Presentations

Let's look at several brook trout fishing situations through the season, keeping in mind the various factors which could affect the fishing results. The suggestions are not all inclusive but they do illustrate how an angler should go about solving a particular situation. Anyway, if we knew all the answers for every situation, fishing would soon lose its appeal!

There are some brook trout addicts who will be waiting beside their favorite fishing hole for the 12 midnight start of the brook trout season. These anglers brave the ice-cold rains of opening day, the frigid runoff ice water, and the soaking feet of beaver dam climbers just for a few trout. That is punishment! Some will be using baits -- minnows and worms; while others will try lures -- small silver or gold Mepps-type spinners with a little worm on the hook; others still will use flies -- a dark nymph or black woolly worm; and a few will experiment with dark-colored jigs bounced over the bottom. They know that the fish will be lethargic. The key tactic, then, involves casting over and over to the same area.

In smaller headwater streams, anglers might prefer to fish with the simplest of worm rigs weighted down if necessary by a splitshot. The difference between using a splitshot or no splitshot was once demonstrated dramatically to me. A fellow angler proceeded upstream ahead of me by about 30 yards. He dropped his worm rig into each likely hole and then moved on upstream. He took the odd brook trout, but the results were very inconsistent. Using identical tackle and rig, my unweighted worm took trout from each hole which he had previously fished. The free-floating worm looked more natural as the current carried it around and through the pools.

Both fly rodder and spin fisher can compete with the lightweight bait fisherman by using a weighted stonefly nymph in these waters. This fishing tactic parallels that of the worm fisherman provided that ultralight tackle is used. While the spin and bait fisherman might like shorter five- or six-foot rods because of the heavy brush common in headwaters, the fly rodder should consider the advantages of the longer rod for dropping the stonefly in a distant hole.

In the spring you should consider two things when locating brook trout in lakes. First, the fish are restricted by water temperatures. They're in deeper sections until shallower water warms up to their ideal temperature. Pay attention to the angle of the sun and prevailing winds to determine how deep or how shallow to fish. Second, the fish are in a particular depth because of food supplies. Seasonal movements are conditioned by insect availability and baitfish schooling around shallower water structures. Small spoons, spinners and live bait rigs all work well. Either troll or cast to shallow water. A nice spring technique involves two anglers trolling in a boat. One trolls along drop-offs to deeper water while the other casts to shoreline shallows.

The same technique will apply to deeper areas when lake trout move there in summer weather. Brook trout become harder to locate and an angler must use search-and-find techniques in the absence of a depth finder. You should start at the mouth of an inflowing creek or stream. Cast a weighted straight-shaft spinner or a sinking minnow bait across the current and vary the speed and depth of retrieve until the fish takes. A companion technique involves slowly trolling around the lake until a pocket of trout is located, then casting or still-fishing with bait or lures.

During the hot summer, it may be necessary to fish in the early morning or late evening to hook fish. The trout have retreated to cooler depths and water depth will govern the fly rodder's tactics. If the depth is more than 20 feet, use a high-speed, high-density shooting head fly line to get to the bottom fast. Use a black leech or black streamer fly retrieved slowly over the bottom. In deeper lakes, the angler could troll a spoon, spinner, small crank bait, or streamer fly over a stony reef or gravel bar which lies in the desired water strata. Drift fishing or backtrolling with live bait rigs will also produce fish. Summer anglers often locate brookies by trolling hardware, and then work the school with precise vertical bait rig presentations.

If you're certain there are fish in a holding area with visible structures, change your tactics. For instance, if we look at an instream situation with a large rock centre and two smaller rocks, one on each side, we have fish-holding water. There is probably a deep pool downstream from the big rock, a strong flow into it between the rocks, and lesser flows on each side of the small rocks. The largest trout will be close in under the large rock, beside the main flow, not in it, but not in the slack water behind, either. An angler should drop his lure or bait into the larger lower pool behind the main rock. The bait fisherman must put his worm or minnow several inches upstream from the beginning of the flow to allow it to sink and be delivered to the holding trout. The spin fisherman must bring the spinner from behind the rock through the side of the current and then above and in front of the rock. The fly rodder, using a streamer fly, will work it like a spinner. In each case, the angler's position should be one that delivers the appropriate cast to the hidden fish.

Two very pleasurable tactics for fishing a river employ the fly rod. One technique involves using a bushy dry fly and the second involves a brace of wet flies cast in tandem. Both can be practiced by an angler with minimal skills in fly casting.

The dry fly, perhaps a size 14 deer hair caddis, on the nine-foot leader, is cast to each ripple and pool as the angler wades stealthily upstream. A simple roll cast will put the dry fly on a piece of pocket water close to some structure. Then the angler will watch the fly drift naturally with the current before it drags. At this point, roll the cast to another spot, a little upstream and across from the first. The dry fly will cover a lot of water and be exposed to many fish.

Dry fly fishing is usually upstream fishing. Wet flies are more easily worked downstream. In three of four hours of dry fly fishing, an angler can cover a lot of water, then turn around and fish downstream with the wets.

Although the bright, colorful wet flies, worked in pairs or triples (one fly on the end and one or more droppers on the leader, five feet above) are effective, I prefer using two dark-colored flies, like the hare's ear and muskrat wet in size 14. Cast quartering across the current, allowing the flies to drift through the pockets. Snub the line and lift the rod as the flies reach holding water. They will appear to be insects emerging from the pools. Thousands of brook trout have been taken by this tactic.

By mid-September, the lakes cool again and the fish are back in the shallows. Mature fish, bent on spawning, will gather to run up the rivers. In many streams the fishing season for brook trout is already over. But there are streams where the season is open all year, such as the streams running into Lake Superior.

The angler using worm rigs should avoid wading the small waters if possible because the vibrations and noise will spook the trout. Tread ,softly to a likely pool and observe. Pick out the deepest undercut section and cast the worm a foot above the ;pot to give the worm time to sink. Follow the worm with the rod tip, keeping the rod just a few inches above the horizon. If you can, teach yourself to strike by pulling the line in a short sharp jerk rather than leaning back on the rod. Too hard a strike on these small brooks will put fish, lure, line and most of the rod into the trees.

Ultralight tackle is most fun in these shallow waters. Fish slowly, .taking advantage of the flexibility of he tackle to work the worm through very likely spot. Many of the methods used in shallow water before :he fall season will work in fall, too.

But whatever the tactic, in whatever situation, keep in mind that .he fishery will only last as long as .he fish. Practice catch-and-release Fishing with barbless hooks.

Click to Listen!