Searching for a Monster Brookie

Jonathan and I went looking for big wild brook trout yesterday. We started out in an area I know is holding some huge brookies because Kirk and Alan have caught a couple recently. To give myself good odds I stuck with two flies that I know produce lots of good fish for most of the day: the Ausable Ugly and a bead head Hare's Ear. The first fish I caught was a pretty solid one, 11 inches and chunky.

That stream produced some nice fish for both of us but we didn't see any real monsters, so we moved on. We went to a stream that we honestly had no idea what to expect in. Turns out there were a few brookies and plenty of small chubs and fall fish.

The next stream we fished is a little more familiar, I caught some big fish there this winter and last fall. I got a few average fish and one 9 in. beauty on a Picket Pin, but Jon knocked it out of the park with a few really nice fish on the Ausable Bomber.

Jon bringing a nice fish to hand.

A dark fish that came up for a yellow humpy

I fished the second to last stream of the day in February, caught one little brookie and decided I must return. Unfortunately it gets quite a bit of pressure, in fact there were boot prints there that indicated that someone else had already fished it that day. I caught a few little guys and that was that for brook trout. We made one more stop and caught a few yellow perch and I even got a tiny smallmouth before calling it a day.