salvelinusfontinalis
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2006
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heres a little tidbit i wrote from another forum i belong to and thought it might help some newbie brookie fisherman. just a few techniques and by far not all. enjoy!
brook trout have always been regaurded to be very opportunistic and very aggressive when it comes to feeding. it is just part of thier genetic code that has been inscribed in them over the course of 1000's of years. very little food in sterile waters makes them have to feed any chance that they get. brown trout came from england, and there genetic code has taught them that they have option to be picky. its good to come from fertile limestone chalk streams! but make no mistake the brook trout may strike a wide varity of flies in any situation but this doesnot mean that they are the easiest to catch. actually maybe they are, but they are the hardest to persue. so we see a trout in a brushy covered stream, feeding on bluewingedolives. hes the bigone and no doubt smarter than the rest to have survived long enough to get big. what do we do?
stealth and approach: i belive that a good portion of fish are lost before you even make your first cast. yes brown trout are spooky and wary but brook trout are even more so. a brown trouts eyes are positioned lower than a brook trouts eyes. since the brook trouts eyes are raised up some this gives them the best overhead sight of any trout. making them almost impossible to approach standing up.
to remedy this problem one must always where clothing that is consistant with the natural surroundings of where you are fishing. camos, browns, greens and dark greens are always best. in a pine forest: dark green and browns. a regular forest: camos, greens and browns. this generally is true, but i have heard of people wearing sky blue in meadows. i dont think that would work as well as they say.
stay in the shadows. fish have a few ways of protecting themselves. cover is there best form. a form of "soft cover" is shadows. made from the trees or rocks or anything. at falling springs branch i have had fish move into my shadow across from me after i had been standing there quite awhile. i bring this up because you can use there own techniques against them. a shadow can keep you very invisible.
stay low. kneel, crawl or limbo your way along the stream. staying low is very key and the only way to approach the stream!
another form of cover a fish uses is "hard cover." a downed tree, rock or man made structure. they will hide behind or beneath them. same idea....use it against them. use anything you can find to hide behind. even if i really dont have to.....i will use a tree if it is there. if your using a woolly bugger and streaming it, you never know when that 10 inch brookie is gonaa follow it right up to you and then run away. best to behind a tree if you can. now your clothing, approach and stealth are up to date your ready to start fishing right? wrong! you spent so much time worrying about that brookies overhead line of sight you forgot that you are going to cast you false cast right over him! always think before you approach the stream. it is best to even sit and watch a trout for a minute and observe. sometimes they will move around the hole in a pattern feeding in different currents. if you think and watch you will know where you have to go. never just run right in. now you readjusted your position, you ready now? yes!
in the bush: your now in the shadows of a maple tree, dressed in camo and kneeling in the brush. suddenly, you realize there is too much brush to make a good cast! ruined? no. i dont know of a brook trout on a small mountain stream that is going to take you into your backing. disconnect you rod at the halfway point. ( i know most use 2 piece rods and there is only a half way point. i use a 4 pc so thats why its relavant.) now your 7 ft rod is 3.5 ft! put the reel in your pocket and now you can get him. you make a perfect cast and presentation. but alas nothing but refusals.
flies: there are some patterns out there that have been classified as a brook trout fly. micky finns, the trout fin wet, royal coachman and heck the october wulff (i love that pattern by the way!) but never limit yourself. while it is important while hiking into the wilderness to carry as little as possible for stamina sake.... bring a good variety of flies. heres a story: one day while fishing a class c stream in lackawanna county i had a pool of 3 nice sized brookies in view. after watching them i noticed them feeding on top. no hatches were apparent so i started guessing. i had absolutly no luck, i never was good at guessing. i started fishing buggers and eggs. they would follow but no takes. finally in frustation i sat there wondering what to do. suddenly a bright green dragonfly flew over the stream and touched the waters surface and smack! oh my god, i started digging in my boxes and i had one! i proceeded to land all 3 brook trout.
moral: be a boy scout!
so now you let the fish feed and think and notice that there arent just bluewingedolives in the air but gnats. mainly because they are in your face! you tie one on. make you perfect cast and presentation and smack!
you land a nice 11 inch brook trout! a true trophy and after all that hard work, you deserve it!
there are so many more techniques to the persuit of brook trout and another day at another time.....we will discuss. happy fishin all!
brook trout have always been regaurded to be very opportunistic and very aggressive when it comes to feeding. it is just part of thier genetic code that has been inscribed in them over the course of 1000's of years. very little food in sterile waters makes them have to feed any chance that they get. brown trout came from england, and there genetic code has taught them that they have option to be picky. its good to come from fertile limestone chalk streams! but make no mistake the brook trout may strike a wide varity of flies in any situation but this doesnot mean that they are the easiest to catch. actually maybe they are, but they are the hardest to persue. so we see a trout in a brushy covered stream, feeding on bluewingedolives. hes the bigone and no doubt smarter than the rest to have survived long enough to get big. what do we do?
stealth and approach: i belive that a good portion of fish are lost before you even make your first cast. yes brown trout are spooky and wary but brook trout are even more so. a brown trouts eyes are positioned lower than a brook trouts eyes. since the brook trouts eyes are raised up some this gives them the best overhead sight of any trout. making them almost impossible to approach standing up.
to remedy this problem one must always where clothing that is consistant with the natural surroundings of where you are fishing. camos, browns, greens and dark greens are always best. in a pine forest: dark green and browns. a regular forest: camos, greens and browns. this generally is true, but i have heard of people wearing sky blue in meadows. i dont think that would work as well as they say.
stay in the shadows. fish have a few ways of protecting themselves. cover is there best form. a form of "soft cover" is shadows. made from the trees or rocks or anything. at falling springs branch i have had fish move into my shadow across from me after i had been standing there quite awhile. i bring this up because you can use there own techniques against them. a shadow can keep you very invisible.
stay low. kneel, crawl or limbo your way along the stream. staying low is very key and the only way to approach the stream!
another form of cover a fish uses is "hard cover." a downed tree, rock or man made structure. they will hide behind or beneath them. same idea....use it against them. use anything you can find to hide behind. even if i really dont have to.....i will use a tree if it is there. if your using a woolly bugger and streaming it, you never know when that 10 inch brookie is gonaa follow it right up to you and then run away. best to behind a tree if you can. now your clothing, approach and stealth are up to date your ready to start fishing right? wrong! you spent so much time worrying about that brookies overhead line of sight you forgot that you are going to cast you false cast right over him! always think before you approach the stream. it is best to even sit and watch a trout for a minute and observe. sometimes they will move around the hole in a pattern feeding in different currents. if you think and watch you will know where you have to go. never just run right in. now you readjusted your position, you ready now? yes!
in the bush: your now in the shadows of a maple tree, dressed in camo and kneeling in the brush. suddenly, you realize there is too much brush to make a good cast! ruined? no. i dont know of a brook trout on a small mountain stream that is going to take you into your backing. disconnect you rod at the halfway point. ( i know most use 2 piece rods and there is only a half way point. i use a 4 pc so thats why its relavant.) now your 7 ft rod is 3.5 ft! put the reel in your pocket and now you can get him. you make a perfect cast and presentation. but alas nothing but refusals.
flies: there are some patterns out there that have been classified as a brook trout fly. micky finns, the trout fin wet, royal coachman and heck the october wulff (i love that pattern by the way!) but never limit yourself. while it is important while hiking into the wilderness to carry as little as possible for stamina sake.... bring a good variety of flies. heres a story: one day while fishing a class c stream in lackawanna county i had a pool of 3 nice sized brookies in view. after watching them i noticed them feeding on top. no hatches were apparent so i started guessing. i had absolutly no luck, i never was good at guessing. i started fishing buggers and eggs. they would follow but no takes. finally in frustation i sat there wondering what to do. suddenly a bright green dragonfly flew over the stream and touched the waters surface and smack! oh my god, i started digging in my boxes and i had one! i proceeded to land all 3 brook trout.
moral: be a boy scout!
so now you let the fish feed and think and notice that there arent just bluewingedolives in the air but gnats. mainly because they are in your face! you tie one on. make you perfect cast and presentation and smack!
you land a nice 11 inch brook trout! a true trophy and after all that hard work, you deserve it!
there are so many more techniques to the persuit of brook trout and another day at another time.....we will discuss. happy fishin all!
