A Few to Hold Me Over

We in New England are about to suffer the wrath of some ridiculous cold weather. The low for Saturday is -11. Good for ice fisherman who have had a very frustrating winter, not so good for small stream fisherman. Of course Tuesday, the day my winter brake ends, is going to be near 50, so it won't be 2015 length cold...

But there's still five days of cold and then a few days of rain, so I needed something to hold me over. I went to one of my favorite local streams this evening. It fishes pretty well in the winter. Believe it or not I caught my first wild brook trout here in January 2012. I can't believe it... I've been fishing for brook trout for only four years! Anyway, this stream is really variable. The fish seem to move around a lot, and sections that fished good last year might be crap the next. That first brooky is actually the only one I ever caught out of that pool....

This stream has brown and brook trout, and consequently the occasional wild tiger. Today I caught one brown and one brookie. The brookie came out of a run that is always hot. The brown took in a place I have never seen or caught a fish. Best thing was, he was quite hefty! For such a small stream he was a big fish. Here's the spot:

He took right under the standing tree in 3 inches of water no more than 4 inches from the bank. It is a fishy looking spot, but I have never ever caught one there until today. Glad I decided to fish it today!

The brook trout was not a particularly big one, but absolutely gorgeous and more than enough to satisfy my need for wild char. That should hold me over for a little while.

I caught my first brooky here.

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