Trout Week; Day 2

Trout Week 2012

Day two continues with the State Trout of Pennsylvania, the all mighty and beautiful Brook Trout.  Does anyone know why the brook trout is Pennsylvania's state fish?  The reason is simple.  The brook trout is the only native trout of Pennsylvania.  All other trout that are either wild or stocked in PA are from other parts of the world.  Brook trout are stocked in many streams throughout Pennsylvania, but for many avid fisherman, hooking into a native brook trout is the apotheosis of trout fishing. 

Native Vs. Wild
Today, people are still confused with the difference in the classification of fish.  Often times anglers still misuse the proper description when speaking about a fish they caught or a stream they have fished.  So just to clarify things...
Wild Trout:  A trout that is the product of natural spawning in a stream from previously stocked fish.  An example of a wild trout stream is a stream that was previously stocked but is no longer stocked, allowing for the fish to naturally spawn and continue to live without any assistance.  Spring Creek is an example of a wild trout stream in Centre County.
Native Trout: A trout, (specifically brook trout only in PA), that has naturally lived and reproduced in a particular stream since the arrival of European settlement.  Native trout are often much smaller than stocked trout.  Native trout frequent smaller streams with class A water quality.  Check out more about trout water classifications here.

Below you will find out more information on PA's native brook trout.  As much as I would love to fish every day and explore every stream that PA has to offer, I just cannot.  A special thank you to Dave Piavis Jr. from PA's Wild Trout for authoring this article and highlighting a native trout stream that has much to offer PA anglers!

Stream Name: Pine Creek

Stream Location: Outside of Wilkes-Barre, PA  

Features:Very clear water, the most colorful brook trout that I have seen anywhere around here.

Target Trout: Native Brook Trout

Weapon of choice: Ultra Light Rod with 4lb test, my favorite brand is Suffix.

Bait/Lure/Fly: A 1/100 oz micro jig, tipped with a waxworm, and small split shot. Spinners work alright here, but not quite as well as jigs.


Section of Choice: The last mile or so before it flows into the Millie on the other side of 309. I access the creek by turning off of 309 in Hanover Township onto Pine Run Road, and park my car on the side of the road and walk down the the path under the power line.

X-tra Info: Because of the small size of the creek, you'll really have to put your time in to catch anything over ten inches here, but what this creek lacks in size it makes up for in numbers. A lot of the bigger trout you'll see here will have huge heads that taper off into disproportionate bodies, I'm guessing that this is because of the small size of the stream also.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native Brook Trout Fishing 
In this video, Dave illustrates how to catch native PA brook trout with the micro jig/waxworm set up.

 

Write this down!  Trout Week day 2 prize pack code: Native Brooks