Chasing Big Brookies

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Brook trout are a funny creature. I have had days where we have "boated" or "iced" dozens of fish per person. On the other side of that coin, I have gone on fishing trips where each guy was lucky to boat a fish or two all weekend. Despite the humbling nature of the species, time and time again a brook trout fanatic will play this game of chess with Mr. Fontinalis, and for better or worse, take a chance.

 

This weekend 3 friends and myself took this chance with a trophy brookie lake which has both the power to reward and humble. This is our story.

 

The plan was as follows... The intention was to paddle and portage about 8km into a lake we visited the last time some time in the early 2000's. In what was to be one of the most monumental days in brookie fishing I ever had, many of us shattered our PB specks with 8 fish over 3 lbs in one day, including a few real brutish 4.5lb fish. Since then I've tried to make it back into this lake but mother nature was never on my side. Several times trips were altered and plans changed due to the high winds and large waves often experienced on the portage route. All week we monitored wind forecasts and as of Friday night winds were to be calm in the morning with some 20-25km/h winds forcasted for late morning.

 

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 4am and I begrudgingly rolled out of bed. I met up with my partners in crime and we headed out of town, shrouded in darkness, like some sort of piscatorial ninjas. By about 8 am we were paddling across a very large lake 2 wide. The winds were only about 5km/h so we made the best of the conditions and paddled hard without fishing just to make it to the final portage before the winds kicked up.

 

After reaching the final portage we dumped our camp gear and the landing and portaged just the canoe, rods, etc. into the lake that we hoped would pay big dividends. By 10 am we had reached our destination, by this point my nerves were on the cusp of errupting!

 

What followed in the next few hours would best be described as a flurry of action. Seemingly every shoreline, every point, every shoal, every back bay, and every rock pile held fish. We caught fish casting, trolling, and drifting. We caught fish on spoons, live bait, rapalas, and spinners. By the time 3 hours had passed we had already boated 21 fish.

 

At 1 pm the winds simply became too much so we abandoned our canoes at the lake and hiked back to our campsite. Homemade beef stew was on the menu and we stuffed our belly's with stew and rye bread until we were all on the cusp of a food coma.

 

By 4 pm the winds still hadn't slowed but we couldn't take it any longer. We walked back up the 1.6km portage, boarded our trusty vessels, and fought the winds for a brief period to get back into prime position. Yet another flurry of action on every conceivable location on the lake to the tune of 17 fish. By 8 pm it was pretty much dark and we regretfully hiked back to our campsite. A pre-cooked jambalaya and never ending red wine would expedite our evenings slumber.

 

This morning (sun) we woke up at 7, retrieved our canoes from the lake, and portaged our way back to the vehicle. What a weekend. We caught nearly 40 fish, and while we didn't get any fish over 3 lbs this year, we got numbers we had never yet seen, and of a fantastic average size. Lots of the fish were in the 15-16 inch range with perhaps 10 of them being in the 17-19 range. What struck us was the "shoulders" on some of the fish. While specks do put on a big of a fall feedback during pre-spawn, these fish clearly weren't starving ANY time of the year.

 

All in all, it was one of the most entertaining days of brookie fishing any of us had experienced. Lots of fish, LOTS of red wine, and WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! Sounds like a recipe for brookie fishing to me. We didn't quite get the SIZE of fish we wanted, but the unexpected numbers more than made up for it. Here's a few pics we snapped. I'll add more photos as they are uploaded from their respective cameras.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Our chums on the opposite shore.

 

 

 

My biggest of the day.

 

The only fish kept were those who would not be successfully released.

 

My chum (is on the other end of the camera for most of these pics)

 

 

Some time this week, if you interested, check back as I will be posting the rest of the pics from this weekends adventure.

 

Tight lines.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Dr. Salvelinus

[ctranter]

Some beauty brookies right there My brookie addiction started this season but those northern lake specks trump all of my catches by far! nice pics

[asdve23rveavwa]

Oh, the colours/markings on those September males Sounds like an awesome trip!

[bananaweed]

Nice fish and nice report.

[danc]

Awesome report Doc. To this day I haven't figured out why and when Brook Trout turn on for feeding. In fact I had this conversation with Guidofisherman a few weeks ago and we concluded that they will turn on every other day or so for no apparent reason. Love the photos. That male shot is outstanding. Can't wait for part 2.

[Rod Caster]

Shoulders indeed!

[Musky or Specks]

Thats my kind of report. Now I'm all horny to get out for fall colours and specks.

[camillj]

Man I love specks .. they are so special ! Thanks for sharing ... next spring I am gonna try the ol spoon and worm approach ... its very popular in Quebec where I fish ... and now I can see why

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Man I love specks .. they are so special ! Thanks for sharing ... next spring I am gonna try the ol spoon and worm approach ... its very popular in Quebec where I fish ... and now I can see why

 

Definitely a deadly technique at certain times. And another reason is that I find using a single barbless hook prevents me from killing unnecessary fish. Clearly there was no shortage of action, and it would be a shame to suffer excess mortalities when the action is good. I can't imagine how many fish we'd kill out of the 40 with barbs and trebles.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Dr. Salvelinus

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Awesome report Doc. To this day I haven't figured out why and when Brook Trout turn on for feeding. In fact I had this conversation with Guidofisherman a few weeks ago and we concluded that they will turn on every other day or so for no apparent reason. Love the photos. That male shot is outstanding. Can't wait for part 2.

While they are a miniature version, these brookies had the "shoulders" of a strain you and guido are quite familiar with.

[solopaddler]

Wow what an amazing report! Timely as well since I'm headed to your neck of the woods later this week hoping for some of the same.

 

What I find interesting, you described catching them all over the lake.

Obviously they're not congragating over the upwelling springs yet? (At least in that lake)

Normally this time of year I catch all the fish in one very localized spot close to where they'll spawn.

I can only assume the water temps must still be too high?

 

Based on the spoon/worm you were using did you mostly troll for them?

 

That is a deadly, time honoured technique for sure. (Looked like a gold Doctor spoon you were using?)

 

In any case congrat's dude, and thanks for whetting my appetite.

[dave524]

 

That is a deadly, time honoured technique for sure. (Looked like a gold Doctor spoon you were using?)

 

 

 

or perhaps maybe an " Mooselook Wobbler "

 

Great post , beauty specs

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Very nice. I like the red ones better.

[Guidofisherman]

You got my attention with this one! I loved the adventure and great photos. Nothing better than fall colours on the leaves and the fish. Some days fishing for these beauties, everything seems to work and you think you have them finally figured out. The next day, you try the same pattern and ...nothing! Dan C's comment was correct. The best we could come up with was that they turn on and off for no apparent reason. Frustrating and challenging at the same time. I've tried keeping stats on every thing from temps, waves, barometric pressure to past success, but it is some subtle difference that turns them on-off. Just enjoy the success of that trip. Great report.

Guidofisherman

[limeyangler]

Awesome report!

 

Looks quite choppy out there, i would be swimming with the fishes if i tried to perch at the back/front of a canoe for a picture like you did.

 

I can only admire your catches as i have only ever been 'humbled' on 4 seperate occasions ( 3 times on the ice, once in a boat).

 

 

Great read on a Monday morning.

 

 

Thanks Doc.

[johnnyb]

Very nicely done...fantastic scenery AND incredible fishing....doesn't get much better than that!

[Grimace]

Great read. Brook Trout are awesome.

[torco]

Awesome report. You guys up there are truly blessed with some great brookie fishing!

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

 

 

What I find interesting, you described catching them all over the lake.

Obviously they're not congragating over the upwelling springs yet? (At least in that lake)

Normally this time of year I catch all the fish in one very localized spot close to where they'll spawn.

I can only assume the water temps must still be too high?

 

Based on the spoon/worm you were using did you mostly troll for them?

 

That is a deadly, time honoured technique for sure. (Looked like a gold Doctor spoon you were using?)

 

In any case congrat's dude, and thanks for whetting my appetite.

 

We caught fish literally everywhere on the lake but there was one major concentration of fish. What initially caught our eye was a beaver dam but right next to it was a very large sand upwelling. We caught many fish casting off it and at one point even had 5 or 6 fish we could see directly beneath our canoe. Water temps are pretty magical. They may be just starting to hit the beds, but they were congregating en masse on rock piles, beaver dams, and shoals.

 

 

We got a lot of fish trolling, but just as many casting as the fish seemed to be quite shallow. We trolled in higher winds but when the wind allowed we spent much of our casting time as well.

 

And that's definitely a Doctor Spoon. It's my favourite speck lure, and happens to be where I derived the name Dr. Sal.

 

Can't wait for the report solo.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Dr. Salvelinus

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

a few more pics rolled in this morning...

 

[solopaddler]

We caught fish literally everywhere on the lake but there was one major concentration of fish. What initially caught our eye was a beaver dam but right next to it was a very large sand upwelling. We caught many fish casting off it and at one point even had 5 or 6 fish we could see directly beneath our canoe. Water temps are pretty magical. They may be just starting to hit the beds, but they were congregating en masse on rock piles, beaver dams, and shoals.

 

 

We got a lot of fish trolling, but just as many casting as the fish seemed to be quite shallow. We trolled in higher winds but when the wind allowed we spent much of our casting time as well.

 

And that's definitely a Doctor Spoon. It's my favourite speck lure, and happens to be where I derived the name Dr. Sal.

 

Can't wait for the report solo.

 

Right on, so they are starting to congregate then.

 

It's funny I've got a couple dozen larger Doctor spoons, they're my favourite pike spoon bar none.

 

Never used them in smaller sizes for spec's but I guess I'll have to now.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

The Gold/Silver or solid gold has been on every trip I've been on since troutologist and I got our butts kicked by a guy with one back in the mid 90's. We were fishing a lake with big fish and saw my father and his chum go up several 3+ fish on us before we managed to procure a few.

 

The price of these spoons goes up exponentially once you're out in the bush.

[Guest jaeteriusZero]

what a nice camera you have there.

[troutologist]

Great write up, I was wondering how the trip went. Nothing beats that 1st time in there...very windy that time too.

 

Nice to see you kept the rod holder installed on the canoe.

 

See you in a few weeks for some chrome.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Jay Hamilton

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

 

See you in a few weeks for some chrome.

 

I took the pin out of the closet today.