Summer Small Stream Giant Brown Trout

In the average summer here in CT, most of the small streams that I fish that remain cold enough for safe salmonid targeting contain only brook trout. Because browns are more tolerable of warm, somewhat polluted waterways and less table to handle very small and nutrient lacking freestones, they are outclassed and out-competed by brook trout in those water. That's a great thing for the native fish, but I do like catching brown trout in small water. From July to the middle of September, my only reliable local wild brown trout stream is also too warm and low to fish. But this year I found small water in CT that surprised me with it's ability to stand up to the hottest time of year. This same water has been surprising me for a while now. It's the stream I'd never caught or seen a trout in until this year; the one that produced the two giants, Dave and Gelb; and a neighboring smaller stream on a parallel course with similar structure and dense wild brown trout numbers.

I visited these streams at the very end of July, more to see what bad shape they were in than to fish them. I was blown away when I got to the first and it was running 60 degrees. I caught a fat female brown trout in the first pool I fished.

I fished that stream as far down as I could, Some of the time just walking and looking, some of the time plopping streamers next to likely cut banks. I caught a handful of browns that, by CT small water standards, were brutes. But by this streams new standards they were the mid-sized fish.

Exhausting the available water there, I decided to head to it's small sister to the north, a stream I'd not fished since early spring but one I'd always had luck in, starting a few years before I started catching trout in the other stream. When I got there it was even colder, but also expectedly low. I decided to stay with my streamer, big though it was for this small water, hoping for size rather than numbers. I knew I could put up 30 or 40 fish if I nymphed, I just didn't want to catch a bunch of fish. I wanted the biggest fish in there... and I think I got it.

Out from under a pile of branches came this monster, eating my fly almost too casually, then sending spay everywhere much less casually after I set the hook. Being in almost no water it didn't have much chance to fight, though it did try to go back into the debris. I basically just put a lot of pressure on it and walked upstream to grab it.  This was far and away a biggest fish from the smallest water record for me. I wasn't even that surprised, I've now seen 10lb fish in this stream system. But really... this stream:

Was holding this fish:

Though almost but not quite 20 inches, this fish was another one worthy of a name, as I'm confident I will see it again. I've settled on Big Spot, hoping that large brown spot under it's dorsal remains a recognizable feature.

I switched to a large Ausable Ugly for the rest of the time on that stream and caught a bunch more quality small stream wild trout. I didn't need another giant and I wasn't expecting one. The variation of color on the smaller fish I ended up with was cool enough that I wouldn't even have minded missing out on another near 20 incher to catch all of them.

Nor would I have traded off meeting this sweet doe for another big trout. I later realized she was probably wandering back to find her fawn which was just big enough to be running around causing trouble on it's own. I found them together on the way back down, running back and forth trough a bush like a maniac, mom looking on and seeming almost annoyed by her crazy kid. 

So, though that was late in July and the conditions have done nothing but get worse since, I'm fully expecting this to be my best big trout late fall and winter ever, and I'm expecting that mostly to be up to this one river system. It's exciting just thinking about the possibilities. And I can't wait to do some night fishing at times of year when most people would write it off too.

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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