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An ode to brook trout


Joeytier

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Well, aside from a few trips to stocked lakes, my trout fishing season is pretty much done. I was organizing my photos on my laptop from my openwater season and I figured I'd share a few of my favourites, since I have a bunch of them from this year...

Just as a note, I'm very careful with handling them, so any of the fish being handled poorly in the photos were likely fish that were destined for buttery greatness, anyways.

Spring was late to show up (haven't seen open water in April in a few yrs now), but the trout didn't seem to mind. I had a bunch of great spring trips, with a bunch of people in the boat and really great numbers of both lake and brook trout just about every time we went out!

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In between the brookies, these guys are absolutely everywhere in the spring around here and tons of fun.

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Through late spring into mid-summer, I focused more on larger lakes with more of a pelagic zone. The brook trout seem to stay more active in these lakes and are easier to pattern down deep. I had quite a bit of success in 24-30 feet of with keel sinkers and spoons and small hardbaits.

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I also spent a little bit of time on a local river system known for big fish and got lucky with a few brute creek fish. I'm not an expert on riverfishing brook trout by any means, but I learned a lot this year and was more than happy to land a few nice ones, even a couple on the fly rod.

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Perhaps my favourite one of the year, definitely my favourite picture of the year.

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I took a few weeks off from brookies in mid-August, and by September I was starting to get really excited for late-summer/early fall fishing. This can be a frustrating time of year, as fish are tough to pattern and on most lakes and can be seriously lockjawed, but we usually found at least some success just about every trip out. Catching a mature male brook trout in the fall is enough to make anyone an addict.

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The last fish of the '16 season was this gorgeous buck my dad landed on a brutally slow day (I skunked hard)

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Thanks for reading. I enjoy putting up these summary reports after I compile a seasons worth of photos!
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Sweet buddy. Looks like you had a good season out there! Beautiful looking lakes and pretty fish.

 

I've never made time for back lake brookies, which is crazy. It's creeping high on my list. The allure is really getting to me!

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Sweet buddy. Looks like you had a good season out there! Beautiful looking lakes and pretty fish.

 

I've never made time for back lake brookies, which is crazy. It's creeping high on my list. The allure is really getting to me!

Im finding less and less time for everything else lol. Every day there's something new to learn, and the reward is hard to beat.

 

Rick, they taste better than any candy I'm aware of lol

 

Chris, it was definitely interesting trying to figure them out in the summer, something I've never done before. Sometimes you're simply at the mercy of how they feel on that particular.

Edited by Joeytier
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Great post! Thanks so much for sharing. That brings back memories of 80's back lake trout fishing in the Bogie highlands. Specks and bows mostly. Our go to method in the summer was using small gang trolls like a ford fender or willowleaf with a worm trailer 16" behind. Adjust weight as needed with rubbercore or 3-way to get down in the deepest parts of the lake and hope the sunfish didn't strip the worm off on the way down lol. The best run of all the lakes was a 40 ft deep section with a long cliff face along the run. Huge Specks at times, but like you we had to be down at least 25 ft, preferably over 30 to find them.

 

Tks again for all the great pics. I really enjoyed that. :)

 

Cheers

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These are the types of lakes I need to get out on with the toon. Always seems that the bass draw me. Maybe cuz Im more geared towards them. Going to start working on my small back lake trout gear over the winter.

 

Beautiful fish and the report was great dude. Think I have strolled through it about a dozen times now. Start reading and then just stare at the photos. LOL

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Great collection Joey! Solid season. Time spent for brookies and other back lake gems is something many should do more often.

 

Have a feeling that most of those fish were headed for the pan too. ;)

 

lol

 

Well done.

Not really. There were certain trips where most fish were kept, and plenty of strictly c & r trips too. Certainly the summer trips were for catch and keep (deep water). Catch a limit and go home :)

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These are the types of lakes I need to get out on with the toon. Always seems that the bass draw me. Maybe cuz Im more geared towards them. Going to start working on my small back lake trout gear over the winter.

 

Beautiful fish and the report was great dude. Think I have strolled through it about a dozen times now. Start reading and then just stare at the photos. LOL

There is a beauty in the simplicity of backlake troutin'. I think you'd love toonin' around for some backlake squaretails :)
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