Fish-On! Chapter 6

Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

The eastern brook trout is a fascinating enigma to sport fishermen. Anglers cannot decide whether they love the fish for its beauty or ease of capture. This would explain why they hold a soft spot in their hearts for the species despite the influx of rainbow and brown trout into trout streams. Even now, when the speckled beauty has retreated to the headwaters of its original range, anglers speak of their secret place for "brookies".

It is certainly not its size which draws the angler to make bushwhacking treks into remote beaver ponds for a foot-long fish, nor the fact that it makes a choice meal, but the knowledge that the fish are there and can be caught. Brook trout fight deep, slugging against the line, not as flashy as the rainbow nor as selective as the brown.

The initial development of sport fishing, particularly fly fishing, centered around the eastern brook trout because it is considered by most anglers to be quite gullible and therefore easily caught. In one controlled experiment, a mile of river containing stocked trout was weired off at both ends and then fished. Forty percent of the fish were hooked in 48 hours.

Because of its popularity, it is difficult to maintain satisfactory populations of the species. Brook trout do not have a high enough reproductive capacity to keep up with heavy catch-and-keep angling demands. As a consequence, restocking with hatchery-reared fish has become a regular practice in many areas within its range. These efforts have been going on for close to a century and as such have become quite scientific. In all likelihood the majority of brook trout that you have caught or will catch were provided with compliments of your local fisheries management people.

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