JOSEPH TOMELLERI GRAPHIC
TEXT BY DENNIS BITTON
I can't remember the first brook trout I caught, because I couldn't have been more than four or five years old. Fortunate to be raised in Idaho by an avid flyfisher, I visited relatives' ranches and fished the streams running through their pastures ? in tow behind my father. Being an enterprising person, he recognized that with a spinner and worm (on the end of one of his old fly rods) he could keep Junior (that's me) occupied for hours. He'd set me up by a pool or behind a small beaver dam that was no more than six foot across and three feet deep and leave me there. The water was clear and almost motionless.
I can still remember carefully and quietly lobbing just the length of the line and leader (underhand from my waist, in a slow arc) and then watching the shiny spinner and squirmy worm settle to the bottom. The sight of a brook trout moving to the bait, and picking it up, are some of my earliest memories. I can't think of anything significant in my life before that.
In high, mountain streams, these fish can be easy to catch. They'll hit wet or dry flies, and seem to like the color red in a pattern. A black Woolly Worm with a red tail will work. So will any number of the 1940's-and-before "wet fly" patterns. In heavily-fished spring creeks, ponds, and tailwaters--where there is a lot of food--these fish can overcome their reputation and become as tough to catch as any brown trout. Brook trout, or "brookies" as most fly fishers refer to them, are not true trout at all, but members of the char family like lake trout, Dolly Varden, and bull trout. (True trout are light-colored with darker spots, char are dark with light spots.)
Brook trout have dark green back, with dark gray or black wavy lines (scientists call them vermiculation patterns) continuing clear back over the top part of the tail and down over the upper part of its sides. Many light green oval spots decorate the fish's side, but the most distinctive markings are red spots surrounded by blue or purple halos. There aren't many of these, but their presence helps distinguish brook trout from look alike species like bull trout and Dolly Vardens.
In full fall spawning colors, a male brookie is even more brightly colored. Its sides turn brilliant orange and the normally orange fins of the lower body turn slightly reddish, highlighted by the characteristic white leading edge of all the fish's side and underbody fins. They are beautiful. No wonder so many fishing writers refer to them as 'jewels'. They are that.
Brook trout were the native species between Michigan and Maine, and from Northern Quebec down to Georgia. They're still there, but in smaller numbers and sizes than what was there 200 years ago. They have also been planted in Central and South America, Africa, New Zealand, and Eurasia, as well as throughout the Western part of North America, where they have been successfully reproducing for more than 100 years. Over most of their present range, brook trout are small creatures, rarely exceeding 12 inches in length. There are some exceptions to this rule though, and places where you can find big brook trout are as sought-after as they are rare.
From the Virtual Fly Shop.
Back to Home