Hunting Wild Urban Trophies

"Trophy trout" is a relative title. A trophy trout should be considered any wild or multi-year holdover trout well in excess of its stream's average size. In the wild trout river you fish most, that could be 12 inches, it could be 24 inches, it could even be 30 inches if you are so lucky to live in one of those rare places where those fish exist. Both of the following statements are also true: fisherman tend to exaggerate the number of large fish and how big the fish get in popular streams, yet there are also a lot of  streams that hold truly big trout by anyone's standards that get largely ignored. My trophy hunting revolves mostly around looking for what few wild trout there are in the least heavily trout-populated part of a river that still has trout. Show me a mile long stretch of river that has no more than 50 trout and maybe no trout at all at certain times of year, that's the water I'm looking for here in Southern New England. Often, it's the dirty, urban, bottom end of a trout stream where that old brown trout spends his winter. Below that roll dam or next to that shopping cart could be the biggest trout you've ever seen. But you've got to be really committed if you want to catch that fish. It might mean covering miles on foot without seeing a single fish. I've done it, I've done it so much. I've come home aching deeply, dehydrated, in actual pain. I've thought to myself so many times "why the f*** do I do this to myself?". 

My current favorite project stream to target large wild brown trout close to home is just such a river. It has a couple tributaries that truly are packed with fish, just tons of them. There are some pretty serious ones as well, like the one I named Dave. But the main river, mainly the bottom third of the trout-friendly (barely) stretch, has but a small number of wild fish with a startling average size. It also has a handful of true trophies. It's very tough fishing. The fish are so spread out and move so regularly that you need to cover every lie in two miles of river to have a real chance. It is very easy to lose confidence. Not catching fish is as necessary a part of this trophy hunt as is the actual catching. And it's not a "weeding out" thing. You could tie on a small nymph and try to find the more abundant juvenile fish, but the truth is there aren't many of them here either. Not as few as the monsters, but not enough to make nymphing even worth my while. The more I've targeted large trout the more I've come to believe that a small to medium sized streamer that is both a little intrusive and eye catching and a good representation of the fish the trout eat most is the best way to catch big browns. That goes double for this water, streamers are the  On this water, my three favorites are Coffey's Sparkle Minnow, Swentosky's Full Pint, and Schmidt's Maraceiver, none tied to a length exceeding four and a half inches. In the fall when trout are angry and about to or just post spawn, the Sparkle Minnow comes into play. Throughout the season, the Full Pint imitates the large tessellated darters that are extremely abundant. When fish have slid into the glides and are more apt to take a swung fly stripped slowly than anything else, the Maraceiver in olive and white or yellow, tan, and orange has proved its worth.

On my most recent visit, easily one of the best outings I've had on this urban ditch of a wild trout fishery, it was the Full Pint at the bat. I caught three wild trout. Yeah. Three. I walked two miles of river up and down for them. And I just called it one of the best trips I've had there. Think about that before you take up this sort of pursuit, it isn't for everyone.

Two of those three fish were quite nice though. Not the true monsters I was seeking. But, dare I say it, one was close to trophy status and another wasn't that far off either. The smaller of the two good sized browns ate in a spot I'd never pulled a trout from. That happens a lot in this stream, at almost the same rate over time. There are an awful lot of good lies that I've not pulled trout from yet despite fishing them many times, and these fish do move constantly. This was just one more spot checked of the list, one I'd expected sooner; an inside seem, just below where two tongues of current meet, perfect depth and perfect riffled surface.... He ate on the fall. He already had it before I made my first strip of the retrieve, that just set the hook.

The larger one ate in a spot I've pulled one smaller brown out of in the fall three years ago. It was heavy white water with soft finger like swirls behind a bedrock ledge. She ate in the swirl closest to me, not a rod length away. It was a beautiful, visual take. Not at all fast and aggressive though; she ate that streamer no different than she might have an emerging mayfly. How long was she? I don't know. Almost certainly under 20". Long enough for a quick celebration after she swam off.

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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