Finding Brookie Streams ..

Stagger_Lee

Stagger_Lee

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Mar 22, 2012
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As a newbie what is the best way to find brookie streams if you’re adventurous?

I live in Bucks (Newtown Area) which isn’t prime fishing so when I say local I’m talking within a 75 mile radius Nth, Sth or West. Without being a pain in the arse by pm’ing guys when I see a write up and a place that looks interesting.

Are these maps:

Fishing Maps: Trout and Bass Pa.

the best way to go outside of having the luxury (which I don’t) of getting out every weekend with guys who hit them up frequently?


///FYI: Swattie and Pcray .. I haven’t forgotten about the Newbie Brookie Expedition/Jam for next spring. Will bump that thread in Jan or Feb.
 
Yeah, sounds good Stagger...I was thinking of that thread this morning actually. PM coming with some info.
 
I use[d] the Class A list, the Wilderness Trout list and the reproduction list and then just go and explore. A lot of nice streams are at Class B level. You find these by looking for similar topographical features on the maps that matchup well with known Class A waters. Unless there is a substantial habitat issue, usually other tributaries of the receiving stream that have Class A tributaries will be also decent wild trout streams. Other than being told where to go, these methods will likely put you onto a few "hidden gems."
 
JackM wrote:
I use[d] the Class A list, the Wilderness Trout list and the reproduction list and then just go and explore. A lot of nice streams are at Class B level. You find these by looking for similar topographical features on the maps that matchup well with known Class A waters. Unless there is a substantial habitat issue, usually other tributaries of the receiving stream that have Class A tributaries will be also decent wild trout streams. Other than being told where to go, these methods will likely put you onto a few "hidden gems."

Well said Jack. A few posters on this site have convinced me on this approach. And as seen by my Orange hat over-shadowed by gorgeous falls, they are out there to find!
 
+1 to what Jack and Fox said. I would add that if you reference Dwight's book you find it easier to locate streams that are fairly close. I'd sy the Poconos are within you're 75 mile range, from Newtown. So is Berks County.
The Natural reproduction list is also very help. If you want to make a trip I can meet you somewhere and put you on some very good streams. You're about an hour south of me, but we can do it. Anyway, there's so many brookie streams 75 miles from Newtown it will take a while to fish them.
 
Stag, you will need to get a brookie rod though, if you haven't already. 9 ft-er's on the little gems will never cut it. I never leave home without my 6 1/2 brookie rod. Made coincidentally by a PAFF member. :cool:
 
Stag,
The maps you are asking about are good baseline maps. I have them and like them. The state has free maps also that have about the same info but the ones you are asking about are better in my opinion.

Like I said these maps are a good start but there is so much more info out there on the internet that is free.

As Jack says starting with the Class A list is the way to go. The streams on that report are on the maps you are asking about. Then you go explore.
 
Good stuff as usual gents and much appreciated to the guys in this thread and the PM’s.

Lots of stuff to research and I’m gonna have to learn how to read the maps but me thinks I’ll be OK! ;-) Chaz, once my foot heals I might have to take you and other invites up.

What is the season for brookie fishing .. spring to late fall?

What other things should I be aware of as not to harm the fish like spawning season and such (excluding not fishing on private land unless permission)?

Also, seen a lot of brookie discussion on “redds” .. what does this mean?


 
Foxgap wrote:
Stag, you will need to get a brookie rod though, if you haven't already. 9 ft-er's on the little gems will never cut it. I never leave home without my 6 1/2 brookie rod. Made coincidentally by a PAFF member.

Yea .. I was meaning to get out and get a feel on smaller rods after the feedback I got in the gear section but I fracked up my foot and just haven’t had much time to get a feel on them. I actually got a gift from the inlaws this weekend, orvis gift card for $200. They are high priced but unless I need other overpriced gear I may use it to purchase a rod. I figure that even tho they are overpriced the have a good rep and stand behind their product 110%. I’ll see over the next few weeks what I end up getting but after the info received I think a 7’6 would be good for me and functional on brook streams as well as others .. right?
 
JackM wrote:

I use[d] the Class A list, the Wilderness Trout list and the reproduction list and then just go and explore. A lot of nice streams are at Class B level. You find these by looking for similar topographical features on the maps that matchup well with known Class A waters. Unless there is a substantial habitat issue, usually other tributaries of the receiving stream that have Class A tributaries will be also decent wild trout streams. Other than being told where to go, these methods will likely put you onto a few "hidden gems."

Jack .. just took a quick look @ the Class A list (pdf) on PAFish & Boat. Good list for me to start with but I couldn't find Class B .. am I missing something?
 
Stag - Yeah, 7'6 would be about the standard for a Brookie rod I think. And would still be big enough to be used on slightly bigger, but still "small" streams...up to the size of Valley or so.

Brookie streams usually fish best in late Spring/early Summer but this is mostly a product of good flows, and warming but still fairly cool temps. When the water is up and off color (but not blown out) they will fish their best. In the Summer watch out for temps...try not to fish if the water is much over 65. Often the day after a good rain/cold front is the time to fish in the Summer...but be quick about it as flows will fall quickly too and be back to low and clear in a day or two, or less sometimes. Brookies can get tough and very spooky in low clear water. That said, there is no season per se...I've caught them year round, and actually most of my bigger ones have been caught in the Winter. Try going subsurface with small Buggers or big, buggy looking nymphs in Winter.

Brookies spawn in October for the most part in PA. Just watch out for areas of clean gravel (redds) where the fish may have spawned. They're usually in fairly shallow water, often on the edges or tailouts of pools. Just don't step there or fish over any paired up fish and you should be fine.



 
Stagger_Lee wrote:
Jack .. just took a quick look @ the Class A list (pdf) on PAFish & Boat. Good list for me to start with but I couldn't find Class B .. am I missing something?

The wilderness trout stream listing show the biomass survey info. I'm not sure if the natural reproduction list does. I am unaware of any publicly available listing by class other than the As. What I am suggesting is that if one tributary to a larger stream is Class A, there is a likelihood that others in the vicinity are capable of good populations. You compare the topography from maps of one trib to another within the watershed and try to find similar tributaries. There is a good chance, then, that the non-Class A waters are Bs or Cs, both of which can fish well. Pick out 2-4 such waters in a limited range and go from one to the other "poking around." Spring or early Summer is the better time to do this.
 
You guys are great!

From the thread, PM’s and emails .. I’m ready to roll once I put all the info together and figure out what to do with the maps and how to read ‘em. :) Totally stoked for 2013 as I head into the world of “off the beaten path” brookie fishing.


Just an idea … if PAFF does the Newbie expo again a table for map reading may not be a bad idea. Just my $.02


 
The biomass used to be published on the Class A streams but they dropped that several years ago. I don't know why. I have a copy of the Class B list which I use, if you ask PFBC for a copy I'm sure they will send it to you.
If we go fishing together I have a 7'6" 4 weight rod if you don't have one yet when we go.
When I first started fishing small streams I used a 9 feet 6 weight, I don't recommend it but it is possible.
 
JackM wrote:
I use[d] the Class A list, the Wilderness Trout list and the reproduction list and then just go and explore. A lot of nice streams are at Class B level. You find these by looking for similar topographical features on the maps that matchup well with known Class A waters. Unless there is a substantial habitat issue, usually other tributaries of the receiving stream that have Class A tributaries will be also decent wild trout streams. Other than being told where to go, these methods will likely put you onto a few "hidden gems."
the reproduction list is 31 pages, and the class "A" list is 79 pages, the wilderness trout waters is 12. I printed all of them out some time ago and put them in a binder, lots and lots of info in there. Another thing I like to do is pick some unnamed blue lines from the gazetteer and go check them out sometimes a bust sometimes great. My wife thought I was nuts for doing this but I know someone on here will appreciate this, I took a gazetteer cut all the pages out highlighted the above lists in yellow and blue and laminated it, made a whole map of the state and hung it on the wall of my fishing room. My father in law calls it the "fishing war room".It was a winter project some time ago, it was a lot of work but hey it's done now...
 
Good luck stagger, if you're in the area and want to fish pm me.
 
lv2nymph wrote:
My wife thought I was nuts for doing this but I know someone on here will appreciate this, I took a gazetteer cut all the pages out highlighted the above lists in yellow and blue and laminated it, made a whole map of the state and hung it on the wall of my fishing room. My father in law calls it the "fishing war room".It was a winter project some time ago, it was a lot of work but hey it's done now...

Dude, that's BA! In my gazatteer any stream I (or any of my fishing partners) catch a wild trout in I highlight in blue. That, along with my folders of fishing pictures (one for each stream) is my historical fishing log. One of the most satisfying feelings I get from wild trout fishing is exploring and adding another line on the map and another stream folder on my computer. There's a few where I had to draw the stream on the map as they were too small to even be on there! I love it when an area I explore starts to get filled in with blue lines.
 
Some of those unnamed blue lines are great little brook trout fisheries. Don't overlook any unnamed tributaries to the class A or natural reproduction list streams as long as the flows are decent, give them a shot. Good luck, your gonna have a blast!
 
you can look at the class a streams on google maps terrain and see where folds in the hillside / mountainside are.

4/5 times there is a a brook there - even if there is no blue line on the map.

ponds in higher elevations than local streams are also a good indicator that a brook might be around somewhere.

not knowing whether these are perennial streams or dried beds with a few tiny pools, is part of the fun.

 
The time I almost saw a bear:

Went looking for Quebec Run. Never thought I found it. It was supposed to be a trib to another stocked water. I got to where I thought it would be and there was this little trickle. I went down to its mouth and fished a little ways upward. Heard a bear nearby calling cubs and got scurred, being deep in the woods alone. Went home to later learn that the stream below the trickle was actually called Quebec. Never went back. One day I will.
 
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