My First Brookie Adventure – Small Stream Trouting

[MJL]

I guess it’s been a long time coming. Each year I tell myself I’ll try my hand at fishing for resident trout but never get around to doing it. I've caught lots of small brownies by accident when I'm fishing for steelhead. I've never caught a brook trout before.

 

The state of my tackle says it all…I have a 4wt fly reel which I intended to use for trout but never got around to purchasing a matching rod or fly line for it – I bought it from Pollacks a while ago. I have exactly 1 spinner in a size smaller than 1 (I think it’s a size 0 panther martin). I don’t remember ever using the ultra-lite combo which I bought at the 2004 Spring Fishing Show (500 Daiwa Laguna spinning reel + 5’6” Shimano Stimula spinning rod). I am well stocked for steelhead and carp though

 

Decided this morning to give the ‘trout thing’ a try. Spent some time on Google Earth looking for likely rivers which trout might be in along with access points. I spooled up the baby Daiwa with 6lb mono (the lightest mono I have) and tied on a 3ft fluorocarbon leader (4.4lb) + my only micro sized panther martin. I also packed small hooks (size 12-14) and split-shots plus small live trout worms, bigger mepps and Vibrax spinners (size 1-3) and a few packs worth of soft plastics which I normally use for steelhead (pink worms, micro tubes, micro craws, etc).

 

I picked one river to try and off I went. Got to the river at 10:30am – It was gin clear. I didn’t really know what kind of water brook trout usually hold in. Most of the footage I see on TV of brook trout usually involve log jams or fallen trees of some sort so I looked for that…I also fished undercut banks, riffles, deep runs and other water that looked like steelhead would hold in too…In this river I don’t think steelhead make it up that far – I didn’t see any signs of them or salmon smolts.

 

First few casts into a deep pool, I see flashes of silver nailing my spinner...I was on an adrenaline rush till I pulled this in – I didn’t even know minnows take spinners.LOL

 

 

I also caught dozens of creek chub (some of them bigger than my hand) on the panther martin and worms. They also really enjoyed the pink worms too.

 

Walked further upstream till I found a fallen tree – Like a sniper, I crawled on the floor through the shrubbery to get into position. Switched up to a worm + 4 BB split shots and dropped it down in between some branches. I immediately had a take. The fish jumped and I felt my knees start to shake…While fighting the fish, I slipped and fell and made my way into the river (I have a habit of getting wet ). In the end I managed to land my first ever brookie

 

 

I’ve been told by other anglers that it’s bad juju to kill your first speck so in the end I released it. I couldn’t get another take from that spot…I probably spooked the hole when I plunged into the water.

 

I slowly walked upstream till I found a deeper riffle. I re-tied the panther martin back on and 3rd cast upstream I get this beauty

 

 

Close up

 

For 10 seconds I kneeled there contemplating what to do – Almost like being at a cross-road in life - I couldn’t decide if I should take it home for dinner or release it. I always wanted to try eating one…Being the gorgeous thing that it is, I let it go.

 

Walked further upstream and found some deeper, faster water with an undercut bank directly below me. First cast in (I really just dropped it straight down) I get a fish that actually pulls drag and swims downstream. I land it, measure it against my rod and put a mark on the blank with a sharpie pen…Measured it when I got home and it was 14.25 inches long. Unfortunately it kicked free from my grip when I was trying to take a picture of it. I guess my next purchase will be a new trout net. That one was the biggest of the day.

 

I landed 2 more brookies (1 tiny one about 5 inches long and another one at 9 inches). I also landed dozens more creek chub + minnows and this beauty piece of steel

 

My line somehow lassoed around the head of the thing…Really impressed with the 4lb Redwing Phantom fluoro. It pulled it from the log jam like a champ.LOL

 

Landed 5 specks in total (all of them released). This trout fishing is actually quite fun. Although the fish are tiny (at least compared to what I normally go after), I had an absolute blast today hunting them down in the small creek and crawling on my belly like a commando (some plants I encountered on the floor were prickly though and it hurt…But still so fun). The small stream/resident trout type of fishing is definitely something I plan to do again hopefully soon.

 

Hope you enjoyed.

Edited May 16, 2009 by MJL

[BillM]

Be careful of the regs, alot of tribs of the few popular rivers are no kill..

 

Gotta remember, killing a few fish out of a small creek could have a big impact, I personally would let them go.

[MJL]

Be careful of the regs, alot of tribs of the few popular rivers are no kill..

 

Gotta remember, killing a few fish out of a small creek could have a big impact, I personally would let them go.

 

Hey Bill, you're absolutely right about checking the regs...I made sure I did that before I left. The creek I fished has a limit of 2 for a conservation licence (which I have). I considered how many fish I was getting there and I made the choice to release them all.

[Weeds]

Very cool report. Makes me wish I'd tried for Brookies while I was living in Toronto.

[Zubris21]

Sounds like a great trip out there! thanks for sharing!

[Whitespinnerbait]

Fishing for Speckle trout in a stream ...Paradise right there !!!! Awesome colours on those specs.....

 

Might have to go back to Lake x one more time this year....

 

 

 

 

Nice outing.....

[snag]

Sweet!

 

Love the scores.

 

Trade it in for a lure???

[ehg]

Landed 5 specks in total (all of them released). This trout fishing is actually quite fun. Although the fish are tiny (at least compared to what I normally go after), I had an absolute blast today hunting them down in the small creek and crawling on my belly like a commando (some plants I encountered on the floor were prickly though and it hurt…But still so fun). The small stream/resident trout type of fishing is definitely something I plan to do again hopefully soon.

 

Hope you enjoyed.

 

Those specks are quite large for small creek fish.

Welcome to headwater brookie hunting; beats the crowds and still is good for a month or so and picks up again for September.

Congrats on the success! Those are some nice specimens.

[drwxr]

beauty fish, btw its first fish i see you holding with one hand thanks for report.

[Fishing 24/7]

BROOKIES!

[MJL]

Thanks guys for the comments...I'm still thinking about landing that first brookie

 

Those specks are quite large for small creek fish.

Welcome to headwater brookie hunting; beats the crowds and still is good for a month or so and picks up again for September.

Congrats on the success! Those are some nice specimens.

 

How big on average are they usually in the streams? I got 1 that was 5 inches, 3 in the 9-10 inch range and 1 that was 14.25 inches.

 

I was so close to picking up a new ultra-lite rod today along with a new trout net...I'm afraid to say I just plunged head first into the wonderful world of brookie hunting

 

Also, what lures or baits could you recommend for stream fishing? I'm not exactly sure if the spinners I already own are too big for them (Mepps + Vibrax in size 1-3). At the moment, I'm having a hard time tracking down spinners in size 0 around my neighbourhood - Tried a few tackle shops + CTC + Wal-Mart with limited success as well as variety.

 

Thanks

[BillM]

#0 and #1 Bluefox and the smallest Panther Martins you can find.

[douG]

Sweet, MJL. I love seeing those halos around the spots on those most beautiful trout. Thanks for your post.

[ehg]

Thanks guys for the comments...I'm still thinking about landing that first brookie

 

How big on average are they usually in the streams? I got 1 that was 5 inches, 3 in the 9-10 inch range and 1 that was 14.25 inches.

 

For trib headwaters from L. Ontario i think 8-12 are average to decent size fish. They would be scrappy on a small ultralite setup for sure. Big difference between their fight and the chubs that fight like wet toddler socks.

That fish being 14.25 inches is definitely higher end for southern ontario headwaters.

Good luck with this in future it is always a quick and easy go for these little beauties.

[Leecher]

Awesome report and pics Mike

Must feel real good getting into your first brookies.... Congratulations

 

I remember when I was younger, dad used to go every Sunday for brookies. He had 5 miles of creek to walk along and back then only had a 16' telescopic bamboo rod tipped with the smallest hook and worm. He would be gone for a couple hours and return with bag full of them..... don't know if back then there was any limit on harvesting but would eat trout for supper every weekend.

 

That was the good old days. I do to this date remember the great tips he gave me, he would say "son, when walking along the creek, try a locate the darker holes, undercut banks and if you see your shadow in the water.... you're on the wrong side of the creek".

 

Again great job Mike and thanks for sharing

Leechman

[solopaddler]

I like the way you did it, all on your own with no help. Well done, nice fish!

[Trevor0179]

great report and nice fish

[Joeytier]

I aspire to break the 15" mark before summer.