Targeting Wild Vs Stocked Trout

Photo: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation/Flickr

In a recent story over in Hatch Magazine, George Daniel discussed the differences between fishing for stocked and wild trout. He specifically uses the example of taking his students – who enroll in Penn State University’s fly fishing class – to try their hand on Spring Creek, near Bellefonte, PA. Many of these students, Daniel writes, have no problem catching stocked trout, but they struggle mightily when faced with the wild trout in Spring Creek.

Stocked trout, according to Daniel, have a tendency to always look up and feed on the surface, thanks to a lifetime of eating fish pellets. In addition, they’re more forgiving of rough, sloppy presentations than wild trout.

I don’t doubt Daniel’s observations, but I bring them up because I don’t know that I’ve truly considered the difference between stocked and wild trout. Where I live in Wyoming, I’m lucky to fish for wild trout in every creek and river. Many of the lakes around me are stocked with fish, but those fish are stocked at tiny sizes, and in my experience, quickly take on the attitude of their wild compatriots.

Yes, I’m spoiled to live and fish where I do, but I wonder how many other anglers haven’t thought about, or even seen, a behavioral difference between stocked and wild trout. Especially those of us who live and fish in the Rockies.

So, I’d like to open this up to a discussion amongst MidCurrent readers. Do you see a difference in how stocked and wild trout behave in your local waters? If so, what tactics do you employ to help you catch one type versus the other?