Stocked Wild Or Somewhere in Between?

[only adipose]

I have been thinking a lot about yearly stockers vs holdover vs wild fish and it left me wondering. What percent of the fish you are catching are stocked? holdover? wild? if you want to give native a category feel free. Of the fish you caught last year guesstimate me some stats and include your state. (Just Trout)

Maryland
70% wild
5% hold over
25% yearly stocked


This is not to judge anyone- a fish is a fish is a fish in my book. I happen to be close to a river which is mostly wild. We all know many fisheries would not exist without stocking.

I think it would be cool to get an idea of what fly fishermen from all over the country are fishing for. Also an idea of how important wild/stocked fisheries are to the normal fly fisherman.

[Hardyreels]

I can't really answer your question but will share some thought on the topic with you here. It took me years to reach the point where I could make an educated guess at the actual origin of a fish I had caught in some Pennsylvania streams. Since I lived in the north central mountains of the state many of these streams were host to the three categories you outline in the post. After some book learning, some hands on experience with stocking programs and many hundreds of hours spent sampling the streams I found my way to predominately wild fisheries. It takes a well trained eye to discern whether you are holding a 4 - 5 year holdover fish or a stream bread fish and yet today I can't say that I could tell for certain.

There is a certain feeling of fulfillment when you are confident you are in the midst of a true wild fishery but for those places that have the population augmented by stockings, I enjoyed them as well........almost. Perhaps you'll end up like me and you will spend your fishing life in pursuit of the perfect place to fish. In the time it takes to get there I advise learning as much as you can about the fish and everything else that surrounds those streams you now call home. Knowledge is a transferable property and as you strive to know more you are building your path to your own special place.

[rasputinj]

I live in Southern California, most of the creeks I fish locally have not been stocked in a long time. 90% of the rainbow trout I catch are wild in their habitat, with 10% holdovers. When I fish in the Sierras I catch about 60% wild with 30% holdover and 10% stocked. I stay away from stocked areas when possible, sometimes holdovers come from lakes like Crowley and the fish head upstream. So I am either fishing C&R areas or I am hiking to areas that have not been planted in years. I have caught California coastal steelhead in Malibu Creek 20 years ago. Golden Trout on Cottonwood creek, Kern River Rainbows on little Kern river. Pretty lucky to live close to natural habitats of some different types of trout.

[wt bash]

Thats an easy one in Ohio

75% stocked
22% hold over
3% wild (being generous)

I most likely have the numbers wrong, I've been told there is some reproduction on the Mad. There are two stream I will not name that have native brookies that you're not allowed to fish (rightly so) and there are a few web rumors of other tribs that have some wild reproduction but I seriously doubt it.

[milt spawn]

Mine varies alot, mostly upon where I go. Lakes have a higher stocked rate, and streams give me more wild fish. milt.

[poke em]

My trout last year were probably as follows:

70% native
28% wild
2% stocked

[smalliesrule]

Here in SW VA
90% wild
10% stocked

They do a lot of stocking around here, I just don't fish those areas. The stockers I catch tend to be drifters that end up in the wild section. I caught a pretty decent stocked fish at least a mile above the end of the stocked section last fall! quite the swimmer I'd say.
Nothing against the stocked fish, I just don't like sharing bank space with the bait guys.
Stan

[Rip Tide]

Here in CT it depends on where you go. There are places to catch wild fish but you have to know where. Most people are satisfied to fish for put and take stocked trout only, but in the better streams and C&R "management areas" there's plenty of hold-overs as well

In the brook across the street from my house
100% natives
A few miles down the road in the main river
100% stocked

[dabluz]

Here in my region of the province of Quebec, it's 100% wild brook trout. Same thing for the landlocked salmon.

[newby]

This is an old thread, but a cool one. For me the ratio is heavily skewed because I prefer moving streams with wild trout, but I also fish some stocked areas, so my ratio is probably along the lines of

30% Stocked
10% Holdover
60% Wild