UPSmallie

*Little lengthy but I'd say worth the read if you have the time I'd always wanted to fish for brook trout, but I'd always been busy or made some kind of excuse to try and avoid the ticks. Tuesday that all changed. I'd woken up early and gone fishing for whitefish from my canoe. For about three straight hours I got tons of bites but for the life of me couldn't get any hooked. I packed up and went home. Sometimes you really just want to catch a fish and that is how I was feeling. I decided that today would be the day that I went and tried brook trout fishing. A buddy had recommended a stream a short drive from town for me to check out so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I threw my waders, bug-spray, fishing rod with a a #6 black panther martin, and some pliers in my car and took off. It was mid-day, but I knew there'd be some wild trout that'd be hungry. I get to the stream and right away am greeted by the tall grass. I barrel through it and jump into the stream. The easiest going seems to be through the water and not around it. Almost instantly I'm greeted by a shedded dragonfly larvae case stuck to a wooden post next to the water's edge. Pretty cool. I start throwing the panther martin beneath riffles and pretty soon I hook into a couple of the little native rainbow parr. Nothing I can keep, but some excitement at least. I keep pushing further down the creek and find another big set of riffles. I tell myself that this spot guaranteed will have two fish under it. I flip my panther martin in and in and almost instantly something jerks my rod hard! Fish! I flip the first brook trout of the day - a 9 incher - onto the bank! Yes, my first ever brook trout! I fire off a second cast and get another fish to commit - another juvenile rainbow. I knew there'd be at least 2 fish here I chuckle to myself. I throw the brook trout on my stringer and keep pushing into the woods. I find another good looking spot with some riffles and an opening for casting directly beneath them. I throw a couple casts in with my spinner and I'm getting nothing. I decide that I'll just double back in a second and drive to a different portion of the stream and fish that section of it. Just as I say that thought to myself, a 10 inch brook trout grabs my spinner and starts thrashing on the surface! No Way! I land the little guy and throw him on my stringer. Two down, three to go. That brook trout convinved me...to go further down the rabbit hole. Quoting from the movie *** "The only way to get out is to keep going down." I climb, weave, and wade my way to another prime looking spot about a hundred feet further down the stream. This has a fish, 100% I tell myself. I wait till the mud clouds settle and pitch out my spinner. A couple more repeated casts in and I just know there has to be a fish. Where is it? SLAP OH MY GOODNESS A MASSIVE Brook Trout just charged my spinner and slapped it right in front of me! And by massive I mean pushing 11 inches. It didn't get hooked somehow. I consider changing to a different spinner, but decide that I'll just keep casting my current one and see what happens. One more pitch out and I realize that that was a great decision. Whack! Fish On! I crank up the 10.5 inch brook trout and flip him on the bank! Alright! I just need 2 more brook trout and I'll have my limit I got my first 3 within probably about 300 feet of stream from the first set of riffles I had stumbled upon. I should be able to get my limit pretty quickly then. Or so I thought. For literally the NEXT MILE of stream it is a deadzone with absolutely ZERO Riffles. Like none at all. It was brutal. There's a constant 2-3 blackflies that are hovering over my head and buzzing in my ears and an occasional assault from a handful of mosquitoes. Everytime this happens I just spray more bug spray on my hat, arms, and hands. This actually does wonders as all the flies leave me after the mile of empty water. I push through some trees and round a bend. No Way! Do my eyes deceive me? Up ahead is the 100% perfect riffle structure with a beautiful wide-open lane for casting a spinner. It's like a 7 foot wide log creating a cascading waterfall almost. I thank the Lord and wade out just above the riffle. This spot guaranteed has at least 2 big brook trout beneath it. Guaranteed. My first cast with my spinner agrees with me. My rod gets ripped down hard and my line is bolting and zig-zagging all over the stream! It's a biggin! I fight the brook trout over the lumber fall and get it on the bank. Yes! God is Good! I'm at 4 brook trout and just need one more to complete my limit. I wade back on top of the log breaking the water and fire off my second cast from this spot. AN EVEN BIGGER BROOK TROUT SLAMS IT!!!!!!! This one looks all of 11-12 inches!!!! I battle it hard but it pops off. Eh no biggie, just means I'll have to dive further into the jungle to finish my limit. Most of the brook trout are so aggressive that you really don't even have to set the hook. They hit the spinner so hard you basically just fling them onto the bank and you're set. Pliers are almost always needed since they are hooked so well. I push onwards another quarter mile through stream. Finally I start seeing some more riffles. I wade past rocks the size of volleyballs and tennis balls. Now I just need to find an opening for me to cast from. I fire off a couple casts in a couple stretches directly beneath the riffles. I know there's got to be a brook trout around here, but where is it? I keep going and come across another spot with a little bit of riffles that is open enough to cast into. Sometimes you can fire off a cast at a new spot before the mud clouds your waders caused, float downstream and cloud up the water. This is what I do. Gotta hit the water while it's mostly clear. RIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP OH MY GOODNESS IT'S A MONSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The biggest brook trout of my life is tearing up the stream!!!! WOW!!!!! I flip it up onto the high bank and it is huge!!! It's an 11.5 incher that absolutey choked my spinner! What a way to finish my limit! I jump up onto the bank with my limit in tow and feel amazing as I trek back to my car. I'd never caught a brook trout till today and not only did I catch one, but I caught my limit. I get home and guess what? Not a single tick! I broil the brook trout with lemon pepper and uncle tony's creole seasoning and my goodness! EASILY the best meal I have had ALL MONTH!!!! No Joke! Brook Trout taste like HEAVEN!!!! All fish easily cleared the 7 inch minimum and were 9-11.5 inches long. The giant weighed a full pound! I found some caterpillars and snails in their stomachs so that was pretty neat. I only covered about half of the stream containing riffles so I'm itching to get back out and explore the rest of it! Fish On ?

Not a bass, but yesterday I had somewhat of a similar experience. Fishing for whitefish in 35 feet on little jigs and light line. Already got a solid keeper, but was waiting for a big one. Got some on/off bites and finally connected on what I know had to be the biggest whitefish I'd ever hooked. Set the hook and it barely budged. Rod tip was literally bent into the water. Reach for the net and feel the jig pull out. Was 100% a fish. Not fun. Hey just gives another excuse to hit the water again though. Keep grinding and you'll catch some

Enjoyed the hookups - nicely done

That rockbass is a toad!

Throw a cheap rummage bin topwater and hold on!

The fishing has been great lately. 95% of all the pike I've been catching out of the local bay have been 23 inches or less, but still a fish is a fish. Never get tired of the fight Quick story on how I got my PB from this bay a few days ago. Not overall PB, just from this bay. I pull up to my first way-point and the water is glass. This is just screaming for me to throw a topwater. I pitch out a Heddon One Knocker Spook in bone color. First cast and a big pike rolls right next to it, but won't commit. I throw a weightless super fluke as a follow-up bait and he smacks it but doesn't get hooked. I decide that it's time to get serious. If this pike is this aggressive I think I should be able to get him. I throw out an olive X-Rap on a steel leader and jerk it back to me. I start to wonder if he's going to hit it first cast or not. Oh there he is! Just dead-weight on the end. I crank him into the net with little problem. Alright not bad! Came out at 28 inches and 4.25 lbs. Then last night I wanted to try something new so I went out to the shoreline with a headlamp and netted around 6 sculpin minnows to use as bait for this morning. I threw them out on a 1/8 oz firetiger jighead and almost immediately was met with success. Ended up 4/5 on the jig and sculpins and the one I didn't land snapped me off. Felt good

Wow!!! Was just thinking I need to do some brook trout fishing. Well Done!

This time last year I was bagging limits of smallmouth on spawning flats. So far I've only caught one smallie but it was a really fat pre-spawner. I think the timing and water temperatures just vary. The location might be the same, but the spawning might be taking place earlier or later. Hit or miss sometimes.

Well Done!

? My Goodness!!!!

Probably my craziest from shore catch yet. I still have no idea how this happened lol. Was fishing with a buddy at one of the local rivers yesterday a little before sunset rip jigging a moonshine shiver minnow, trying for walleyes. I'd caught a lot of atlantics in this spot before but never this early in the year. I was working the shoreline, popping the shiver minnow back to me just off bottom, no big deal. Then I moved over to one spot, pitched it out and 12 feet from the shoreline I felt a hard strike and my rod got ripped down hard. Thankfully I had my net right next to me. I yelled "I got one, it's an Atlantic!" to my buddy but he didn't believe me. I had 15 lb test on so I wasn't worried about breaking off. The fish was barely hooked so I fought him as hard as I could to the net before he could pop off. I got him half netted when he jumped out of the net. I figured the hooks would have got stuck on the mesh and popped out, but somehow they didn't. A few minutes later and I got the miracle catch in the net. Hooks popped out shortly after. I still can't believe it. The fish was Right Ventral clipped so it looks like it was stocked in 2012. 22.5 inches and 3.5 lbs. Not a bug or minnow in its stomach. Of course I later ended up snagging and loosing the exact shiver minnow, but now I have an excuse to buy a bunch more ?

Thast's a beast saugeye! Congrats

Finally! Broke the ice with my first smallie of the year on Tuesday. 2.5 lb chunk

Beauty!

Looks like someone's been using the ned rig...?

Well said. Sometimes we realize it isn't always about catching fish in order to have a great time on the water.

Dang man! That was kind of funny though. I hear you, you win some but other days you lose most of the time. It will get better

Wow! Congrats on the biggin!

Beautiful

Yes! Bone has done well for me. Work it aggressively in calm water or with minor chop on the surface during mornings or evenings. Got my PB pike (32 inches on it) as well as a 3.25 lb smallie on it before. An absolute adrenaline rush when something smokes it

Toad!