There is a breed of Cape brookie used in a private Barnstable hatchery that the
owner swears is native. In fact, he says that the fish came from the very creek
upon which the hatchery is built. He says that frequently, searuns nose up to the
lower net dam from the bay. Since this breed is his most successful, and due to
the inherent salinity of the creek, I tend to believe him.
It was also fairly easy to spot searun brookies in Stony Brook, in Brewster, when
the herring choked the brook. They were usually spotted in the basin near the
waterwheel when they were not hiding from the hordes. I checked last year but
sadly, the herring run was really depressed and there were no trout to be seen.
On the other hand, my friends and I have caught some plump and fiesty searun
browns in the Scorton River, all of the action being in the last hour of daylight
and sometimes never happening at all. It would be a beautiful hour on the water
each spring or fall day for someone living in Sandwich or Barnstable.