Across the country, there are rivers, creeks and streams stocked by the state, often referred to as put and take (they put trout in, you take them out). And especially early in the season, opportunities for stocked trout can be a solid choice. Other places stock fish under catch and release regs or delayed harvest. Also, some rivers, for various reasons, cannot support wild trout populations and they are entirely reliant on hatchery trout. In other places, it’s a mix of wild and stocked.

Troutbitten has always been primarily focused on fishing for wild trout. Because most anglers would more often choose a wild or natural experience over a manufactured one. So I use the word, experience, because not only are stocked fish produced or raised in a hatchery, once they’re in the river, the experience of fishing for stockies is usually pretty different than fishing for wild trout. And that . . . is what we want to talk about in this conversation.

In other podcasts, we’ve already talked a lot about the value differences between wild vs stocked trout. We’ve gone through the hierarchy of river trout, as we put it.

So upon that foundation, in continuation of those discussions, let’s talk about how our approach changes when the trout are stocked and not wild. Let’s think about water selection, patterns, strategies, and the other things that make fishing for stocked trout more successful. What changes and what is different compared to targeting wild trout?

My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell and Trevor Smith, join me for a great discussion.

Resources

PODCAST: Troutbitten | Wild vs Stocked - The Hierarchy of River Trout
READ: Troutbitten | When Fishing For Stocked Trout, It May Not Pay to Be Ambitious
READ: Troutbitten | Natural vs Attractive Presentations - Convinced or Curious

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