A first for me...

[niveker 0]

Found myself following the stocking truck this morning

 

[skeet3t 0]

Heard of a guy who followed a big truck along a major trout river. After a couple of miles, the truck stopped and the driver asked why he was following the truck. Turns out the truck was picking up trash along the river.

[niveker 0]

 

That's funny.  

These guys passed me in the opposite direction as I was on my way home (I live right down the street from a major hatchery), and out of curiosity, I turned around and followed him.  When he hopped on the Pike, I figured he was going too far out of my way.  I've never caught the stockers in the act, I was hoping to watch it.   

[Poopdeck 0]

Last year I was standing in the middle of the creek fishing in my favorite neighborhood WW creek that is stocked with trout. It was a few weeks past the trout opener so the crowds were gone and I was panfishing. About 75 yards away I see the stocking truck pull up and start dumping buckets of trout in the creek. i looked down at my feet and I see groups of fish swimming by me in the shape  of the buckets they were just poured from. It was so very cartoonish. They only stocked this creek one time so I was wondering why it was getting a second unpublished stocking. Turns out they were getting ready to shut the hatcheries down for COVID19 and they had to get rid of all the trout they had for places that are stocked year round but they couldn't just load those creeks up with tons of fish. 

Our trout opener is this Sunday. I love going out to watch, in fact I wouldn't miss it, but I haven't taken a rod with me in 20 or so years. A great many trout fly fisherman bemoan the stocked trout opener but I love seeing  the families and traditions  come together for this event. 

[skeet3t 0]

Adding- one of the outdoor magazines had a story about a guy who had lousy luck fishing for hatchery trout. He went back home and this is what he made. Put a piece of wood putty on a hook and colored it with a brown pen or paint. This was before Sharpies. The "fly" imitated hatchery food which the trout were used to seeing. Caught a limit in a very short time.

[Guest]

Been by 2 truck dumps In Arkie.  One they all balled up by a big rock mid stream. I tied in a dark Humpy dry and caught/released dozens,10”-12”.  Spring River.   Other time  on LilRed they dumped at boat launch JFK Park. Ereybody caught’em on just anything.   Lasted about an hour.  The best hatchery related catches were when Hinkley hatchery on the Spring lost all their fish on a severe flood.  For couple of years could catch alotta the brooders that survived.   Sad part the warm flood waters killed the growing trout in their huge deep spring water fed silos...That and equipment failure.   Arkansas has a great stocking program for their tailwaters!

 

[niveker 0]

12 hours ago, skeet3t said:

The "fly" imitated hatchery food which the trout were used to seeing.

There is a big hatchery here along the banks of one our well known tail-waters with an outflow pipe into the river.  I've heard it said that at a certain time of day when they flush out the hatchery runs, a pellet fly is the only thing that the fish will hit for a half hour or so.  I've seen them made out of everything from deer hair to foam to cork.  I actually tied up a deer hair pellet fly (just one, mind you) and keep it in my box, but I've not been so desperate as to tie it on yet.  

[DFoster 0]

Thanks for posting or I would not have checked the MA stocking web page.   MA is stocking early this year and in a different order than usual.  They stocked the French River which is a local haunt of mine on Monday with Rainbows.  Typically the first stocking on the French is near the end of April and it's usually Brook Trout. 

[Guest]

Flesh flies work for the huge browns/cuttthroats that act like they wanta get back into the hatchery because of the occasional dead trout that come out the shoot.😳

https://theozarkflyfisher.com/our-waters/dry-run-creek/

[niveker 0]

1 hour ago, DFoster said:

MA is stocking early

They stocked the Swift in two places @ a week ago, but I took the dog for a walk Sunday morning, from the Rt 9 bridge down past Cady Lane I saw less than 1/2 dozen fish, which is unusual for that stretch of the river, even by the pipe.  Nobody was catching a thing that I spoke with, even the spin fishers .   

[vicrider 0]

True dis. In Finland the DNR got a load of trout to stock every couple of weeks. One of the old guys in town lived right across from the DNR drive and kept a close eye on when the water truck left the shop. He got on the phone, let his inner circle know it was on, jumped in his truck and followed the water truck. He CB to the guys who were coming after him where they headed and they would be fishing before the last of the truck emptied. One of the main spots they dumped was just up the highway out of Finland at a deadwater on the Baptism River. I got there one time after the truck was long gone but they were still fishing. Stopped and through something, probably a spinner or Super Duper and caught a released a fish on almost every cast. They got mad because I wouldn't give them the ones they needed to fill their limit. I told them I'm just teaching them to avoid bright objects with hooks attached.

Nick

 

[vicrider 0]

Though I've only seen it in videos but I'd love to be on a lake when the plane flies over and shits out a stream of trout. Always amazed me that they could do this and most of the trout seemed to make it. High mountain lakes are one of the places I've never had a chance to fish but it would have to be fun to fish water as clear as the gin I used to drink and watch the effects of your fly on the fish.

[flytire 0]

not that unusual in the high country

 

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

I've always liked/thought that plane stocking vid was funny. Because if you think about it here we/most guys are gently lifting a fish and carefully sliding it back into the water, handling it with kid gloves. And yet they are dropping them from planes at speed 50ft above the waters surface lol. Kind'a makes ya wonder if we as fisherman take things a tad too far as to how delicate we think fish are 😁

[SilverCreek 0]

We know the mortality rates from both events. Mortality from aerial stocking is about 2%. Mortality from C&R is about 4% (3-5%).

The trout we C&R have been stressed. We would not expect the same survival rates since the events are not comparable and are fish are of a different ages.