Stockies or Self-Sustaining Fish Population???

[OregonNative]

We went to Detroit Lake today and caught some nice & fat 8-9 inch pan-sized rainbows. The lake was stocked last week, so I figured these were at least some of them. However, they did not have a fin clip. But maybe stocked fish in lakes don't get a fin clip? Does anyone out there in OFF know? The other part of my question is a result of cleaning the fish, as they are pink-meated. This leads me to think that if they are stocked fish, they have been in the lake long enough for their diet to turn the meat from white to pink. Or maybe they are part of the self-sustaining fish population.

So can the collective brain of OFF members enlighten me on my question?

 

[bigsteel]

thaey are probably stockers,,,mostif not everything above detroit is stocked,im sure theres some stockers that have reproduced.

 

[TTFishon]

Not sure about Detroit but the planters in the Mckenzie have had pink meat for a while now. I think they changed the ingredients in the fish's diet.

 

[beaverfan]

Your right TT they did change they're food. They use a formula that if I remember right uses krill now allowing them to have much pinker meat.

Also many lakes/reservoirs do receive stockers without a fin clip. As long as it's not a lake that has a special reg that you can only keep fin clipped fish they typically do not clip them.

 

[the_intimidator03]

Also they may not clip fish going into a locked watershed.. meaning no inlet or outlets like beaverfan said. It wouldnt make much sense to spend money and time clipping fingerlings that are going into a pond that has no inlet or outlet. Let alone have any native population as well.

 

[Stile00]

Also they may not clip fish going into a locked watershed.. meaning no inlet or outlets like beaverfan said. It wouldnt make much sense to spend money and time clipping fingerlings that are going into a pond that has no inlet or outlet. Let alone have any native population as well.

Thanks for that info! I've always wondered the same thing. Some of the fish in Trillium lake are clipped and some are not as well. I assumed the non-clipped were natural.

 

[SmallStreams]

Typically the natives or naturalised fish won't have much weight at 8"-9"... though some lakes are better at fattening them up than others.

 

[troutdude]

Have you munched your fish yet? I'm just wondering how they taste (since the meat is more pink than white).

 

[OregonNative]

Have you munched your fish yet? I'm just wondering how they taste (since the meat is more pink than white).

They tasted pretty good, but that could be the visual influence. I didn't have any white ones to do a side by side comparison. Of course eating them pretty fresh makes a huge difference with any kind of fish.

Thank you everyone for all of the input. My guess is that these are this years stockies.