Brook Trout - Upstream Best?

[Sterling]

Hi all,

Last summer my sister bought a house bordering a river/stream that runs an impressive 25 km+. It's mostly a narrow, meandering stream with the occasional rapids, etc. 

The stream is fed by a major water body and slowly forks and peters off over the 25 km run. When asked, locals said the stream didn't hold fish. Lo' and behold, I gave it a shot last weekend and picked up 4 nice brook trout in about 90 minutes. And by nice, I mean 6-9 inch river specks. My gear was poor and I was limited to a 20ft section of the bank where there is a deeper pool. Fish-online shows nothing for this particular area, not even a river marker.

Naturally I want to explore further. I checked google maps, and the river forks several times before reaching my sister's house. So I'm fishing a section of the river that is quite slow and small.

My question is whether I should expect the fishing to get better as I move upstream. Can I expect bigger fish as I move up? This is the norm for most water bodies. Bigger water = bigger fish. Can I expect brook trout hanging out where the river is fed? There are predators there, pike, walleye etc. 

Hoping for some input from the more experienced brookie anglers. I rarely fish rivers so this is all new to me. Now I want to go dump thousands on fly fishing gear!!

[Rod Caster]

I wouldn't say it is the norm. I know creeks that are similar in description that are far better down stream where water levels are often a bit higher. Lots of variables of course. Sounds like a nice spot though, when in Rome, do as the Romans do and tell everyone it has no fish!

 

Watch out for private property. Some creeks around here do not have a shoreline allowance. 

[Sterling]

Sending you a PM Rod Caster.

[AKRISONER]

seconded on the comment about irate property owners. I get yelled at almost every time i fish brookies.

[dave524]

Brookies tend to get smaller in tiny flows, that said I've got them in places I could straddle the creek. If the water you are fishing is fairly wide, 10 /12 feet or so, there should be fish in the 12 to 16 inch class.

[kickingfrog]

The "headwaters" of the section of stream is a major lake and then the stream peters out? Generally you can look at a stream/river in 3 sections. How long each section is will depend on the topography and land use along the route. The upper part will be clean cool/cold (relative to the lower sections) water with not as much aquatic veg. Most likely to have brook trout (in this part of the country) and while there may be a number of them they won't be  all that big but for me at least the most fun. The middle section will start to slow down a bit and meander a more. The temps will come up a bit and the vegetation and bug life will increase. Still likely to have brookies (temp is key) but there might not be as many but they'll be bigger. The bottom section will meander more, be slower, warmer and have more aquatic veg. Not likely to have brookies in that area.

[cisco]

I lived in North Bay for several years and got some nice brookies with a pal. When the bugs bite the brookies start biting....the big water/lake upstream is letting warm surface water into the stream especially in the heat of summer and as the stream flows away from the lake the temps should go down since earth temps are like 55 degrees Fahr. So the stream should get cooler as it flows over a cooler stream bed and especially through cedars/shaded areas. Cold water upwelling may also be good in spots to the liking of brookies, like spots below hillsides. I always hit pools just below rapids since lotsa small food there for them, minnows after small food and better oxygenated water.  The bigger ones will be out at low light and be under banks, fallen timber, behind boulders during the day.  

Since you're on a long stretch I'd worry less about direction re inflow but start staring at topo maps to find rapids that have fish pools below. What I'd do anyways. Good luck and keep your spots/trails hidden. Locals are bad for cleaning spots out when told..... this I know!!? 

Edited July 28, 2019 by cisco