Goodbye Steelhead, Hello Brookies!

[MJL]

Decided last week it was time to end my steelhead season for spring. I figured I wanted to end my season on a high-note and couldn’t think of a better opportunity to do it than with the most gorgeous fish I’ve caught this spring. Fresh, chrome, and wild which leapt, tail-walked and cart-wheeled with reckless abandon. It was orgasmic!

 

 

With that said, I am a huge sucker for peer pressure when it comes to chrome – I must refrain from all things steelhead! I know a select few will try to convince me otherwise…It’s a good thing MSN Messenger has a block-user feature and I also dropped my cell phone in the river again so it doesn’t work anymore

 

Last spring I discovered the joys of fishing for small-stream resident trout and managed to catch my first brookie ever. I enjoyed it thoroughly because of the technical aspect of it all – Observation, casting accuracy and stealth were paramount for the rivers I scouted and fished. Splashing through the shallow tail-outs and crashing through the bushes along the bank totally put fish off (Duh! LOL). Casting super tight to snags and losing lures was part of the game. I was surprised at how well they noticed even the slightest bit of movement and darted back into the logjams.

 

Tuesday morning I left the house for the river with my 5’6” UL spinning combo, waders + boots, wading jacket, water + snacks, camera and a small box of spinners. Got to the river around 9am and like a sniper I slowly moved along the bank low to the ground…Footsteps light and silent, I managed to creep up through the bush 3-4ft behind a pair of birdwatchers who were also enjoying the wildlife along the river…They only realized I was there after I made my first cast and boy were they startled.LOL

 

As with any other type of fishing, make the first cast count I was glad I did.

 

Fish were going nuts eating bugs off the surface (I don’t know what kind they were)…Makes me wish I owned a 3-4wt fly rod . In any case they chased down my spinner and nailed it like a pike with violent strikes visible close to shore. Didn’t end up with any Nipigon river or Algonquin park sized monsters but they were all gorgeous fish nonetheless. Average size was 5-10 inches long.

 

 

 

 

 

ATLANTIC or BROWN? Hehe…First one of these ever

 

Got another

 

Great morning to be out. Ended the day around lunch time. Got into plenty of fish but usually just 1 or 2 in each spot before having to hike to the next spot…Only blunder was realizing my can of DEET didn’t spray when I needed it to spray . I got violated by the black flies and mozzies

 

Hopefully I’ll be able to get out for some resident browns and brookies this weekend…”Happy Mother’s day mom!…Here’s a few fish to clean and fry up”

[BillsTheBassMan]

Great Report! Looks like a fun morning out.

 

Nice Steelhead and some nice little trout - great colours on some for sure.

 

Just out of curiosity (this is slightly against posting etiquette), did you keep any of the small trout? If so, are they good table fare? I've caught my share before but never kept any, and I'm just wondering if people actually do keep them

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[steelhead197]

Wow........great looking hen there!!! Congrats!!

Those Brookies are incredible aren't they......absolutely amazing pics and report!!

Thank you

Cheers!

[MJL]

Great Report! Looks like a fun morning out.

 

Nice Steelhead and some nice little trout - great colours on some for sure.

 

Just out of curiosity (this is slightly against posting etiquette), did you keep any of the small trout? If so, are they good table fare? I've caught my share before but never kept any, and I'm just wondering if people actually do keep them

 

Cheers,

Ryan

 

Many people love eating brook trout. I kept 1 last year and it was tasty when I pan-fried it. I've never really tried any other trout beyond the rainbows you get at the grocery store to compare with.

 

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

brook trout are delicious albeit fairly strong flavoured. a 12 inch speck, fried in butter, is just about as good as it gets. i wouldn't really condone eating stream brookies however. not that they aren't delicious, but more because they come from a very complex and fragile ecosystem...

[rock34]

Great post MJL!! That is a beauty to end the season on!!

I am fighting between ending the season for Steel or not. I think I am done......then again

[EC1]

Mike, you have got to take me out on another fishing trip again!

I'll trade it for a crappie guiding trip once I'm onto them again

[Leecher]

Mike don't tell me you got sick of landing a multitude of fresh chrome and substituted it for specks Somehow I don't believe you Joke Joke

 

You're doing great in your approach for them brookies.... stealth is a must and spinners do get them to react and commit just as much as a hook and dewie under a small float would..... I remember my dad setup, a 16' telescopic bamboo rod and only a small hook rigged with a dewie was his arsenal to tackle a small creek. Suffice to say he would come back from his 2-3km journey with plenty of them small brookies in his trout pouch

 

One great advice I remember my dad saying to me about brook trout fishing is..... if you see your shadow in the creek.... you're on the wrong side, move to the other side..... I think that advice just about sums it up.

 

Again you're doing great and landed some beauties

Great job and thanks for sharing!!!

Jacques

[MJL]

Thanks guys for the comments

 

Mike, you have got to take me out on another fishing trip again!

I'll trade it for a crappie guiding trip once I'm onto them again

 

Edwin, my Chromoholics Anonymous support group says it’s OK to guide you so long as I don’t fish myself and I don't handle your rod (fishing rod that is) …I’ve only caught 4 crappies over my lifetime...I may be tempted to try for them in the future...

 

Mike don't tell me you got sick of landing a multitude of fresh chrome and substituted it for specks Somehow I don't believe you Joke Joke

 

You're doing great in your approach for them brookies.... stealth is a must and spinners do get them to react and commit just as much as a hook and dewie under a small float would..... I remember my dad setup, a 16' telescopic bamboo rod and only a small hook rigged with a dewie was his arsenal to tackle a small creek. Suffice to say he would come back from his 2-3km journey with plenty of them small brookies in his trout pouch

 

One great advice I remember my dad saying to me about brook trout fishing is..... if you see your shadow in the creek.... you're on the wrong side, move to the other side..... I think that advice just about sums it up.

 

Again you're doing great and landed some beauties

Great job and thanks for sharing!!!

Jacques

 

Sick of steelhead = Not really…But there’s a few other species of fish I’d like to try catching before the fishing gets tougher like it did last year later on in the spring. I was surprised to see so many bugs out already. Saturday or Sunday I plan on hitting 7 or 8 different rivers and fish for 15-17hrs weather cooperating. I’d like to try my hand at night fishing for browns…Where I plan to go gets kinda creepy at night (especially when you’re alone) with deer crashing through the forest along with the coyotes.

 

So Far the only things I’ve been able to get brookies on are small Panther Martin spinners and the odd small dewie…They had no interest in the $50 worth of small Mepps spinners I bought, small Rapala CD3, micro soft plastics, marabou jigs, micro kwikfish… I often see them chase them but they turn away at the last second. If anything I catch more chubs with the lures than brookies.LOL It’s been an exercise in futility for sure trying to get them to commit to all the other lures I’ve tried. Kinda reminds me of ice fishing for lakers

 

I haven’t really considered the shadow trick you mentioned while fishing rivers…I mostly try to hide behind trees or shrubs or stay well down river of my target area and cast upstream. When I’m stalking carp right along the bank in the shallows though, it definitely does make a difference. Last season I found myself crawling on my belly a lot along the bank till I ended up in the middle of a red ant colony

 

Thanks for the tips Jacques…Really appreciate it.

[l2p]

nice fish bro! i too have caught a couple of those last fish this year! good sign? maybe.

[jjcanoe]

Nice job on the specks!

 

jjcanoe

[Mykester]

I've also got a 5'6" spinning outfit, need to give it a try on the river.

[Spiel]

Spinners you say, who'd have thunk.

[Victor]

I just bought a 3.6m whip here in Taiwan lol ... next time I'll go and catch all the fish before you have a chance to reach them

[ctranter]

Not gonna lie, that looks like some serious fun. Nice post

[limeyangler]

Great report MJL....love the colours on those trout.

 

the fish's markings in the 6th picture in the series are incredible...i have a musky bait painted identically (almost)

[ehg]

Another nice report Excellent pictures

 

 

So Far the only things I’ve been able to get brookies on are small Panther Martin spinners and the odd small dewie…

 

After 25 yrs. of fishing trib. headwaters only flicking Panther Martins seems to work.

Resident browns,the odd brookie and other trout smolts seem to like #0 Blue Fox Vibrax spinners sometimes. Try faster, more riffly water as the season progresses.

Edited May 8, 2010 by ehg

[kyle7273]

Tiny spinners are the way to go! I've been using Blue Fox Vibrax for years on all species of fish. I caught that nice steelie in my pic on a #1 Mepps.

If the weather wasn't so bad today, I would be out there throwing spinners for brookies. Oh well maybe tomorrow.

[JoeG]

The last atwo definetly are atlantics. The tail is the giveaway just look at the fork in it, brookies have more of a square tail.