On the Board for 2026!

[Trapshooter]

Caught 2 rainbows and a brown on January 6. I don't know what I did but if you double click the whole image appears. If you're interested.

That looks like a bad hangover. lol

 

[dryflyguy]

Got my first trip of 2026 in yesterday, it was raining a decent amount. First fish was a fallfish and the nicest fish is here. I saw a much bigger fish, but he had second thoughts about the fly. I’m hoping the rivers stay fishable.

Gorgeous color on that fish Ben
Guessing it’s the stream where we fished that loop last fall?

 

[Broodstock]

Got on the board this past week with my first 20 of the year (20.5) and a 17. Still haven’t caught my first PA fish of the year

Well those are some nice fish even if they might have front plates 😂

 

[Broodstock]

Gorgeous color on that fish Ben
Guessing it’s the stream where we fished that loop last fall?

Nope not that stream. It was definitely a different color fish than all the other fish I caught that day.

 

[goose54cdd]

That looks like a bad hangover. lol

The hangover has been 11 days now. Can you see it if you double click?

 

[sarce]

First 2 of the year, from Jan 4. The brook is my second largest wild brookie ever. Easily 13", perhaps pushing 14" but that might be generous. Redemption for losing an even bigger one in the same spot 2 years ago. The brown was about the same length. In between, my fishing partner landed a 20" brown. If you're gonna catch less than a fish per hour, those are the ones you want!

 

[nymphingmaniac]

last year my first fish was a 6 in brown. The first fish of 2026 was an 18-19in thick brown. I'm hoping this is a good sign. Except for the cicada madness, fishing was meh for me last year otherwise- including my SMB fishing.

 

[hooker-of-men]

First 2 of the year, from Jan 4. The brook is my second largest wild brookie ever. Easily 13", perhaps pushing 14" but that might be generous. Redemption for losing an even bigger one in the same spot 2 years ago. The brown was about the same length. In between, my fishing partner landed a 20" brown. If you're gonna catch less than a fish per hour, those are the ones you want!

PA brookie?

 

[sarce]

PA brookie?

Yes. Fairly long drive for me to find that one. Caught in the first 5 minutes before line started freezing - became a real pain after a while

 

[wildtrout2]

First 2 of the year, from Jan 4. The brook is my second largest wild brookie ever. Easily 13", perhaps pushing 14" but that might be generous. Redemption for losing an even bigger one in the same spot 2 years ago. The brown was about the same length. In between, my fishing partner landed a 20" brown. If you're gonna catch less than a fish per hour, those are the ones you want!

Nice looking brookie. That brown has a huge caudal fin!

 

[sarce]

Nice looking brookie. That brown has a huge caudal fin!

Thanks - and brown tail wasn't as freakish as it looks, just distorted perspective. Too cold to get a better shot!

 

[ANF-Hiker]

I picked up 9 brookies and a brown in Wisconsin last Thursday. Was a nice day and start to the year. Moving back to the East Coast at the end of the month so I'm looking forward to exploring some new terrain.

 

[jifigz]

First 2 of the year, from Jan 4. The brook is my second largest wild brookie ever. Easily 13", perhaps pushing 14" but that might be generous. Redemption for losing an even bigger one in the same spot 2 years ago. The brown was about the same length. In between, my fishing partner landed a 20" brown. If you're gonna catch less than a fish per hour, those are the ones you want!

I think I know where these came from, and I'm not even a good sleuther.

 

[sarce]

I think I know where these came from, and I'm not even a good sleuther.

If it helps confirm or deny your suspicions without naming it outright and without naming the county, I'll add that the browns were a different stream than the brook. But we expected only brook trout in both streams.

 

[CRB]

Caught my first steely of the year this morning!!
Fishing lower near the lake.

 

[rustbeltwilds]

Not a wild brown. But a great looking rainbow holdover for january...been a very rough january for me so far but we will take it lol