Wild or hatchery?

[jschelter]

I see people talking all the time about the two but I don't personally know the difference. Maybe someone more experienced can help me out. I've included a couple of Brown's from the past few months..

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[Sk8man]

It looks to me as though the one on left is an adult male fully colored from being in the stream for awhile  while the one of the right appears to be a juvenile that may have just come in from the lake but absent any shots of fin clips etc. still a question in my mind whether either came from a hatchery.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Sk8man

[Xxx]

It looks to me as though the one on left is an adult male fully colored from being in the stream for awhile  while the one of the right appears to be a juvenile that may have just come in from the lake but absent any shots of fin clips etc. still a question in my mind whether either came from a hatchery.

Les which fin do they clip?, the top or one of the little bottom ones, I couldn't remember. I swear once you hit the big five O everything goes to hell!!

[FleetTracker]

The Adipose Fin.  Top one.

[Sk8man]

I'm not sure about the Lake O browns currently (whether they clip additional fins or not) but in the Finger Lakes they clip different fins on trout to designate the year the fish were stocked.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Sk8man

[Sk8man]

In the above brown photos it wasn't indicated WHERE they came from

[Xxx]

Yea Fleet, I couldn't remember that A word. Les I heard that, different fins represent different year classes of fish, either way natural fish has all its fins, that's easy enough. Thank guys!!!!

[jschelter]

They we're caught in 2 different lake O tribs

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[jschelter]

So these are wild?

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[Sk8man]

The adipose fin (little one behind the dorsal the main fin on top) is present on each one so assuming that the hatchery didn't miss clipping the fin they look to be non-hatchery (naturally reproduced) fish.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Sk8man

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Yea Fleet, I couldn't remember that A word. Les I heard that, different fins represent different year classes of fish, either way natural fish has all its fins, that's easy enough. Thank guys!!!!

 

Yes, different fin clips, some are more than one, represent year class but more importantly the strain. You can find this info on NYSDEC website. Many trout have double clips. Example, left ventrical, adipose. Right pectoral, dorsal. Etc. I record all clips in my personal diaries and have been doing it for 30 plus years. I also get all stocking reports every year from the DEC. In the post where the Jersey guy had a steelhead he was questioning, it had a clipped dorsal fin. Clipped does not always mean its missing, and deformed fins usually are classified as clipped. Les has been on my boat and witnessed us record data on fish. I use abbreviations and code words for certain info just to make it simple and efficient.  That at times has been harder to teach newbies than actually fishing! My Theresa has it down, so I just count on her to do it. I don't even have to ask if she's ready, I just rattle the info off and it's recorded. I won't get into details about what I record, but it's very detailed.  

 

Nice looking fish though. Especially the first one. Looks like a seeforellen brown. 

Edited March 19, 2015 by Great Lakes Lure Maker

[jschelter]

Thank you very much for the help and info! Is it more rare to catch hatchery fish? It seems like I'm only catching wild trout, not that it's a bad thing!!

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[boggle]

Thank you very much for the help and info! Is it more rare to catch hatchery fish? It seems like I'm only catching wild trout, not that it's a bad thing!!

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I was wondering about this myself because I'm looking at pictures throughout the years and EVERY fish has its adipose. Personally I think its more the adipose size to fish size ratio. If you catch a 10lb'er with a little baby adipose fin...probably a hatchery fish. I have done no research on this so correct me if I'm wrong, but EVERY fish I catch still has its adipose.

[jschelter]

I was wondering about this myself because I'm looking at pictures throughout the years and EVERY fish has its adipose. Personally I think its more the adipose size to fish size ratio. If you catch a 10lb'er with a little baby adipose fin...probably a hatchery fish. I have done no research on this so correct me if I'm wrong, but EVERY fish I catch still has its adipose.

Ditto

[Frogger]

Other than the fin clips or radio tech that's now being used for tagging, scales are really a true indication of its life cycle indicating a pen reared portion of its fry / fingerling stage or if was naturally born, But I'm not a biologist

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[Tim Bromund]

I don't believe they fin clip any browns that are stocked in Lake Ontario. The adipose clip was part of a study on kings, but other than Skamania Strain Steelhead and lake trout, I don't think they are clipping any salmonids in Lady O.

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