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whats the difference in these two trout?


Kype

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First one is 100% a wild brown trout.  Second one is 100% stocked from the Musky Trout Hatchery via the Shannon's Fly Shop private stockings.  While it has some traits that make it look a bit like a tiger, it is one of Vern's browns and is stocked.  His brown trout have some of those genetics we see in this fish that look a bit like vermiculations seen in native brook trout and which are common in tiger trout.  True tigers spawned in the wild are fairly rare and do happen naturally in the South Branch where you caught it because that river sees natural reproduction of all three species which is also very rare in NJ.  But stocked tigers are highly common as it is easy to raise them by taking eggs from one species and milt from the other (brown trout and brook trout, only one of which is a true trout - the brown) and then adding heat to bring up viability of the fertilized eggs.  

 

Sorry, trout geek here  :nerd:  

 

I don't have much to add, just wanted to point out what we all already know...Brian is a nerd :nerd::rofl:

Really great info there Brian, at first glance I felt like the second trout looked a lot like some kind of brook and brown hybrid, not the strong lines I've seen on tigers before.

How can you tell the first one is wild?  Something in the coloration or just something you've come to recognize in that specific section of river?

 

What I think of when I think tiger trout:

tigertroutpic.jpg

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Just for everyone's information, there is no way to 100% identify if a trout is stocked or wild.  There are some obvious markers we look for, but they aren't all conclusive.  Obvious stocked fish would be a cookie-cutter 11" rainbow you catch in spring with missing pectoral fins from rubbing in the concrete raceways.  Not obvious would be a multi-year holdover fish with great looking fins of any species.  It helps to know exactly what is stocked and from what source(s).  Here in NJ, the only two current legal stockers are the state's Division of F&W who are ONLY stocking rainbow trout right now, and the Musky Trout Hatchery which is a certified disease free private hatchery.  Until recently, other out of state hatcheries such as Greenwalk Trout Hatchery in PA and others could stock in NJ, but that hatchery and others are not currently participating in the disease free certification program required by our state.  

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I don't have much to add, just wanted to point out what we all already know...Brian is a nerd :nerd::rofl:

Really great info there Brian, at first glance I felt like the second trout looked a lot like some kind of brook and brown hybrid, not the strong lines I've seen on tigers before.

How can you tell the first one is wild?  Something in the coloration or just something you've come to recognize in that specific section of river?

 

Just for that remark, there will be a pictorial test when I get back from chasing NY bucks with the bow.  And you will be the only participant in that test with results posted for all here to see :)

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thanks for the information. on to my second question. the the first picture of my wild brown trout a big wild brown trout for that area? 

 

I can't really tell length because I don't know the size of the rock it is placed against for context.  That said, I caught my personal best wild brown trout last year out of the South Branch Raritan and it measured 23".  My previous best in that river was 20" and caught about 18 years ago.  That is my best for that river, not for all the rivers I fish.  I think in terms of what is a big fish for the river, not for all rivers.  Most SBR wild browns top out around 17", but some are getting larger than that.  

 

The wild browns will have a lead white edge on their anal fins and often a buttery yellow coloration with some red spotting.  Their pectoral fins will grow quite large on wild fish.  

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Difference is pretty obvious. The top one is lying on a big rock and the bottom one is lying on several small rocks.

“I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target, but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and with the sure knowledge that nature’s way of fang and claw and starvation are a far crueler fate than I bestow.” – Fred Bear

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  • 2 years later...
On 10/26/2015 at 8:51 PM, Bucksnbows said:

First one is 100% a wild brown trout.  Second one is 100% stocked from the Musky Trout Hatchery via the Shannon's Fly Shop private stockings.  While it has some traits that make it look a bit like a tiger, it is one of Vern's browns and is stocked.  His brown trout have some of those genetics we see in this fish that look a bit like vermiculations seen in native brook trout and which are common in tiger trout.  True tigers spawned in the wild are fairly rare and do happen naturally in the South Branch where you caught it because that river sees natural reproduction of all three species which is also very rare in NJ.  But stocked tigers are highly common as it is easy to raise them by taking eggs from one species and milt from the other (brown trout and brook trout, only one of which is a true trout - the brown) and then adding heat to bring up viability of the fertilized eggs.  

 

Sorry, trout geek here  :nerd:  

The man knows his trout.  :up:

Nice fish Kype. :up:

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