Anglers trolling stocking trucks...

[MickeyFinn]

It is almost that time of the year here when the stream that cuts through town gets stocked... Its a sight.. The trucks pull up from the hatchery to the 3 bridges in town and dump hundreds of fish... Then the minute they pull away every tom, dick and harry races out of their vehicles to go catch their limit and think they are Babe Winkleman  for the day..... How come these fish are not stocked before the season is open or after it closes to let the fish roam and get used to their new enviroment?? I just do not understand why this practice is allowed and continues.. This is what it looks like to me.. The hatchery raises the fish for 2-3 years and then dumps them in a stream for 10 minutes.. I know that some fish survive but I would think that a better fishery would be created if this kind of put and take fishing was stopped.. What are some of your opinions??

[rgfixit]

Mickey Finn,
I can understand your views and agree with you that the fish should be stocked well before the season opens and after the season progresses.

Put and take is the only way some people can catch fish. I don't know the mortality rates on stocked fish but I'd guess it's pretty high.  To trout fishers with the ability, equipment and time to fish often, the practice would seem ineffective.

To those without the ability, etc. to catch fish, it is what they pay for with the purchase of their fishing license.

I've often thought that a temporary moratorium on fishing the stocking area could help, but the logistics of enforcement would be difficult.

I don't know the answer.
RG

[roverowner]

I'm planning to follow the trucks with my kids when they get a little bit older.  Nothing gets kids to enjoy fishing like catching fish.  I'm hoping to raise 3 fishing buddies, you see.  Once the kids are hooked I'm sure they'll want to start catching some big ones and I can take them to some of my "secret spots".  Nothing would turn them off faster than having them hike upstream a mile or two and get skunked.  I think that following the trucks is a tad unethical, but if it gets my boys to want to hang out with Dad when they hit the teen years, it will be well worth it.

[rgfixit]

Roverowner,
Maybe that's an answer...restrict it to kids.

RG

[deerslayer92163]

i dont follow the trucks but abut the lake is also full of big northern those stockies seem to bring the big ones right in 6" sucker and big bobber and kick back and cook a few hot dogs on a stick and just wait almost as peaceful as sending my wife to bingo to bad both only last a few hours

[Dark Cloud]

This is a touchy topic. My father and I help with alot of trout stockings. Trust me we have seen it all. This one creek we do has about 12 diff spots that get stocked. At the first spot there is usually about 40 vehicles, after 2 spots atleast half stay behind the catch those wary trout. By the time we get to the last few spots its the same group of 6-8 guys carrying buckets. Sure my dad and I enjoy catching them after we are done. The main reason we like to help is so we can spread the trout out, get some pails away from the bridges so you can come back weeks later and catch some. I like seeing the creeks high and cold when they get stocked, alot less get raped back out. They are not always easy to catch when just dumped in but sometimes they are.
I wish they would do the pre-season stocking earlier so the trout could spread out and acclimate. PA starts doing streams a month and a half before opening day...
Following the truck is definatly a way to get kids hooked. And thats a good thing.
Too many diff views on this subject to satisfy everyone....

[susquayuga fisher]

Have the rugrats help by carrying buckets. The stocking guys appreciate the help, and the kids LOVE helping with the fish! My kids learned to love fishing from the dock at Cayuga Lake. Bluegills and sunnies are half retarded, so they will bite all the time. These uneducated stockies will bite almost anything, which is good for kids, but kind of akin to baited hunting, but lets not open up THAT can of worms! Anything that will swell our ranks of hunters and fishers should be encouraged. My oldest son (15) has little interest in hunting or fishing , but my 10yr old daughter and 8 yr old son love to fish. Although they watched the stocking, they haven't fished right after it. In fact, my daughter made me real proud last year. On our way up to Syracuse, we stopped in Berkshire, where the DEC truck was stocking. There were a few guys there with rods in hand, just waiting for the truck to leave when she said "you guys aren't really gonna fish now are you? Thats like fishing in a bathtub!" I almost upset myself! Of course, she was just repeating what she had heard me say in the past, but it was priceless! As much as I think she never listens to me, when ever we're fishing, she talks about why one spot would be better because of a set of riffles, or a submerged rock,etc. Sorry to bore everyone with all the details, got carried away!                                                  Andy

[bigfish1556]

The "put and take" fishery is entirely accounted for in DEC's management plans for our trout streams.  Generally, the put and take fish are stocked in easily accessible areas and often times in streams that might not often support a year round/sustaining trout fishery (hence a 98% mortality rate on stocked fish is not a big deal as they will either generally not survive or not be able to successfully spawn where they're stocked anyway).  Other prime streams are stocked accordingly and, with some more stringent regs, also provide sustained quality trout fishing through repeated stockings and successful natural reproduction.

I agree with some of the prior posters - the stocking trucks are kind of an educational icon/source of interest and excitement to entice future fisherman to the sport (take the kids - there's nothing more exciting). For those of you (adults) who follow the trucks, purely for the easy take and to fill your freezers, boo....An accomplished trout fisherman can catch his limit at any decent destination. Have some pride - go for a challenge!

Cheers and happy fishing!

[bigdave1018]

stocked hatchery trout raised on pellets? hell id rather eat old gym socks prob. taste better. lets see 10 yucky trout or 50 delicious perch or 50 sunnies or 25 crappies, its an ez choice for me.

[missfishylicious]

the reason they don't stock early, is spring flooding. if they put the fish in too early they end up getting washed down stream ,with the run off.Thats why you can't go by the stocking reports webpage if a stream is high they will skip over it ,and stock somewere else.and yes they do apreciaate  any help you can give them. just don't start telling them were ,how many, and that you would like some in your private pond or favorite honey hole.  a lot of the stocking is done in creeks and rivers that don't hold fish over the summer months very well so theres not much harm in harvesting them right away.I know it seems like a waste but the kids love it and sometimes you just want to catch a fish.I agree with bigdave they taste like gym socks to me.but sometimes it's fun to go down and out fish all the guys at the local fishing hole  and as far as getting any kind of changes made good luck.fat chance

[Dark Cloud]

MissFish - Im gonna agree to disagree, which is ok. The old theory that fish get washed away is hogwash. I stocked thousands of buckets of fish in all kinds of water conditions. Those trout dont get sucked away like a leaf blower. They find the first slack spot and lay there. Ive watched em lay behind stuff or hug the bank. They might not be strong enough to hold in strong current but they do have a brain, allbeit smaller than a pea. The main reason they skip stocking sometimes is water temps. If the stream to be stocked isnt nearly the same temp as water in the truck or holding tanks they wont put em in. Many could die due to shock....

[oakorchardfishking]

im not positive about this subject because i have never chased the trucks, but a friend of mine and his dad however, chase them faithfully. i said to him, how do you know the exact day they are gonna stock which creek? he linked me to a part of the DEC website that shows this info... list all the creeks and proposed days of stocking. as i scrolled through this quite impressive list of creeks, i thought to myself... isnt this kind of like fishing from a barrel? maybe if they didnt make this list or any similar info like it available to the public, then it wouldnt be an all out war the minute they are released! on the other hand though, after reading the above posts... i guess for kids it is a cool way to get them into it. probably better than them freezing there arses off on the ice in a 10 below day!

[roverowner]

"i guess for kids it is a cool way to get them into it. probably better than them freezing there arses off on the ice in a 10 below day!"

Hey Oak, don't discount ice fishing for the kids!  Yeah, -10f is probably a little bit cold, but I got my 3 boys ages 3, 5, and 6 completely hooked on ice fishing this year.  If the bite is on, we pull in fish after fish.  If the action is slow, they play on the ice and make toasted cheetos on the propane heater.  The last time we went out I made the mistake of telling them that it would probably be the last time we could ice fish until next year.  One of my boys was actually crying he was so disappointed!

RO

[MickeyFinn]

I thought about the kid situation having one myself and your right it is a good way to get them involved in fishing but maybe a catch and release time period could implemented just after stocking, I know we would all have a better chance of seeing god than that happening.... Missfishy mentioned water flow blowing the fish away and Dark Cloud made a good counter point, I love it when a good storm comes right after they stock it pushes the fish all over the place and creates consistant fishing throughout the streams instead of fish all bunched up around stocking points...The stream that cuts through my town is Oriskany Creek it is one of the few streams in New York that has natural reproduction and a very good holdover ratio I have caught nice fish in every month of the year on it, I truly believe that the stream could even better fishing if a better stocking method was used..

[RIVERRAT2]

people are people you can not change them,thinking about it just makes for a bad
fishing day.think the real challenge to catch and release one of each native brooktrout, there are about 10 difference strains,which HAS NOT been CHANGED
from the original and will reproduce on there own    .some of the stocked
trout find this hard[to live and reproduce] because we have changed the genetics
to meet our needs,it is not right or wrong it is just the way it is.to the CHALLENGE
1-TUPPER STRAIN in about 15 lakes and ponds-wieghts in up 6 pounds
2-DIX STRAIN -to about 9 in
3-BALSAM STRAIN to about 12in
4-HONNEDAGE STRAIN- TO 6 pounds
5-HORN STRAIN-to16in
6-NATE STRAIN-T0 20in and 4 pounds in about two ponds
7-STINK STRAIN-TO 14in
8-TUNIS STRAIN-to24in in two ponds
9-WINDFALL STRAIN-TO 4 pounds
10-tramarack strain--may be all gone?
easy to tell these trout fins clip if in a new pond,ponds have been reclaimed
--5# brook from middle settlement lake-herkimer co.
---4#15oz  brook from green pond-lewis co.
---5# 14oz brook from clear pond franklin co
---7#-brook from 13th lake???
---5# 12oz brook from mohawk river just below the dam at delta res
good luck
bob