Thank God for brook trout because without Salvelinus Fontinalis the catching of a stream breed trout in much of Eastern North America would be a rare event. We all know that rainbows depend on stocking for the most part to claim a spot in our rivers and the same goes with most brown trout. Browns can survive in some marginal waters (that's why I like them) but successfully spawning is not their strong game. To keep browns in most rivers you need a continuous stocking program. Survivor Strain???? I'll hold my cards on that one.
Not with Brook Trout!!!!
One does not have to look far to find streams that are not stocked but have brookies They're everywhere. One also does not have to look far to find native brookie streams that are seldom or never fished. That's a good thing.
Somehow the brook trout has gotten the reputation of not being a survivor, a fish that can only survive in a pristine environment. It is a safe bet that there are more native brook trout finning away in New England then bows and browns combined! And many of their haunts are places like lowly beaver ponds, places where most fly fishers thumb their noses at.
People think that brookies are the mainstay of springtime fishing. Yes, if you want stocked brookies. My first brook trout were caught on a rainy July morning when I was about 10 year old. Catching these two fish was the piscatorial equivalent of panning for gold and they were caught in a stream that had never been on a stocking list.
All this high water has given some of our "thin blue lines" some new life. Fish a wet fly such as a Coachman letting it drift close to logs and undercut banks.
Ken P.S. don't forget the beaver ponds
10 comments:
Ken,
Glad you mentioned the beaver ponds. They can be tough to fish but if conditions are right they are amazing. I like to think of Cady Lane as being one big beaver pond with slow current.
Anonymous
Hi Ken, great post today! I am a Brook Trout fly fisherman. Most anglers on a river are there after the bows, browns or small mouth but I'm there with light fly tackle chasing the Brook Trout. To this passion (my wife would say obsession) I have happily devoted massive amounts of my free time and disposable income. Other anglers have asked me "Why do you go to so much trouble for such a small fish?" Well, I grew up spin fishing on warm water and got into fly fishing for Rainbows later in life. That's when it happened- the shock of seeing my first dollar bill length autumn male Brook Trout hanging from an Elk Hair Caddis. I just couldn't believe a fish that beautifully colored lived here in the freshwater rivers of Massachusetts- Seriously he looked like he belonged on tropical reef and certainly not in the Swift River. That was 12 years ago and at this point I've hooked many species of fish with a fly rod. From 3 inches to 30 and still to me nothing beats catching a 6" Autumn Brook Trout. To me they are like a living jewel.
I will never forget the first brook trout I caught as a youngster, Ken. I don't recall how I heard about the place, but the stream was little more than a two foot wide stream that drained a wetland in town. Some spots were pretty deep though, and by that I mean a couple of feet.
A piece of nightcrawler drifted and reeled in on the spinning rod was deadly and the hits were aggressive. I could not believe how beautiful the brookies were, and was just amazed how the brookies lived in this small stream. I pass over that brook once in a while now and the flow is still good. I trust the brookies still are living in there, but I don't fish it for fear of being spotted and the natives getting cleaned out by other anglers.
Sam
B’town Jim says,
Caught a small, about 12”, salmon in the Swift today just below the fisheries office on East Street. Was very excited as this is a long way from the Quabbin spillway. It took a 14 para Adams. The obvious explanation is a Quabbin escapee, but maybe the group that got out in 2019 did reproduce? Any other salmon reported in the Swift this summer?
Brookies are my favorite regardless the little ones try to commit suicide on my #16 offering, while I'm hoping for a big brown. Love their aggressive willingness, and their fall colors. Brilliant! I cut my teeth on them in little brooks outside Springfield. Thanks Ken for highlighting them.
Btown Jim says,
Tried to leave a comment yesterday but it did not register. Caught a salmon on the lower Swift yesterday day at about 1pm. It was just a little below the Fisheries property on East Street, well below Quabbin dam. Any other salmon caught recently? Assume it came over the spillway but it was only about 12 “, so might revive the question of whether the spillover fish can spawn in the Swift.
Ken, Things seem too quiet on this board
Are you OK? Hopefully on vacation?
Glad to read you're on the mend Ken - take your time and heal up well, and we'll see you out there in the fast water (and reduced flows) soon. Brookies? The best. I can still envision my first few Brookies taken as a very young lad; fishing with Dad above a small beaver pond on the Jabish in Belchertown. Had my brand new Zebco push-button reel and rod combo (probably 8 lb. cheap mono that tended to curl up into a spiral too) and fired out a long, long cast that must have measured 9 to 10 feet out from me. That little piece of worm was gulped enthusiastically by those small Brookies and the lifelong love was started. It was so simple then, and so much fun. Still love the not so subtle surface strikes from Brookies on the Swift; and as everyone here describes - the colors are still beautiful to see. All is right with the world when you're thigh deep on that crystal clear water, having those Brookies teach you that the simplest and purest things in life are what matters. Jim M
Btown Jim,
In the Fall of 2018 hundreds of salmon went over the spillway and SPAWNED in the Swift. In 2020 we began to catch 6 inch salmon in the Swift. There's your answer.
Ken
Thanks, Ken. It was very exciting to catch that fish. Although small it jumped numerous times and really had me guessing once I could see it was not a little rainbow
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