Auroras through the ice

[adolson]

My brother and I randomly found Aurora trout in a brook trout lake last fall, and confirmed with the MNR that they were stocked accidentally, and are to be treated like a regular brook trout for this lake, meaning a limit and season were not restricted like one of the 3-year rotational lakes. We had good luck in the fall, although the ones we caught were small, and far outnumbered the brookies.

 

In any case, we decided to try through the ice. If we got an Aurora, great. If we got a nice brookie, excellent. If we got skunked, well, at least we tried.

 

After a short trail-blaze into the lake through waist-deep snow, we found ourselves on a pristine lake with only a couple inches of powder on top, and no signs of any recent access from other fisherpeople.

 

We pulled out 12 (and a half) Auroras in about 4 hours, and surprisingly, no brookies this time. I lost a really small one at the hole, and we released a couple of the little ones and took home our limit each. I cooked one up as soon as I got home, and it was delicious (although the seasoning I used wasn't that great).

 

Here's a little video I cut together. It's nothing fancy - it is very, very hard to film without any proper mount, and each of us manning two lines, and one camera... But still, I think you can see we had a good time, despite the fact that we caught no monsters, just a bunch that fit nicely in the frying pan.

 

[Joey]

Awesome!!

[Sterling]

That's amazing. Consider that you're one of the very few people that will ever get to do this!

[Rod Caster]

wow!! you found one hell of a secret.

 

I'd be happy with a day of brook trout fishing like that.... make them Auroras and that's something special!

 

Glad to see you are getting out. Caius enjoys too I see

[Acountdeleted]

Such a cool experience! congratulations. Secrets like that are very rare and super cool to know about.

[Sinker]

Cool!

[Joeytier]

Amazing opportunity you've got there, very cool!

[Terry]

that is great

and Auroras are on my bucket list

[Jds63]

wow very cool for sure .... thanks for the video

[John Bacon]

that is great

and Auroras are on my bucket list

 

Is that a 'white bucket' list?

 

 

On another note. Was there any explanation about how they were accidently stocked into a lake? I am involved in stocking myself. That seems like a pretty big mistake. It would be interesting to hear how that happened. E.g. did they take the wrong fish out of the hatchery when they were supposed to be stocking regular brookies; or, perhaps a driver got his directions mixed up and stocked a different lake.

 

Regardless, it worked out well for you.

[manitoubass2]

Guy chases auroras for years.

 

Catches next to nothing

 

Now has a lake where auroras chase him????

 

Good shootin and man those are some purdy fish!

[Sterling]

 

Is that a 'white bucket' list?

 

 

On another note. Was there any explanation about how they were accidently stocked into a lake? I am involved in stocking myself. That seems like a pretty big mistake. It would be interesting to hear how that happened. E.g. did they take the wrong fish out of the hatchery when they were supposed to be stocking regular brookies; or, perhaps a driver got his directions mixed up and stocked a different lake.

 

Regardless, it worked out well for you.

 

I was thinking this too. Another theory would be two lakes with similar or identical names, or wrong coordinates, or something along those lines. Your first theory seems most plausible though, since Aurora Trout could easily pass as Brookies to the untrained eye.

 

I remember a number of years ago fishing a lake in the McConnell area with my brother and pulling out walleye that were oversized for the lake we were on. We took our limit home and got stopped by the MNR, who asked us where we caught the fish. They didn't believe us, since the lake we came from was supposedly a trout lake only. They'd been stocking that lake with trout for years and the walleye were just gorging themselves all that time!

[chris.brock]

Likely nobody has legally had that many Auroras in their possession before.

 

Cool story.

[cl_fishin]

Excellent, one of my favorite fish for sure. Happy for you, I know how bad you wanted to get one!!

 

 

I re-uploaded my old Aurora adventure video to my new channel, video quality isn't great, if it interests you

 

Edited March 7, 2016 by cl_fishin

[adolson]

Thanks, everyone! I hadn't asked the MNR how lakes get mis-stocked, but if I had to guess, someone didn't use a GPS (there are several official Aurora lakes close by).

 

And thanks for re-sharing, cl_fishin!

[Terry]

 

Is that a 'white bucket' list?

 

 

no , white bucket does not describe me

I am a catch and release kind of guy

[Moosebunk]

Ice fishing and eating Auroras... that is some weirdly epic stuff Dana. lol.

[adolson]

So, I got curious and asked the MNR about how the lake was accidentally stocked, and they said the stocking team thought they were at a different lake. So there we go, mystery solved.

 

Also, they may be discussing making it into a "real" Aurora lake in the future, especially in light of how Wynn Lake is now nothing more than a gigantic pike feeding ground.

[lickmyarmpit]

So cool can't wait to try and find some of these beauty's this summer.

[Acountdeleted]

So, I got curious and asked the MNR about how the lake was accidentally stocked, and they said the stocking team thought they were at a different lake. So there we go, mystery solved.

 

Also, they may be discussing making it into a "real" Aurora lake in the future, especially in light of how Wynn Lake is now nothing more than a gigantic pike feeding ground.

Soooo cool. Thanks for the update on this.

[Freshtrax]

Super jealous.....want to take me fishing? I will wear a blindfold.

[Terry]

Super jealous.....want to take me fishing? I will wear a blindfold.

me too lol

[KEVERS]

New to the site and this is one of the best stories i have seen in a long time. Also my friend is the one who accidentally stocked the Auroras. Your secret is safe with me.