in a stocked stream that typically holds much smaller fish.
That looks very much like the size of stockers that my state puts in.
In my local parts, stocked fish have their fins snipped. Either a corner of their tail or the adipose will be removed… but I’m sure that’s not 100% of all fish stocked. Browns are stocked much less in my area too compared to rainbows, so if I catch a brown without any body mods, I consider it wild. But in the end, who really cares? I catch & release 99.9% of the time so it’s all for fun anyhow, wild or stocked.
Honest answer is that there really is no good way to tell for sure unless the fish has a tag or fin clip, excessively worn fins etc. Wild fish can have worn fins. Hatchery fish with fin wear can regenerate etc. What I see is a good looking fish that was probably really fun to catch. Great job.