Reeder
Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2007
- Messages
- 214
With the larger streams still being a bit high, I figured I would get out and target some wild brookies this weekend. Saturday I went up to Pleasant Stream and caught 4 brook trout and a surprise 10" wild brown. I was fishing a size 16 egg pattern with a size 16 bead head pheasant tail behind it. Both took fish and had several other strikes that I missed. Not bad for 32 degrees and flurries.
Today was a little warmer at 34, with occasional light snow. I figured I would try the same tactics on a new stretch of another small freestone stream that I haven't fished in a while. I was hoping for similar results. What I ended up with was probably my best day of winter fishing yet. I fished upstream about 2 miles, hitting every pocket of calm water I could find. Seemed like every boulder had a 5-7 inch brook trout under it or behind it. When I came up on the deeper pools, I started catching bigger wild browns in the 9-11" range.
I already had about a dozen fish on the day, including 2 wild browns, when I started getting cold. I was just ready to say hey this day has been great I am heading home, but I can never seem to stop wondering what is around the next bend, so I kept moving upstream. And sure enough, around the bend was the honey hole, a 5-6 foot deep stretch of calm water with a big undercut slate bottom. It was the first stretch of calm water I had seen in over 2 miles, so I knew it had to be holding a pile of fish, and it was. I caught 6 trout out of that hole, the last one being a 13" wild brown that was likely the top predator in the water.
All totaled I caught 4 wild browns, and over a dozen brook trout, and I probably lost as many. It was definitely on one of the best winter outings I have ever had. Here are some pics.
Today was a little warmer at 34, with occasional light snow. I figured I would try the same tactics on a new stretch of another small freestone stream that I haven't fished in a while. I was hoping for similar results. What I ended up with was probably my best day of winter fishing yet. I fished upstream about 2 miles, hitting every pocket of calm water I could find. Seemed like every boulder had a 5-7 inch brook trout under it or behind it. When I came up on the deeper pools, I started catching bigger wild browns in the 9-11" range.
I already had about a dozen fish on the day, including 2 wild browns, when I started getting cold. I was just ready to say hey this day has been great I am heading home, but I can never seem to stop wondering what is around the next bend, so I kept moving upstream. And sure enough, around the bend was the honey hole, a 5-6 foot deep stretch of calm water with a big undercut slate bottom. It was the first stretch of calm water I had seen in over 2 miles, so I knew it had to be holding a pile of fish, and it was. I caught 6 trout out of that hole, the last one being a 13" wild brown that was likely the top predator in the water.
All totaled I caught 4 wild browns, and over a dozen brook trout, and I probably lost as many. It was definitely on one of the best winter outings I have ever had. Here are some pics.
