Wednesday, October 25, 2017

A Striking Sight on a Thin Blue Line

People who fish 100 days or more a year tend to get to see things that other people never will. Today I got to see one of those things, and it completely overshadowed everything else that occurred
during my outing so I'm going to start with it rather than starting from the beginning.

I had worked my way up to a natural waterfall that is very much a fish migration barrier, I have never caught brook trout above it. That isn't to say there are none, I just haven't caught or seen them. Bellow the little waterfall, however, I have caught lots of brookies and a few quite large ones. I fished the plunge pool for a little wile without a take when something shot into the air and caught my attention. I couldn't believe it, a little five inch brook trout had just attempted to clear the waterfall. Though it was not successful, the distance it attained was fairly startling. I decided to just sit and watch to see if it would happen again. Over the next three hours I watched a bunch of wild brook trout flinging themselves at the waterfall in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the waters above to colonize them. I stayed three hours because I wanted to get some good photos of them, and I did not leave unsatisfied.










I had fairly slow fishing, and this fish clearly migrating upriver kind of clarified why. They weren't in the mood to eat, they were on the move. Spawning time is coming and the increase in the flow from yesterday's rain told them it was time to go. The extremely dark stain to the water undoubtedly hurt my odds as well. I did catch trout and char, just not that many and not the big colored up males I was looking for. 






15 comments:

  1. Rowan those photos of the brookies leaping like salmon are awesome.
    TU should pick up on them.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Alan,
      I'm sure Tim Romano has something much better for TU. That guy knows how to get a sweet photo!

      Delete
  2. Absolutely stunning! Wow--mesmerizing to see them jumping that!

    Yes on the 100 days. For me, seeing river otters not once, but twice, on different streams, up close, including in the tideway---that's my "I get to see it" moments.

    Is this a wild brown trout? Sharing water with wild brook char? Interesting.
    https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R13WWcCt4a0/WfEQGIcHrnI/AAAAAAAAVL4/voRv5tzjRFIvLNpOviRUmUSLEiBBBcBggCLcBGAs/s640/DSCF8027.JPG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'd be hard pressed to find a stream in this state that has wild browns without at least a small population of wild brook trout. The Farmington, known for having a robust wild brown trout population, is loaded with wild brookies.

      Delete
    2. See that is interesting. I grew up fishing in the Poconos. The browns were often blamed for eating the brookies. Even a recent study designed in PA about remediation of acidic mine streams will measure the anticipated decline of brook char in the streams as they are neutralized, with an expectation that the browns down in the river below, will migrate up to fill the space.

      Apparently (something I only just learned) brook char thrive at lower pH than trout.

      Delete
  3. Rowan
    Awesome photos of the leaping brook trout. Amazing what you can see when you stop to smell the roses. Nice job!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Pete,
      I like to say "fishing isn't all about catching fish, but it is definitely all about the fish".

      Delete
  4. Excellent sight! I have witnessed a brookie leaping from one pocket to another on a freestone once, but not nearly as high as this. Impressive photos. Amazing what you can see when you're in the woods long enough. Keep up the good work.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks George,
      The first one was a surprise, I really didn't know they could jump that far!

      Delete
  5. Awesome job capturing those flying brook trout. Like you, I could have sat there and watched that for hours.

    I wonder if any somehow make it up that waterfall? I guess not being you haven't caught any above it.

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    Replies
    1. In a really extreme precipitation event fish may be able to bypass the falls somehow, but going directly over it is pretty much impossible from what I saw.

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  6. That was fantastic and if you get more rain I'm sure they will make it up stream. You won't forget that memory. What a great colorful time to be on the water. WELL DONE!
    Tie, fish, write and photo on...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks.
      Though there may be a way around, I think their efforts are pretty much futile.

      Delete
  7. That, is absolutely amazing. Good on you for putting the time in to see such a phenomenon, and thank YOU for sharing it with the rest of us! AWESOME!

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