January Dry Fly Brook Trout

I've always said it: the easiest way to catch fish on dries all year is to fish for  wild brook trout in small streams. Pretty much anytime there is no ice on the surface a brooky will come up to eat. They have to. Small streams are not the most supportive environments and brook trout can't afford to miss many meals.

So it did not come as a surprise today when I got to the stream and watched a fish rising very consistently to stone flies in a flat pool. The best imitation I had for them was an ant. By the time I was ready the fish had moved to the head of the pool and was rising every 30 seconds. I put the ant over him and the current dragged it down. I watched him chase and hit it in the tail. I missed, cast again, missed, returned the fly once more, and this time hooked him well. The take was beautiful, the brooky showed his whole head and dorsal fin like a tiny shark eating a tiny seal.

 And I wasn't done yet. In fact, I caught five more brookies, all on dry flies. One on an Ausable Bomber and four in one pool on a Bivisible.

For this section of stream, a very good fish!

 Fishing dry flies in the dead of winter will just never get old! After releasing that nice fish I worked my way up through the meadow, and although I didn't catch any more, I saw some foxes and went farther upstream than I ever have before. There are a couple pools there that I'm sure will give up some nice brookies in the spring time.

Small water that really does hold fish!