I too got me brookie streams 20 mins away from my front door!

[mirogak]

Like Brad suggested in a recent post, I had been doing a lot of research to find brookie streams not too far from where I live (Toronto) for early morning or evening side trips, and it paid off. After my cottage/fishing trip for season opener got cancelled and Algonquin was out of the question due to ice out/flooding situation, I thought I'd put my research to the test.

 

The first access point I tried looked like this Ok they're only in there for the steelheads but I want them brookies, so I am gonna go further north to the more cooler, cleaner and "solo'er" headwaters.

 

 

 

And then I found them ...

 

 

And I made a new friend up there, whom I plan to visit again...

 

 

I must have caught over 20 of these little brookies, they were small but I was totally fine with that. Knowing that they live 20 mins away from where I live, I was perfectly happy. Throughout the 5 hours I was there, I ran into one person, a freindly angler who showed me pics of what he had caught in this stream. A beautiful 3 pounder brown!!!! just downstream of where I was catching brookies.

 

My question is this - how come the resident brookies don't get as big as the browns in the same waters. What do you guys think?

 

L8R

Miro

[BillM]

Nice fish, make sure you're pinching your barbs when fishing for these beauts.. You can kill a bunch of fish without even knowing it..

[mirogak]

Right on Bill, I started doing that after I hurt the very first one ... lesson learned

[BillM]

Good job You can even run siwash hooks instead of the trebles.. That's usually what I do on all my small stream trout spinners. Just makes it easier on the fish. Those little guys can be quite ferocious!

[4x4bassin]

Great report , it feels good when a plan comes together ! That first picture is crazy , bin there , done it , not doin it again , you made the right choice on going a bit north

[fishindevil]

Nice fish, make sure you're pinching your barbs when fishing for these beauts.. You can kill a bunch of fish without even knowing it..

thanks bill thats what i was going to suggest !!! nice stream trout for sure....

[Old Ironmaker]

Good for you, always a win when you hit them off the beaten track. That first picture is why I stopped steelhead fishing 30 years ago. Not a very serene atmosphere, like fishing from the greys at Maple Leaf Garden's.

[solopaddler]

WTG Miro!

[chris.brock]

nice job, success!

 

like the other guys said, that first picture is why I grew out of stream fishing

 

Mr Beaver is having fun too

 

keep that spot in your pocket, remember- loose lips sink ships

[woodenboater]

Very nice ! and agree with others about that first photo. I can't imagine (well I can) what it would have been like on the stream. I prefer solitude or maybe a few other like minded waders and if castor is your company, that's very cool

[timmeh]

Nice fish bud!

 

And don't completely give up on those steelhead holes if you really want to fish them. Just fish them at different hours. Most guys show up around the same time (sunrise). But if you show up late afternoon and fish till sunset it can be just as good, with far fewer people.

[craigdritchie]

Good job You can even run siwash hooks instead of the trebles.. That's usually what I do on all my small stream trout spinners. Just makes it easier on the fish. Those little guys can be quite ferocious!

 

I agree, but rather than Siwash style hooks I use little weedless singles. The tiny wire guard on the hook keeps from hanging up on sumberged branches, and doesn't seem to affect the hooking effectiveness one bit.

[mirogak]

What that first picture doesn't show is a full parking lot that holds about 30 cars ... yikes!!! Passing over the bridge I saw 5 guys fishing the same hole ... don't wanna be there. I am going further up....

[Mike Pike]

A pocket full of Panther Martins and hiking a stream for Brookies. Paradise!!!

 

Way to go Miro and congratulations on your success.

[misfish]

Nice piece of water Miro.

[Joey]

Nice!! Lucky you

[mirogak]

A pocket full of Panther Martins and hiking a stream for Brookies. Paradise!!!

 

Way to go Miro and congratulations on your success.

That's exactly what it was. They weren't interested in flies, dry or wet. They weren't even giving the spinner a chance to spin ..... Bam after bammm

[John Bacon]

My question is this - how come the resident brookies don't get as big as the browns in the same waters. What do you guys think?

 

L8R

Miro

 

I think that brown trout are simply a larger species of fish. The world record brown is over 40 lbs vs. 14.5 lbs for brook trout. Not really any different than small mouth bass being bigger than rock bass in the same lake.

[mirogak]

 

I think that brown trout are simply a larger species of fish. The world record brown is over 40 lbs vs. 14.5 lbs for brook trout. Not really any different than small mouth bass being bigger than rock bass in the same lake.

And perhaps that browns maybe feeding on the Brookies.

[MJL]

Nicely done Miro

[Musky or Specks]

Don't know how I missed this. Good job Miro. I think diet has a lot to do with size and I feel(this is just anecdotal) that browns are a bit more piscavorous than brookies and because they tolerate warmer temps better have a longer feeding window before they become inactive in the summer.

[mirogak]

Don't know how I missed this. Good job Miro. I think diet has a lot to do with size and I feel(this is just anecdotal) that browns are a bit more piscavorous than brookies and because they tolerate warmer temps better have a longer feeding window before they become inactive in the summer.

Good point re the warmer temps.

[Christopheraaron]

Don't know how I missed this. Good job Miro. I think diet has a lot to do with size and I feel(this is just anecdotal) that browns are a bit more piscavorous than brookies and because they tolerate warmer temps better have a longer feeding window before they become inactive in the summer.

Thats what I was thinking too, but also remember that brookies don't have as many options for spawning grounds too, you would think that more browns competing would result in smaller fish, but I guess it doesn't work that way...

[Christopheraaron]

Almost forgot, nice fish Miro! LOL

[davey buoy]

Yes,very nice Miro!!!