Sal's Brookie Closer

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Howdy! Haven't posted much lately. Kid etc will do that!


Last week I managed to sneak away from adult responsiblity and took a quick 3 day canoe trip. The route would take me through 7 portages, a few of which were rather aggressive switchbacks. There was also some pretty neat paddle sections thanks to beaver dams and such.

On the way into our destination we fished some "trophy" lakes. These lakes have been known to put out 4 or 5lb specks, but like most "trophy" lakes can be cold as winter in Winnipeg when the fishing isn't on. Not even a bit on our way in or out this year.

We hit our destination at about 5pm, so we had little time to spare. I picked my chum and gear up after getting the canoe to somewhere loading would be easy, and we headed across the lake to set up camp for a few days.

Our campsite featured a small tent area on a slight slope, a small stone firepit with large boulder backing it, and a nice rock point to stretch out on when we weren't fishing.

Night falls on the first evening!

Around 8:30 pm some American gentlemen come over to join us for an evening toast. The 4 men had been in the backcountry for a few weeks and were eager to strike up conversations about brook trout trips of the past and present. Comically, as the rounded the point, they suddenly blasted "Rock You Like A Hurricane" from their ipod speakers, announcing their arrival with grandeur.
Dinner was great the first night

Early the first morning we portaged into a neighbouring lake, catching a dozen specks between 3/4lb and 1.5lbs en route. It was fun, and we kept a few for dinner, but with larger fish on the brain, we reluctantly kept moving. This turned out to be a blessing, as the fish were of a much better pedigree in the smaller lake. We fished for about 2 hours, catching a half a dozen fish over 2lbs and countless smaller fish. Nothing huge, but a lot of fun on light tackle. The largest was approx. 3lbs.

With that we headed back to our campsite for lunch and some shade.

That night we went to a no-named lake we call 5 Minute. It is called as such because you can literally catch a limit of fish in 5 minutes. Now we rarely keep fish from this lake, despite the moniker, employing barbed hooks and only keep fish we don't feel will survive. We spent about 30 minutes there, and lost track of the fish we caught, at one point still fishing for 10 minutes near some adjacent spawning habitat. This lake doesn't produce many large fish, but it does have some of the best looking specks I've ever seen. (please pardon the hole in my pants... they ripped on the way into the lake! haha)

We started to feel guilty, so we returned to our campsite for the night... Grand total for the day was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40 specks landed... What a day of fishing!

That need we enjoyed brook trout and pasta primavera.

The next morning we got up and began the portage home. We once again stopped on some lakes to fish on the way out, but only managed to boat one small speck all day.

It was an exhausting way to spend 3 days and we managed to cover over 30 km's by pack or by paddle. Now it's time to dig out some maps and figure out where I go for opener.
Thanks for checking out my adventure.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Dr. Salvelinus

[cram]

Nice fish. Love the colours. Looks like a great time.

[highdrifter]

Wow dude.. those specks are absolutely stunning!

 

Thanks for the write-up.

 

cheers!

[Joeytier]

You layed into em good as usual. Some amazing prespawn colourations on those fish too.

[Musky or Specks]

That's one sexy IQ challenged Fish

 

Edit Thats not what I said Before filtered it was something about a sexy mother breeding fish but four letters

Edited October 1, 2013 by Musky or Specks

[4x4bassin]

Love the backwoods reports Sal , those are some beauty specks to say the least . I was in the backwoods this past weekend for inland trout closure as well , wasn't the weather great !

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

weather was unreal! i was out wed-fri of last week and it was flat calm and sun up until fri afternoon on the way out! i got a pretty good fall tan!

[davey buoy]

Great report!!,love the remoteness and those fish are even too good looking to eat lol.Must of been a blast!!!

[Terry]

cool

 

 

the one picture almost looked like a painting

 

[aplumma]

Looks like a good time was had by all. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Art

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

that's a cool effect terry!

[Rod Caster]

One of the nicest looking specks I've ever seen. You've got some nice spots there Sal.

[gino]

awesome job, doc!!! the colors on those fishes are amazing... :clapping:

[fishindevil]

Some beauty fish man !!! The scenery looks breathtaking too !!!! Amazing trip .. Thanks for sharing

[spincast]

beauty report - the scenery& the fish just stellar - nice way to close out the season

[MJL]

That red-belly brookie is by far the most amazing specimen I've ever seen

 

I really enjoyed this report. Thanks for sharing

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

That red-belly brookie is by far the most amazing specimen I've ever seen

 

 

same here. i'd never such such a vibrant red go all the way into the caudal like that. DanC told me on facebook it reminded him of a arctic char! I can definitely see it.

[Moosebunk]

Howdy! Haven't posted much lately. Kid etc will do that!

With that intro Sal being so matter of fact it was funny, I couldn't help but grin though this read.

 

Great speckin' dood.

[Jds63]

thats an awesome backwoods adventure ,

 

you can't beat the speck colours the last weekend of September

[TDunn]

Amazing fish doc!

If you are where I think you are. I've never made it in during the open water. Must be a blast!

 

Hopefully I will see ya bumming around on the banks this fall. I've hit lots of steel already.....

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Haven't been out on the tribs yet. I hope to do some bummin' around once the leaves are down and the rubber booters are gone.

[fishnsled]

Nice report Dr.! Love the red on that one spec. Awesome fishing, congrats!

Edited October 4, 2013 by fishnsled

[Walleye'm Fishing]

Great trip with some beauty specimens doc. If one is willing to pay the price like you did, the brookie gods will always be generous. Great effort getting back there and that was one sweet report man.

[TJQ]

Sweet report!