Big Brown Antics

In late September and October, A local stream usually has some frequently fished over large Brown Trout in the 3+ pound range. They are every bit as wary as wild trout and indeed its possible that that's what they are. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to hook one of these on three occasions but got broken off each time. Had to fish downstream with an extremely long 7x tippet since a conventional approach would send him from his "spot" of only a foot or less depth into the depths. I was able to get fairly close and observe that devil's antics only once when it was raining but I could see his back out of the water when on the feed. When I made my most stealthy cast he saw me and moved slowly to the side and into his hole. I'm sure that he got a good look at me and gave me the rasberry as he did so. He couldn't be approached from below because of stream side growth. Fishing from the opposite side was a tough cast, but a friend who lives in the area gave it a try and told me of this! He had been frustrated by this fish to the point of getting tired so he lay down to rest and still watch from a high bank. Soon the old fish moved into the shallows (on the opposite side from him which is his usual position) and began his belly on the bottom and back out of the water midge grabbing routine. Suddenly the fish made a teriffic commotion and minnows ran up on the beach which slanted upward for about a foot. AS the minnows flopped back into the water he picked them off one by one then went back to the midging again. I've seen Mackerel drive bait fish up onto the shore at Black Point in Conn but never saw these antics from a Brown Trout. What unusual trout behavior have you seen?

Ol' Bill

Hey Ol'Bill
I don't know about antics, but here in Ontario,the best time I have found on our local river is 1hr before to 2 hrs after sunset. The big ones I've caught ( 20 " & up )love the good old muddler minnow on a sink tip. I'll share one experience from last season. Just after a small riffle the river dropped down into a pool with a small fallen tree on one side & down stream a good cast on the opposite side a sunken log, prime big brown trout lie. The first night I hooked into a good size brown, which proceeded to wrap my leader around a branch on the fallen tree which I was standing on I kept the pressure on him trying to figure out how to unravel my leader, having no choice but to give him some slack , bang he was gone. The secound night he broke me off as fast as I set the hook. Night three he hit my muddler on the third swing by his home.Five shaking minutes I had him in hand , my largest brown to date 3 hands with fingers spread in length roughly 27".If you want large browns evening fishing is the ticket in my neck of the woods.

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Jim

In the lakes near here where shad are the food base, those antics are common of all the fish, including the trout and landlocked salmon.
In a pay to play place where it is difficult find a trout under about 2 1/2# and up to about 13#, it is very easy to wear your arms out at night on a full moon by using any small baitfish immi of about 1 1/2" in length and white/white. During the daytime we needed those little "speck-o-dirt" bugs to entice the same fish.
......lee s.

crkwalker,
Yeah, Thats the way to get em here too but I was trying to get this SOB on cloudy afternoons to early evening. If this rain ever stops before my house goes down the river I'll give it another try on a new fish of the same area. And I'll go later and fish later.

OL' Bill

Having lived and fished in Michigan, I would try Castwell's Marblehead, which looks like the local alewife.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL