Fall Colors Brook Trout Style

I've been missing the normally good fall brook trout fishing. This drought has gotten so bad that MDC is planning to cut it's share of the release into the Farmington. If that happens, which it probably will, it will kill that river. Very few trout can in there, aside from the little browns and brookies, would survive flows under 20cfs so this is going to hurt our favorite river.

Today I got a bit of a brake by fishing in a watershed that has an exceptional aquifer and a number of stellar brook trout streams. The one I visited today was uncharted territory for this blue line fanatic. I'd been told that there were plenty of wild char in it. And sure enough, in the first run, the stimulator got walloped by a stunning male in spawning dress.

I noticed while photographing that fish that my camera was running out of juice. I found out why when I got home and found 20 photos of the inside of m camera case. I am still not used to handling my two new cameras and I often turn it on accidentally when putting it away and the sensitive shutter button does the rest of the work!I caught 7 brook trout this afternoon, five males an two females, and saw three pairs of large (12 inch) brookies on redds, which I sat and watched but left alone. I'm definitely going back to that stream soon.