Connecticuts "Dark Brook Trout"

While fishing yesterday Mark and I had a few words about the colors of brook trout. He has fished for brookies in several northeast states, and so have I. We talked about the dark colored brook trout of the Adirondacks of New York, and he showed me a photo of one such brook trout, as well as the type of stream it was taken in. This type of black coloration is also found in several small wild brook trout streams I have fished in Connecticut. I have found that most of these streams have tea colored water. This is caused, so I have been told from the conifers which are prevalent in the streams watershed.

This is one of those streams. It's located in far northeast Connecticut. The stream has a healthy population of brook trout. It tends to run warm in the summer but that seems to be not a major problem for the trout, for numbers have been stable since I have been fishing the stream.

These are a few of the dark colored brook trout I have taken from mid April through June.

I have never fished this stream in Autumn, "and I don't know why", just to see if they exhibit the bright orange coloration of their flanks as their cousins.

These guys showed a "strong" liking to a Red Picket Pin.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Two Streams, the First

This is the first part of a two part post on two wild brook trout streams. These streams are about six miles apart and flow through a pine, hemlock and hardwood forest. The streams have almost the same type of structure consisting of plunge pools, large boulders, small rocks and runs and riffles. The insect life is about the same for these small streams caddis, mayflies, but the hatches are not as prolific as some of the larger rivers in Connecticut, and lots of land based insects.

I selected my number one fly for small streams a Bomber in an attempt to bring a brookie to the surface. Fishing the likely holding places I sent the Bomber prospecting. It wasn't long before the fly worked its stuff. A splashly rise and a miss. This same thing happened many times that day, but it also produced several hookups.

One of the solutions to cutting down on the short strikes was to use a wet fly, a Picket Pin. They seemed to readily take the fly and the hookups were better.

This is the difference in brook trout in the two streams. The brookies in this stream are very dark, some almost black. They say that a brook trout takes on the colors of the stained waters they live in. This stream was tea colored. This fellow liked the Picket Pin.

I love these pools. They always hold a trout or two, and they are just beautiful to look at.

These are a few more of the dark colored brookies the live in this stream.

Here's one that I managed to take the Bomber.

If I fished this stream all day and never caught a fish it would be a successful day.