Lunch break brookie

[salmonoid]

Last week, I had a handful of minutes for lunch that enabled me to be in close proximity to a stream during that time period. I parked the vehicle and walked the few tens of yards to the stream. As a kid, I had collected rocks nearby, but was oblivious to the fact that native brookies inhabited the stream. However, armed with that knowledge gained later in life, I thought the stream was worth checking out, even with the lower summertime water levels.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful red-finned brookie holding in the middle of the one pool. Closer inspection of the pool revealed not one, not two, not three, not four, but five brookies holding in the water. I tossed a small piece of a bark into the pool, but the fish weren't fooled. I watched each of the fish hold, then did a small lunge at the pool to watch them scatter a bit. The moment would have been enough but as I walked back to the vehicle with the intention to leave, I couldn't help but wonder if I couldn't fool at least one of the fish. So I pulled out the rod and walked back to the pool. Keeping a low profile, I moved to a casting vantage point. The rod was still strung up from my last outing (bad habit, good way to break a rod) and it had a white wooly bugger on it. I didn't feel like retying, so I tossed that out. First cast, the biggest fish in the pool ambled on over and slashed at it. Now I generally like sight fishing, but sometimes, I over react when I can see the strike and this would be one case where the bugger ended up behind me as I overset the hook. The next cast, a different brookie followed, but wouldn't commit. On the fifth cast, I hooked one of the prettiest brookies I've caught in awhile. I savored the moment and released him. Its a stream that warrants a bit more than a lunch time break.

 

[dc410]

Pretty fish! I've done the same thing numerous times. Those little lunchtime fishin' breaks can turn a bad day at work into a good one.

 

[Swattie87]

That's a very nice Brookie. That stream's definitely worth a longer visit ;-).

I've actually struggled in that pool more often than not. It's a decent sized stream to start with (especially for a Brookie stream), and that is a REALLY big pool...the kind that could hold more than one decent sized fish. Still, I've taken the skunk more times than not from that pool. Although not really all that difficult to fish, it's a tough one to get into proper position without being pretty high above the water and visible to the fish, especially in low, clear conditions. When the water's higher there's enough current flowing through it, and it's deep enough (guessing 6+ feet) that it becomes difficult to get a fly to the bottom before it's washed down into the tailout.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Hmm I have a 45 minute lunch today. Think I'll go to Lititz Run and get skunked!

 

[sandfly]

nice !!!
45 minute lunch, slacker !!!
My boss only gives a 15 minute break all day !!

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Sounds like you have some issues w/ upper management at Big Meadows...

I am a slacker though.

 

[Foxgap239]

The_Sasquatch wrote:
Sounds like you have some issues w/ upper management at Big Meadows...

I am a slacker though.

Oh, I can top that for slackerness. I can sometimes fish and work at the same time. Now that is slackerness at its very best!

 

[ryguyfi]

There's a crappy mexican restaurant and water flowing into a gutter from the car wash down the road next to me at work. Feel privileged!