To Fish or not to Fish...For Brook Trout...My Best Practices for Protecting Our Natives!

[Trent Jones]

Charlie and TPFR's,

A recent post by Charlie Church got me thinking about when I fish for Brook Trout, and when I don’t fish for brook trout and why.

It sounds like the brook trout fishing is still ok Charlie. It may be hot in DC but the overnight lows are still getting into the 50’s in SNP.

Most people agree that fishing for these brookies should seize during the spawn, and wading these streams while the redds are susceptible to damage and disturbance should also be halted.  The spawn usually takes place in the October time frame depending on weather conditions.  And the Redds, with their eggs, will remain vulnerable to wading for up to 3 months afterwards.

But as you mentioned Charlie, low water and high heat can also pose a danger to these fish during the summer. If you catch a fish that is already stressed from high water temps you run a very high likelihood of killing that fish.

So here are some best practices I use for determining if I should go fish for some SNP brookies.

1.       Check local fly shops and their fishing reports. If they say the fish are spawning don’t go fishing. If they say the water temps are high, don’t go fishing.  I like to check www.mossycreekflyfishing.com and www.murraysflyshop.com for reports. They both have a vested interest in keeping a healthy fishery intact and I know Harry works with VA biologists on fishery studies.

2.       If you fish the post spawn in the winter, do not wear waders. It will save you from wrecking redds and destroying eggs.

3.        If you fish the summer months check the above websites again to see what local guides are doing, and heed there advise if it says to skip the brook trout fishing. I also check the NOAA forecast for above 2000 feet to give me and idea on what the temps have been doing.  It is supposed to be in the 40’s tomorrow night!

 

4.       If all signs are still a go, I will pick a town closest to where I want to fish and look it up on www.weather.com . Once I find it I will click on the monthly report which gives me a day-by-day report of rain fall. Not only does rain cool the streams it almost always helps the fishing. If it has not rained in a while, I will usually pass on brook trout fishing unless I am looking for a challenging day on the river. When the water gets low in these tiny streams the fishing gets extremely difficult and sometimes it’s just not worth it to drive two hours and spook a bunch of fish .

 

I was thinking of going to SNP for some Brookies tomorrow and literally went through the above steps of fact finding and I now know that fishing is still good, I am probably going to throw terrestrial patterns, and the rain gauge nearest to my favorite SNP stream registered almost a 1/2 inch of rain on Monday and another 3/4 of an inch on Friday. ( if you ask what my favorite stream is I promise to tell you my least favorite J )Sounds just about right for a good day of Brook trouting if you ask me.

So, as the Mercury rises, take a few minutes and check the stream status where you are going. It will let you know if you will harm fish in tough water conditions or if you are going to run into good (recent rain)or bad (low water) fishing conditions.

I hope this helps all of you Brook trouters and prospective Brook trouters in your endeavors. Go grab a park map and fish all the blue lines!

-Trent

[Jeff Cook]

Trent, can you explain the comment below? I'm missing the connection. Thanks. 

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Jeff Cook

[r...@robsnowhite.com]

No waders = you won't be in the water to disturb the redds.?

That's my interpretation 

Sent from my iPhone

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[Jeff Cook]

Got it. Thanks. 

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Jeff Cook

[HeaveToo]

My old rule for Brookie fishing was that if the smallmouth were biting good I would leave the Brookies alone.  I don't like to fish them in the spawn times.  What usually really drove me onto the river for Brookies was the want to go fishing very early in the season, like March.

The shad fishing usually picks up in very late March or Early April so I could concentrate there for a while.  This would go until May when the smallmouth bit would start up and May was usually my best month for Smallmouth.

This was when I was living in central Virginia.  I had trout streams 20 minutes away and smallmouth fishing just as close.

[Miles]

Based on an unscientific survey of me going fishing with Trent today for brookies, I would say his system works. Trent got four or five; I got one and lost another. One pic is my fish, the other is Trent with one of his.

Miles

[flyrodder]

Great post, great info. Been doing this for a while now since the end of May. TBH, I do not yet have a UL rod so Brooky fishing for those mammoth 6 inchers just does not quite have the fun in it that even a 9 inch Smally has. I have caught some decent sized Brookies and they are fun to catch but those are rather then exception, at least on the Rapidan.

Another thing about Brookies. Every time I catch one I am floored by just how stunningly beautiful they are. They also look so darn fragile and helpless that it is beyond my understanding how ~anyone~ could even think to keep one or fish one when the water temps are high... Sort of like killing a Bald Eagle. Who would do that?!

[John Bilotta]

nicely done.

john

On Jun 25, 2012, at 4:36 PM, Miles wrote:

Based on an unscientific survey of me going fishing with Trent today for brookies, I would say his system works. Trent got four or five; I got one and lost another. One pic is my fish, the other is Trent with one of his.

Miles

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