Locating Brook Trout in Lowland Areas

[Sterling]

I'm headed to the James Bay lowlands for 11 days and once again will be catching lots and lots of walleye + pike.

This year my goal is to find speckled trout nearby. Being a lowland area, specks are extremely hard to come by. All my threads asking for tips in locating these came up empty, and in fact most responses were along the lines of "good luck, there basically aren't any in that area". But I did see pictures of local Cree people capturing them, so they're in the area for sure.

I went as far as reading a couple books on speckled trout just to understand their habits / habitats. I think I have a good grasp of where I'll find them, even in these lowlands. I have 5 lakes that I want to check. These candidates were selected based on several criteria, and with the help of some cool tools I found online.

If I'm successful, would there be any interest in a how-to guide to locating these candidates? It was a pretty involved process, so there might be some value there for you guys.

Edited June 11, 2018 by Sterling

[BillM]

Wish I could help, I've only ever fished them in rivers(Sutton, Asheweig)..   Let us know how you make out!

[Sterling]

1 hour ago, BillM said:

Wish I could help, I've only ever fished them in rivers(Sutton, Asheweig)..   Let us know how you make out!

Actually, you're in luck! I'll be trying Rupert River as well. Sort of a side-bar, but this river has specks for sure. This is where I'm going: https://zoom.earth/#51.385363,-77.16949,16z,sat

From the bridge to the west you can launch a boat, and drive 20km to the spot linked above. 

The question to you is whether specks will hang out near big rapids this time of year? My guess is yes.

[BillM]

Current sections are always a draw, really doesn't matter what time of year it is.    I'd fish that section and the one south of it if you're looking for brookies.  Also the one way upstream of it looks killer as well.

The next section below your initial spot looks the best out of all of them.

https://zoom.earth/#51.368232,-77.752476,13z,sat

Edited May 30, 2018 by BillM

[Sterling]

1 hour ago, BillM said:

Current sections are always a draw, really doesn't matter what time of year it is.    I'd fish that section and the one south of it if you're looking for brookies.  Also the one way upstream of it looks killer as well.

The next section below your initial spot looks the best out of all of them.

https://zoom.earth/#51.368232,-77.752476,13z,sat

Thanks Bill! Unfortunately I'll be limited to the spot I initially linked, but maybe one day I'll make the trek downriver. 

What are your thoughts on this spot? https://zoom.earth/#51.464905,-77.072568,17z,sat

It's a small river branching off Rupert. I'll be fishing out of a Cree camp on Jolliet, and will have the ability to travel to this specific spot without pulling and launching the boat. I may be able to get further if the water is high enough (which it should be).

[BillM]

Really like your last spot as well.  Anything with multiple rapids should be the ticket and have a lot of holding water.

[chris.brock]

I talked to a guy today who was looking for brookies north of Nakina last week and he couldn't find them. They weren't in the typical fast water sections and rapids. With the cold water, they might be roaming around a bit. If they're not in the rapids, try a shallow, soft, dark bottomed bay near the rapids. Warmer water and more bugs and minnows to eat.

[Jmeyer]

I would hire a guide for a day for a river like the Rupert, the river has changed drastically since the dam went in. I know some stretches that we're great are now mediocre, the tributaries are still great and I've heard sea trout can still be had at the mouth.

[Sterling]

Well I'm back from the trip and figure I would update this!

We spoke to locals early in the trip and they told us fishing from shore would be pointless since specks would be hanging deep at this time of year. This was definitely the case, as we did try our hand at them in some lakes and came up empty. 

On 5/31/2018 at 6:44 AM, Jmeyer said:

I would hire a guide for a day for a river like the Rupert, the river has changed drastically since the dam went in. I know some stretches that we're great are now mediocre, the tributaries are still great and I've heard sea trout can still be had at the mouth.

Went that route initially. Set up a time and place to meet the guide, and he no-showed. Pretty frustrating when you get up at 6am and drive an hour to the meeting spot. 

The guy no-showed not once, but twice...

Good news is that we did locate some nice specks.  

On 5/30/2018 at 10:53 PM, chris.brock said:

I talked to a guy today who was looking for brookies north of Nakina last week and he couldn't find them. They weren't in the typical fast water sections and rapids. With the cold water, they might be roaming around a bit. If they're not in the rapids, try a shallow, soft, dark bottomed bay near the rapids. Warmer water and more bugs and minnows to eat.

You were onto something Chris. I kept this in mind and asked a local guy. He agreed and said big brookies would be in the rapids, but would be skiddish. In addition to the factors you mentioned, he said brookies are avoiding big rapids due to the presence of pike at this time of year. This theory was proven correct when we fished the big rapids.

He suggest trying small to medium rivers, such as the one above. We did locate specks but they were hard to catch. Old native man said you need a casting rod with a huge weight, casted in while standing 20ft from shore, lol.