You just never know what a small stream will show you....

I love to follow those small tributaries that seem to be havens for wild trout. Some of these real thin blue lines can show me some impressive trout. Why trout choose to find such places hospitable I can't give you a reason. I believe that some of these trout may have been born into the tiny stream and will perhaps live their entire life within a fifty yard stretch of water, that's remarkable. The tributary pictured is one I have visited many times, several posts have been written about it. It helps supply clean cold water to the larger stream which in and of itself produces some very nice trout. The streams banks are soft and walking can be problematic. The stream has numerous undercut banks and root balls. There are areas where wood collects and provides sanctuary.

In the past I have caught both brown and brook trout in this tiny stream. In some years the browns tend to dominate and I see more of them then I catch. In other years I have seen an abundance of brook trout. I can't explain this but it just happens. Last week I walked along this stream and observe some brookies along with....
 

 

 These brook trout were grouped together over a small patch of gravel. Most times this would be because of warm waters and this would be a cold water source seeping up from a spring. But water temps taken along the stream indicated the water to be 60-62 degrees. Well for whatever reason they were clustered together I managed to get a photo before one of them spotted me a scattered the group. When i got home and uploaded the photo I saw what I think is a wild rainbow. If you look at the first three trout you can recognize two of them as brookies, but sandwiched in the middle is a fish that looks like a rainbow.  Look closely and let me know what you think.