** NOTE ** Tickets to this event can be purchased HERE -- -- -- -- -- -- On Saturday, March 28th, Troutbitten is hosting a live podcast at New Trail Brewing Company in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Join us for good times and an important conversation. With your ticket...
The Troutbitten Podcast, Episode 4 is now available everywhere that you find and listen to your podcasts. ** Note ** The Podcast Player and links to your favorite providers appear below Wild Trout vs Stocked -- The Hierarchy of River Trout Keep wild trout wild. Not...
I’m dumbfounded by the logic. Every time I stare at one of these signs from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, I struggle to make sense of it. I well know the reasons given for the signs and the policy itself, but it’s the wrong choice. The signs read: This...
“Once a stocked trout is in the river for a while, it becomes just like a wild one.” I hear this idea a lot. Anglers of all experience levels have levied this argument, likely from the time stocked fish were first planted in a river. It’s the premise that stocked...
You probably voted this past Tuesday, right? You walked into the booth and cast a ballot in this midterm election cycle for your state and local representatives. Or maybe you voted early. Maybe you mailed in a ballot. However you voted, it’s pretty easy to think that your one, single vote didn’t matter much, because even close state elections are often determined by thousands of votes. It’s understandable to feel like your vote doesn’t make a difference. It does, but that’s another discussion . . .
By contrast, you can personally have a direct influence on the way wild trout policy is directed in Pennsylvania. And many of you have.
On October 16, 2018, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission voted to add 3.8 miles of Catch-and-Release regulated water on Penns Creek. This
“Section 5” water now doubles the miles of C&R river available to anglers, and it protects the Class A wild trout population within. This is an enormous success, and many of you are part of it . . .
This is too good to let pass. My friend Chase Howard restarted and rejuvenated his blog, Dirt Roads and Blue Lines. And recently, he penned a short commentary on the state of the stocked vs wild trout situation in Pennsylvania.
Chase calls the stocked trout syndrome “The Aquaculture Culture,” and his choice of words is appropriate. There truly is an ingrained culture. Many Pennsylvanian’s have grown to expect (and feel they deserve) stocked trout in their local creeks, not because the creek can’t support wild trout and not because there isn’t already a wild trout population that would thrive if given a chance. No, the Aquaculture Culture expects and downright demands stocked trout in the creek because that’s the way it’s always been, in their lifetime.
As I’ve argued countless times here on Troutbitten, stocked trout do have a place in Pennsylvania. Our state hatcheries should continue to raise trout and stock them in streams that cannot and do not already support wild trout. I’m thankful for stocked trout. I caught my limit of stocked fish today . . .
I’m no scientist. I’m not a fisheries biologist or an entomologist -- I’m just a fisherman. But you probably sensed that already. When anyone speaks about the negative effects of stocking hatchery trout over wild trout populations, the inevitable challenge for proof...
Is this a wild trout movement? There's certainly more outspoken support for Pennsylvania's wild trout than I’ve ever seen. The massive turnout at the Wild Trout Summit last Saturday, on a cool and partly-cloudy day (perfect for actually fishing instead of talking...
We believe wild trout populations should be protected, wherever they are found. That starts by eliminating the stocking of hatchery trout over good wild trout populations. It continues by finding struggling wild trout populations and helping them — strengthening their numbers by improving water quality and habitat.
Neither state nor private organizations should be permitted to stock over established wild trout populations.
We believe that wild trout, wherever they are found, should be given a chance.
But Why?
I asked some of my fishing friends why wild trout matter, and I thought their answers would be similar. Surprisingly, they weren’t. Their reasons for loving and caring about wild trout vary significantly in message and tone.
In truth, there are hundreds of reasons why wild trout matter. And my friends gave me impassioned answers. Here are some of their words . . .
Louis Cahill submitted a public service announcement for the fly fishing community the other day. With his post “All That Glitters,” the Gink and Gasoline author, photographer and fishing guide cleared up the mess about what a real Golden Trout is. And it’s not a...