Is this a native trout?

[beaverPond]

I caught my first nice trout on a fly rod and am curious if anyone here can tell me if this brownie is a native or stocked fish. How can you can tell one way or the other?

Thanks,
beaverPond

[beaverPond]

Oops....here are the pics

https://www.2octave.com/pics

I had to upload them here cause the upload app in this forum just stalled.

beaverPond

[wildbrookies]

Hey BeaverPond,

Thats a beautiful looking brown!!!

Very dark colors...I know Sero could tell you,hes been catching quite a few native(streamborn) browns, but I will say, its either an older holdover brown or a native... Nice fish!!!

Wb

p.s.....did you notice a protruding stomach on that brown? Looks like he was either gorging on pile of bugs or swallowed something quite large......sometimes a big trout will eat a frog,or deer mouse or a small snake...

[Mettaweeman]

Colors look like a holdover or native, but the 2-year-old browns stocked by the state this year have been big and colorful, too. You can often tell stockies by their fins and noses, they're usually worn down from jostling in the hatchery and truck. Where'd you catch it? You can check the DEC website to see if 2-year-olds are stocked there.

[beaverPond]

This trout was actually caught in Oatka Creek in Scottsville,NY. I was in a catch n' release section that is said to support spawning. Oatka actually intersects Spring Creek in Caledonia,NY which is where the first trout hatchery in the US started.

http://www.cal-mum.com/fishhatchery.htm

I am hoping that someone can confidently identify this trout as a native.

beaverPond

[marzrw]

Doesn't matter...It's a nice fish..Holdovers are almost as nice as natives

[Gray Ghost]

Beautiful fish. I guess it depends what is mean by "native." I was always under the impression that the only truly native trout species in the Adirondacks were brookies and lakers, (and obviously, natives are still very rare). Browns and rainbows were introduced. Maybe you guys mean native as in natural spawn? Let me know if I am totally wrong here.

[wildbrookies]

Yes, GG, I think you are absolutely right in saying the only true "native" species in this part of North America is the brookie and the laker ....if indeed it has never been artificially produced and/or planted with human involvement,that is....all other trout should`nt be called "native" we just tend to use the word very loosely....I think a couple of better words to describe their position in our environment would be "naturally reproduced" or "natural" or "wild".....good point GG...

Wildbrookies

[Hugh]

GG,WB, Your both right,and your wrong,brookies and lakers are char not true trout. Hugh

[beaverPond]

I am trying to find out if this trout was born in the wild, and not a hold over. Either way I am thrilled to have caught it, but it would be even more special if I caught a wild one.

Thanks to all of you guys(gals?),
beaverPond

[wildbrookies]

Hugh is right again ...I forgot that Lakers and Brookies are not "true "trout....and that means that we never had an original native "true" trout species residing in this part of the nation ....the brookie is Salvelinus Fontinalis and the laker is salvelinus namayacush.....wheres Sero when you need him ....he probably could tell you if that brown is a wild fero one or not by the photo....
Well, either way beaverpond,you got a very beautiful trout,and from what I can see of it,its been in the river awhile....I know they are stocking more and more trout with better color ,both inside and out ,trying to make the fish look more attractive(better than the bland stockie look) but if you look at its fins and especially the dorsal and tail ,if it was a stockie it will appear frayed and ragged looking sometimes so much that it is no longer shaped well....I`ve caught good-sized stockies with great color but, their tail fin was rounded in shape and its nose all banged up and scared .......not very good-looking at all...I think you can be assured ,by the panel of experts viewing the pictures ,that your trout is a beautiful holdover or a wild one...

Heres what a few of those adirondack wild jewels look like....

Notice the perfectly shaped fins and the colors... Awesome!!!!

[Little Rickie]

GG,WB, Your both right,and your wrong,brookies and lakers are char not true trout. Hugh

Forgive my ignorance but what is a char and how is it different from a trout?

They are pretty fish.

Little Rickie

[wildbrookies]

Good question......
It has nothing to do with ignorance...brooktrout and lake trout are very confusing...alot of fishermen who catch them don`t actually know that they are catching fish in the salmon family(salmonidae) spelling?....anyway, this family of fish include,the Artic Char,Bull Trout, Dolly Varden , Lake trout and of course brook trout...I`m not sure how they scientifically identified the differances in these fish from the browns,rainbows and such....must be a quite involved system that may even involve counting the amount of rays on their fins and such....Identifying species in the natural world can be quite complex and interesting...if I look up some stuff on how they distinguish the differances ,I`ll post the info....hope this helped to clarify alittle...

[tymeflyme]

I believe that the difference between a trout and a char has something to do with whether the fish has dark spots on a light backround (brown trout) or light spots on a dark backround (brook trout).

All and all they are still beautiful!!

The picture's look to me like a golden trout. I did not think they were native to this area. I have never caught anything like them around here.

~tymeflyme

[Hugh]

Not 100% positive but I think the differance is in how many rows of teeth the different species have. Hugh