Back to Brook Trout

This winter I caught a lot of brown trout. I enjoy catching browns, especially when they're wild, but the thrill of catching a small, beautifully colored brook trout in a small stream will never fade.

Yesterday I went to a small stream in western Wisconsin in hopes of reuniting with the brook trout. I didn't arrive at the stream until 4:30, which is a bit late for this time of the year, but this stream is a true limestone spring creek, so the water temperatures were ok.

I started out fishing a large, deep pool underneath the bridge where I accessed the stream. The size of this stream is unique - it's small enough to step across in some places, but opens up into 5+ foot deep pools with almost no current. This was one of those deep pools. I crawled the last 30 feet to the pool, as the fish here are among the spookiest I have encountered.

I tied on a size 14 bead head prince nymph with a small water balloon indicator and cast into the pool. Just as I started to think I may have spooked the pool, I saw my indicator shoot under the surface. I set the hook and felt weight on the other end, and soon I had a beautiful wild brookie in hand.

A few casts later I brought another brookie to hand. This one was surprisingly skinny - hopefully he'll fatten up this spring. In the next hour I also caught two browns, but both got away before I could get a picture.

Skinny, but colorful

At this point the action was slowing down and darkness was falling, so I decided to head home. A glimpse of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds was the perfect ending to a long day.