Brook Trout Theory

Author's note- I wrote this piece not too long after catching what was at the time my biggest brook trout ever in June of this year.  I wrote it to share some insight and techniques, but also because I was surprised at some criticism I received over my choice of fly etc. never mind that I had actually caught the fish.  I wrote the piece for Fontinalis Rising, and at the last minute submitted it to The Cedar Sweeper Magazine for publication.  It ended up being my first published piece ever.  My thanks to Chuck Sams for his continued interest in my work.  I'm posting it here now so that my blog audience can read it.  As you know, I went to Nipigon Ontario later this summer and caught much bigger brookies than this one but found that my ideas pertaining to brook trout held true; some pics of those fish are also included toward the bottom.  I hope you enjoy and find this piece useful.  JT/FR

Since I am a newly minted expert on brook trout, having landed a personal best 16-incher as of late, I'd like to share some nuggets. Yes I'm chest thumping.  Please forgive.

I've gotten some sourgrapes criticism for catching my big brook trout on a chernobyl pattern, which is basically a Whopper wrapper on a hook.  I have one thing to say to this, but a picture is worth a thousand "Ha, ha"s.

I have three methodologies when fishing brook trout- Match the Hatch, Stimulator, and Sub-surface.  Guess which produces the most? It ain't Match the Hatch.

Here's what I've found.  Brook trout are not brown trout.  For example, I fished that river, that day, because I knew that the weather would have the browns put down, but that I'd have a snowballs chance at a nice brookie.  It was overcast, chilly and we had had a serious dump of rain, but that stretch of river does not dirty up readily.

this fish will always be a favorite

Now, given those conditions, and that there were no active bugs, I went Stimulator.  What is it?  It's anything from a stimulator pattern, to a Whopper-on-a-Stick - yeah, a Chernobyl.  Stimulator is legs, eyes, color, flash, hair and size- anything that pushes buttons, usually to the extreme.  A natural insect has legs, which they articulate and pulse in order to swim or in distress.  Big rubber legs pulse and twitch, like legs cut off by a freight car.  It hits that button, with a jackhammer.

I use Stimulator patterns any time the fish are down, the bite is off, the weather is changing, it's bright, it's hot, it's cold and so on.  Any type of disturbance in the Brook Trout Force.  That big Chernobyl, that day, said big meal to a big trout, and with flash, size, and legs, it pushed a lot of buttons.

Sub-surface- i.e. streamers etc.  Brook trout like all trout do most of their feeding underwater.  They are most comfortable not having to show themselves to land- and air-based predators.  Nymphs work, but soft hackles are deadly on brook trout.  Swing, baby, swing.  A lot of brook trout rivers are too small and have soft bottoms that aren't suited to downstream fishing.  You can fish soft hackles upstream, or even indicator fish them.  They love partridge and orange.
Streamers are my favorite for brook trout, and I've landed nice fish, 10" and up on muddlers, black nosed dace, and Mickey Finns.  Red and yellow are big draws for brook trout, and I've recently started tying size 6 Zoo Cougars with a red collar- I have a hunch this will catch the biggest brookie in any river.  I'll get back to you on that.  I could lull you to sleep with the blah blah on woolly buggers.  Yes they work. 'Nuff  said.   Black, Olive, purple- knock yourself out.  Skunks are a red hot fly for brookies as well.

Match-the-Hatch.  Yes, there are times when brookies are keyed in and keyed up on specific bugs.  The other night it was blue-winged olives, but only in certain stretches of river. In other stretches, it was sulfur emergers.  I've had maddening evenings, with nice fish rising and big mayflies in the air and on the water, only to find, belatedly, that they were feeding exclusively on the few caddis that were hatching.  Why?  ??  ?????  Yeah, your guess is as good as mine.

this fall fish went for a BWO

In the end, what I've found is that big brook trout don't care that much about flies.  You'll catch fish in the 8"-14" range on bugs, but after that they want meat.  Crayfish, sculpins, your mothers gallbladder.  It's funny, but that fish I caught last week was not an anomaly.  They actually become more vulnerable to Big Ugly as they get older and bigger.  While browns are the fly connoisseurs, brook trout don't sip.  They gulp and glug.  I caught a ten inch brookie on the Rapid River about 6 years ago and noticed he had a twig sticking out of his mouth.  I pulled the "twig" out and found out it was attached to the half-digested body of a mouse.  A TEN INCH brook trout ate a mouse.  Makes you think, don't it.

What brook trout want, is respect.  You have to be quiet, cautious, accurate and direct.  Flub the presentation and you're done.  Line them on a clear day- move on to the next hole.  While last weeks fish was a personal best, I've caught a lot of 14 inch fish, and learned a lot of lessons.  One fly for brook trout? That orange Chernobyl.  Two?  A Joe's Hopper.  Three? A skunk. Four? A sculpin of your choice.  I'm not fishing for tiddlers.  After that? A stimulator, a size 12 elk hair caddis, and soft hackles.

Now go get 'em.

Fontinalis and fontinalis, Nipigon ON

Video Post- BIG Nipigon Brook Trout

I'm out on assignment right now, so in lieu of Monday Morning Coffee, I'm posting this video of one of my biggest brookies from the Nipigon trip.  Mind you, every gas station in Nipigon has polaroids on the wall of fish twice this size, but this one is a personal best, one of about five I caught on the trip in this size range.  I lost or missed two fish in the 5-6 pound range.  This one was about 3 1/2 pounds and 20 inches long.  We were there in the off-season and so I thought we did pretty well. I'll let the video say the rest.

Dispatches From Nipigon- Monday August 22

Good morning Nipigon!  The coffee pictured is yesterdays, brewed at Rabbit Blanket Lake, in Lake Superior Provincial Park.  Live blogging is almost impossible here, unless I wanted to sit around some crappy truck stop here, which I don’t.  We got a late start Saturday- thankfully the boat was good enough to break down before we left instead of while we we’re ten miles into the canyon here.  The canyon is 300-400 feet deep, the river powerful, and not the place to lose your motor.  The revised plan is to explore all the accesses to the river we can find for walk and wade opportunities, which, while limited, are said to exist.  We have the kayaks and will explore some Stillwater sections, hopefully being able to paddle out to islands or reefs, or to access different shoreline structures and get out and cast.  Then we’ll locate a local boat to rent for a couple of days to hit more inaccessible areas of the river. 

We stopped in Wawa for breakfast yesterday, as thunder had preempted a campfire breakfast.  We drove through the lightening and rain, on through the spruce and granite, past muskeg sloughs and small lakes.  I wanted to stop and cast at every little creek we passed, but one word beckoned us onward- Nipigon. So onward past Obatanga, White River, the gold mines, Pukaskwa, Marathon, Terrace Bay.  Past the campy signs to small cottage resorts.  “Very, very clean” boasts one sign for a motel near White River.  White River itself spuriously claims to be the home of Winnie the Pooh- an odd claim for for a character created by an Englishman.  If Winnie the Pooh were truly from White River, his playground would have been called the “Million Acre Wood”.

Lake Superior near Neys Park

We found a lovely place to camp on Lake Jessie, part of the Nipigon system, then fished below Alexander’s dam.  With the passing of yesterday’s front, the fish seemed to be pretty well shut down.  Everyone complained that the fishing was dead.  Here’s hoping.  It’s a large, somewhat intimidating system, lots of current and big water, and without a boat this will be a challenge, but we got some good intel on places to kayak into, so we’ll give it a go, and there’s some other rivers that are worth looking into.  There were fish rising all over the lake this morning, including right in front of camp, and I had one decent fish hit a mouse pattern, a very exciting development.  There’s too much to tell, so I’m going to end it here.  Enjoy the couple of pictures, I’ll try to get some fish in them and post later this week.

Sunrise on Jessie Lake

The Run-Up to Nipigon- Gear

My big trip to Nipigon Ontario, in search of giant brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is fast approaching. We leave August 20.  I've had several gear needs develop over the last weeks and months, as well as some wants.

Last fall I bought some Frogg Toggs waders for $100, then immediately put 30 miles of dry hiking on them and generally thrashed them ever since.  I also bought $60 wading boots at the same time that left a lot to be desired.  The side walls started blowing out a couple of weeks ago, and I know they're not long for this world. The waders have leaked since May.
So, when I got rained out of work today, I made my way down to The Northern Angler fly shop in Traverse City to get some gear.  I'll have to admit that I almost ordered stuff online, but thought better of it.  For one thing, I would have been just guessing at the sizing, and spending that much money on stuff I hadn't tried on made me nervous.  I also like to support local businesses whenever I can, and I love what Brian Pitser is doing at TNA.

First the boots- the side walls on my current cheap pair started blowing out a couple of weeks ago, and have proceeded to decline at a rapid pace.  My buddy Tim got a pair of Korkers with the aircraft cable lacing system and swears by them.  I ended up getting the Simms RiverTek BOA boots with the Vibram sole.  I've heard a lot of back and forth about felt versus the Vibram sole, especially now that Simms has decided to bring felt back into the fold, but several of my friends swear by the Vibram and so I took a leap of faith.  I love the BOA lacing system, and the support in this boot feels amazing.

Then, the waders- I've been fighting this leak in my Frogg Toggs since early spring.  I think for the price they were excellent waders, but not up to the abuse I put them through.  I fish way too much, and bushwhack way too much.  I was interested in a set of Redington Sonic Pro waders, but they didn't have them in my size.  These Simms Freestone stockingfoots are very popular, and I wore them aroung the shop for about a half hour.  They're incredibly comfortable, the fit was just right, and I loved the fact that the features of the waders are made to mesh with the boots.   I did try on the Redington Sonic Pro pants but the clip on the gravel guards doesnt work well with the loop on the Simms boots, and so I gave up on that option.  I'm really happy with my choice- they were $50 cheaper than the Redington's, and they are designed to work with the boots, which I like.  I should add that Brian threw in a Simms Taco gear bag for buying boots and waders, which will provide great storage for travel.

Next- Water shoes.  I have this pair of Teva open toe sandals that I've had for years, and continue to use for sentimental reasons, but it seems like every time I go out, I hurt my feet somehow.  Sunday's kayaking trip was the last straw- I slipped on something in the river and jammed something sharp under a toenail.  The ensuing infection..... I'll stop there, suffice it to say that I decided it was time to get water shoes.  I need more protection, especially for my kayaking, and for walking the flats on those slick rocks up at Sturgeon Bay.  I was going to head to Dunham's Sports after I left The Northern Angler, but then these Simm's Stream Tread sandals caught my eye.  They have the Stream Tread Vibram sole, a hard toe that should offer lots of protection, and at $90 the price was right.

Finally- the rod.  I have three 8 weight rods.  One is an old glass heirloom.  One is a Redington Crosswater that I use for chuck 'n' duck for salmon and steelhead, and the last is my Flextec.  I've broken the tip off of it twice and just glued a new one on each time.  I don't really want to pay to mail a $100 rod back to England to have it fixed in the middle of steelhead season.  To its credit, I've learned to double haul with it, I caught my first carp, loads of steelhead and salmon, and that giant brown on it.  But this trip is all about streamer fishing, and I'll be working a rod harder than I ever have.  I'll be fishing for brook trout in the 3-9 pound range- fish as big as the browns I fish at home.  The Nipigon river is another consideration- it is big and deep, with loads of boulder structure, and a heavy current.  I'll be fishing a 350 grain Streamer Express line and 4-6 inch streamers all day long.  I want need a cannon.  My buddy Phil has a 6 weight Temple Fork Outfitters TiCRX streamer rod.  I've fished it a lot and can tell you it is a dream to cast.  I ordered an 8 weight TiCRX from Brian and can't wait to use it. CANNON!
And lastly (does that come after Finally?)- tying materials.  I loaded up on some gaps in the supply.  The vise is going with me on this trip.  I'm going to throw everything I know and have at these fish.  Also, I lost my entire smallmouth/carp box in June, and so stocked up on brown and rusty colors.  I don't know how much of that kind of fishing I'll get in from here on out, but I want to be prepared.

I spent more money than I like to at one time, but it was just the way it worked out.  If my old waders and boots weren't on their way out, I wouldn't have gotten new just for a big trip. But with fall salmon, steelhead and brown trout fishing coming up fast I need to be ready.  I feel like a walking Simm's advertisement now, but that's just the way it worked out.  I have no affiliations with Simm's and I'm not endorsed by them in any way.  I've long been aware that they make quality products.

I'd like to thank Brian Pitser and the crew at The Northern Angler for their helpfulness.  Brian's pricing is competitive, they are very knowledgeable about their products, his store is always well stocked, and they'll spend all the time with you that you need to make a decision and feel comfortable with your purchases.  You might think that I would have wanted to save the $50 on gas I spent driving to Traverse City and just order the stuff online, but it was too much money being spent to just order this stuff sight unseen, and my shopping experience at TNA reaffirmed the role of the local fly shop in my mind.