Interesting

[Brian Wise]

Never caught a stocked rainbow in the river either...at over 1000 days of fishing. I'll actually throw this out there to stir the pot--how many wild browns have you guys caught? I have seen a few this year around Patrick, really cool to see!

Brian

[fishinwrench]

Never caught a stocked rainbow in the river either...at over 1000 days of fishing. I'll actually throw this out there to stir the pot--how many wild browns have you guys caught? I have seen a few this year around Patrick, really cool to see!

Brian

Not that it really matters to me, but......How do you accurately identify a hatchery reared fish, vs., a stream born fish ? I personally don't buy into the philosophy that all hatchery fish are dull in color and have damaged fins. I catch some really beautiful fish on the Niangua and I know they were most likely reared in a hatchery. Some bows in the Niangua even have the "tell tale" orange tips (that I've heard are supposed to be the markings of streambred NFOW fish).

Even in the Trout parks fish often have excellent color, spots, ect., and no noticable fin damage. Browns and Bows included.

Just curious.

[Kyle Kosovich]

Okay I'll try and answer a few questions here as well...or start a few...either way

1. It is very unlikely that the rainbows get into the truck with the browns. The brown come from below taney (shepard of the hills hatchery) and I have had to cut fins from browns to ID them as a certain year class of stocking. The fish are segregated and sorted by hand...each...and...every...fish. This "tagging"enables biologist to ID what fish made it from what year of stocking. Since they seem to change their stocking time( i thought they did it in the fall but may be wrong) to the spring. Now they more than likley they are missing a certain fin that ID them to this year. Then this fall when they sample they will be able to estimate how many fish made it from a spring stocking vs a fall stocking. Now fish grow their fins back so this only lasts a short time...but this year keep an eye out for that and let me know. I'll try and get a picture if I catch a stocker....

2. Don't tell anyone the brown are reproducing, BRIAN....Sshhhhh

3. In the hatchery setting or trout park you may well catch a colorful fish but it did not come from the tanks. it more than likely was born in the stream. there are hold over fish that make it in a park and successfully spawn. As time goes on though and a stocked fish is in the stream it is harder to tell if it is stream born or not, they get more color and fins tend to reshape themselves. All the big piggy browns look an awesome golden yellow with bright spots in the Fork and they are all stocked pale grey...

4. Zach...good to hear you got into some fish. If you did a kick seine in the Fork you would see why the trout feast on stones all day long. They are everywhere....

My cents worth on the subject.....

[Brian Wise]

Hey Glen, I would say if the NFOW can produce a few wild browns the Niangua (which is uber sweet) can produce some wild 'bows. When Tucker and I did all the streams we also fished Bennett and I SWEAR I caught a wild fish of about 3" and looking at the water there it really didn't suprise me.

You have to wonder that, for one, there is a reason the MDC stocks trout where they do.....those places can support trout for any given period of time. If that "period of time" lasts long enough for those fish to go through the motions of spawn then out of the TONS of eggs 'some' would have to take, even if conditions aren't perfect--survival of the fittest more than likely starts at the egg.

There is without a doubt plenty of room for fish in the tanks throughout their time in them. I had that realisation when I took my 6 year old to Dry Run and...of course, we had to go into the hatchery to look at the huge fish in the first tank. If you'll take a walk (if you can peel yourself away from the disgustingly huge fish in that tank ) at a hatchery you can see that not every fish is rubbings it's fins all over the concrete so it would make sense to me that not all fish that are hatchery raised are going to show crazy blatant signs of fin damage from the tanks. The fin clipping on the other hand "can" stick with them and make that fin pretty funky looking even after it is grown back or completely healed...and on the other hand you can see a rainbow or brown that looks pristine all over---so I see your point.

I too agree that the color has very little to do with a stocker over a stream-born fish. I have seen stockers that were absolutely gorgeous and it doesn't take them long to get that way after the stocking.

Kyle,

I thought it was funny that Zach saw the MDC stocking this time of year too.....and 4200 is a little off compared to the last several years as well. We usually get that one stocking per year(unlike a lot of streams that get 2 stockings) and I really hate to see it happen before the summer crowds hit. That really sucks if you ask me.

Brian

[Brian Wise]

Just sent AJ an email about the stocking, will let you know.

Brian

[Brian Sloss]

I caught a 4-5 inch brown in the NFOW that was wild. Caught a lot more 4-6 inch rainbows though. Another way to help with wild ID if the fins are not worn too bad, is fin size in proportion to body size. Fins on a 13 inch wild fish are often bigger than those on a 13 inch stocker. The stockers grow faster in the hatchery than trout in the wild do, so the body size in proportion to fin size is different.

[ozark trout fisher]

Not that it really matters to me, but......How do you accurately identify a hatchery reared fish, vs., a stream born fish ? I personally don't buy into the philosophy that all hatchery fish are dull in color and have damaged fins. I catch some really beautiful fish on the Niangua and I know they were most likely reared in a hatchery. Some bows in the Niangua even have the "tell tale" orange tips (that I've heard are supposed to be the markings of streambred NFOW fish).

Even in the Trout parks fish often have excellent color, spots, ect., and no noticable fin damage. Browns and Bows included.

Just curious.

While obviously the vast majority will be stocked in a river like the Niangua, I wouldn't rule it out that there are occasional wild trout to be found. I'm not saying with any certainty that that is what you caught, I'm just saying its a possibility. Any stream that holds trout year round is bound to have a few wild trout I would think, but maybe I'm wrong.

You usually can tell whether a fish is wild or stocked, but its not a foolproof deal. I have caught fish that looked very wild right out of Montauk, and I'm guessing they weren't. But pretty generally, you can tell. Lots of times, fish that appear wild, but aren't actually, are stockies that have been in the river a long time, and they begin to appear more like wild fish. I can tell more during the fight than I can after I catch the fish, wild trout fight 2x as hard as stocky the same size.

[ozark trout fisher]

Also, I can attest to the fact the "mistake" stockings do occur. Wish I had a picture for proof, but I caught an eight inch brown trout in Little Piney Creek a ways below Milldam Hollow. Not supposed to be any browns there.

[Zach Bearden]

Just to, as Brian put it, "stir the pot", heres you guys a picture.

If you look at it theres a fish in the tube that is broadside in the top right. Whats that fish look like to you guys? The fish also has a perfectly formed pectoral fin if you want to take the time to zoom in on it.

Have fun! lol

[ozark trout fisher]

Just to, as Brian put it, "stir the pot", heres you guys a picture.

If you look at it theres a fish in the tube that is broadside in the top right. Whats that fish look like to you guys? The fish also has a perfectly formed pectoral fin if you want to take the time to zoom in on it.

Have fun! lol

I'll be honest... At first glance I thought that was a rainbow, but after looking a bit longer, I believe it is a brown.

I could well be wrong. It has happened before

Edit:

And I am. After zooming in, that is most certainly a rainbow. Oops. I guess mistakes happen. I guess it would be easy for one to slip in.

At least they didn't make as big of a mistake as the Colorado department of fish and game. They were trying to re-introduce greenback cutthroats into several creeks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Every one of these fish turned out to be a mistake. They were the wrong strain. Instead of the greenback cutthroat that they were supposed to introduce, they were all Colorado River cutthroat. Now THATS a stocking error.