Peapack Brook 3/9/2020

[BiggerThomas]

Serious question, if there are no holdover browns, how did a wild brown appear in a river. It must have parents somewhere.

Browns do reproduce in our streams and previously stocked Browns from years past are the origin of the current "wild Browns". What Rusty meant was that currently caught Browns in the Peapack were not stocked but are progeny of previously stocked fish. In other streams you may run into holdover Browns from private stocking in fishing clubs.

Thanks

So any state stocked browns would have died off due to old age (or predation) by now. I wasn't sure how long ago browns were stocked or the age expectancy of brown trout.

I read on the Musky Trout Hatcheries site that browns "can live in the wild an average of 12 years." That surprised me quite a bit. But I guess a lot depends on habitat, food availability, and predation. Also, how skilled the anglers are in the area

[lightenup]

Browns do reproduce in our streams and previously stocked Browns from years past are the origin of the current "wild Browns". What Rusty meant was that currently caught Browns in the Peapack were not stocked but are progeny of previously stocked fish. In other streams you may run into holdover Browns from private stocking in fishing clubs.

Thanks

So any state stocked browns would have died off due to old age (or predation) by now. I wasn't sure how long ago browns were stocked or the age expectancy of brown trout.

I read on the Musky Trout Hatcheries site that browns "can live in the wild an average of 12 years." That surprised me quite a bit. But I guess a lot depends on how skilled the anglers are in the area

So Musky browns could probably live 20 years in that ruiver...

[Rusty Spinner]

Serious question, if there are no holdover browns, how did a wild brown appear in a river. It must have parents somewhere.

Browns do reproduce in our streams and previously stocked Browns from years past are the origin of the current "wild Browns". What Rusty meant was that currently caught Browns in the Peapack were not stocked but are progeny of previously stocked fish. In other streams you may run into holdover Browns from private stocking in fishing clubs.

Thanks

So any state stocked browns would have died off due to old age (or predation) by now. I wasn't sure how long ago browns were stocked or the age expectancy of brown trout.

Yes, correct. No holdover brown trout from state stockings in NJ. Only private club stockings or wild brown trout these days.

[Jerzguy21]

That little stream has had natural reproducing browns for way over 50 years, FYI.

[Twism86]

That little stream has had natural reproducing browns for way over 50 years, FYI.

This guy knows whats up.

NJ has only 30-ish officially designated Wild Trout Streams but nearly 200 Trout Production streams.

[coaltrout]

That little stream has had natural reproducing browns for way over 50 years, FYI.

This guy knows whats up.

NJ has only 30-ish officially designated Wild Trout Streams but nearly 200 Trout Production streams.

I wonder what makes them "official" I figure some of it has to do with public access. Although some of the WTS listed are hardly accessible.
Maybe another part is quality, and also secrecy

[Dave B.]

That little stream has had natural reproducing browns for way over 50 years, FYI.

This guy knows whats up.

NJ has only 30-ish officially designated Wild Trout Streams but nearly 200 Trout Production streams.

I wonder what makes them "official" I figure some of it has to do with public access. Although some of the WTS listed are hardly accessible.
Maybe another part is quality, and also secrecy

Public access has in the past not been much of a factor, although the selection process has begun to take this into greater consideration. A couple of the biggest factors are stream size, and most importantly population abundance as it relates to angling pressure mortality rates.

[garden hackle]

I wonder what makes them "official" I figure some of it has to do with public access. Although some of the WTS listed are hardly accessible.
Maybe another part is quality, and also secrecy

WTS designation has a love/hate following. If a stream is designated a WTS, it may draw unwanted attention and it is believed population of trout will decline due to increased fishing pressure. NJAngler has suggested this many times. Nationally point of view, I take pride that NJ has so many WTS listed, it is contrary to how many outsiders view NJ.

Just about every stream in the NW part of our state has the potential of being a WTS, whether it is so designated or not. Serious anglers know this and seek them out. Some have the potential of hold some large trout, most have just small trout and most it is difficult to cast a fly to all likely pools. Meat hunters will not likely frequent them, but it only takes one poacher to ruin a stream for several years.