Searching for Sea Runs with Alan

Yesterday Alan and I went to visit some coastal streams with potential for both sea run browns and maybe a rogue sea run brookie. In fact, the first stream was chosen specifically for its salter potential.

Unfortunately, it seems that all that prevents this from being a prolific salter stream is one small, useless dam. It has the advantage of running through mostly private and very restricted power plant property, and being small enough that most wouldn't give it so much as a glance anyway. It does have land locked brookies, but we couldn't get to them legally. And I wouldn't at all be surprised if, from time to time, one or two got stuck downstream from the dam and were forced into a salter lifestyle. 

The next stream we payed a visit to is known for it's sea run brown trout, but has some brookies as well, though no documentation of a sea run brook trout has come from it any time recently. Cormorants rained on our parade there. I hooked and lost one small brown trout, either wild or an Iijoki. Which, I do not know, for I did not get a good enough look. Down river, alewives were running strong. The dark bottom and tannin stained water made photographing the live fish difficult, so I scooped up a dead one. 

The next stream, not far away, has a far more robust wild trout population. This one was the true gem find of the day. We will both be visiting it again. I alternated between a purple leach and an Ausable Bomber. The streamer took the lions share, a half dozen brookies and one sizable brown, which clearly ate the fly but came free and then got hooked in a ventral fin. But the bomber took the prettiest fish in that stream, a remarkable looking brown with huge dark spots and fantastic gold coloration. That fish fought remarkably well, doing stunning high jumps and tail walks. That fish alone settled it: I had to revisit this place. 

 

  

Salmo trutta

Dark, tannin stained streams make dark fish.

On the way back towards home, we stopped at another stream, one I'm much more familiar with and have fished for years. Lately, it seems to producing a lot of gorgeous but smaller than average brookies... like this one:

Salvelinus fontinalis

This is contrary in a lot of other streams in the are, which, for the last two years, have been lacking in younger year classes. Why this stream differs I do not know. Another thing that's different about it but shared by a stream directly opposite it in the same drainage is an abundance of dace and common shiners. And they're getting active now. So, I decided to catch some. I got three species, actually. Eastern blacknose dace, fallfish, and common shiner. It was a nice little breakaway from the trout fishing. The tanago hooks are bringing home the bacon, I caught my smallest dace ever! I can't wait to get to some water with new micro species. 

Luxilus cornutus

Semotilus corporalis

Rhinichthys atratulus

When we got back to the car, we found it covered in brown stoneflies, all females carrying and depositing eggs on the shiny surface. 

I love spring.

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