Today's article is a remix of a favorite story from 2015. You can find it here: Aiden's First Brown Trout Enjoy the day. Domenick Swentosky T R O U T B I T T E N domenick@troutbitten.com
Articles With the Tag . . . Wild Brown Trout
Troutbitten Opinion: Nicholas Meats, LLC vs Fishing Creek
** This article is from contributing author, Austin Dando. ** Leaves once lush with deep greens now lie underboot. As the mercury drops and the foliage grows weary, the forest yields its summertime vibrance to a new spectacle. It is fall in the valley. As a fisherman...
The Mismanagement of “Class A” Wild Trout
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...
Does a Stocked Trout Ever Become Wild?
“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...
Redd Fish — Should we fish for trout through the spawn or stay home?
We don’t target spawning trout, but is it okay to fish during the spawn? And if you choose to stay off the water, do you know what to look for when you return?
Here’s an in-depth look at trout spawning habits and some opinion about fishing around the spawning season. If you plan to fish during or after the spawn, there’s a key point to understand . . .
Searching Through the Margins
I guess I was about ten years old when I started pushing past the boundaries of my parents’ twelve acres of hills and trees. I easily remember the day that I walked into the damp valley and past the tiny runoff stream which I always imagined may hold a few trout — or at least a few minnows. Instead of staying on the near side of the watery divide, I crossed it. I looked back once. Then I started up the hill toward the unknown. In my boyish, drifting thoughts, anything was possible . . . and I’ve been wandering ever since . . .
Catching Big Fish Does Not Make You a Stud . . . Necessarily
Go ahead. Look back through the Troutbitten archives and you’ll find a bunch of photos featuring big, beautiful trout. Chasing the biggest wild browns is part of our culture. It’s a challenge, and it’s a motivator — something that pulls us back to the rivers time and again.
I have friends who are big fish hunters to their core. Nothing else satisfies them. For me, I guess chasing big trout is a phase that I roll in and out of as the years pass. And although I don’t choose to target big trout on every trip, I always enjoy catching them. Who wouldn’t?
Hooking the big ones is part of the allure of fishing itself, no matter the species or the tactics used. What fisherman doesn’t get excited about the biggest fish of the day? It’s fun. And it’s inherent in our human nature to see bigger as better. But is it? Better what? Better fish? Better fisherman? . . .
The Fisherman is Eternally Hopeful
Rich had cancer, and it was spreading fast. We both knew this was our last trip together and that a dear friendship was coming to a close.
We fished a long morning, and eventually, I worked upstream toward my friend. From thirty yards, I could see the exhaustion in his face. Rich stood where a long riffle dumped into his favorite glassy pool. He breathed a long breath and gazed at the cloudy sky. Reeling in his line and breaking down his rod, he looked at me, and we smiled. We each knew we were at the end of something . . .
Clarity and Science about Wild vs Stocked Trout, from Halverson’s ‘An Entirely Synthetic Fish,’ and from The Troutlook
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...
We Are Wild Trout | Looking forward, after Pennsylvania’s first wild trout summit
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...