Trying to land me a brook trout

[bumblebeetuna]

How in the world does someone go about catching a brook trout in a lake on a fly?.....I've been fishing up at Timothy lake for years and years and caught my fair share of brook trout, but only with worms on the bottom. I know they feed on small minnows and little crawfish but I've tried immitations and none have worked so far...Any suggestions?

[AndyK]

You catch Brook Trout the same way you catch all the other trout in the lake: match the hatch.

If the Rainbows are feeding on chironomids, then so are the Brookies. Same with may flies, caddis, damsels, etc. It is usually just the luck of the draw whether the fish that takes your fly is a Brook or some other trout.

If you really want a Brook Trout, fish where they are the dominant (or only) trout. Some of the High lakes are all Brook Trout, such as Pamelia in the Jefferson Wilderness.

[Maineiac]

I've never fished for Brookies in Oregon but I have 22 years of experience fishing them in Maine (where they are supposed to be!)

During a hatch:
As stated above match it if you can, if you can't break out a streamer and strip it just under the surface through where the action is. I've caught decent fish matching the hatch but my biggest brookies on dry line have been on streamers like a gray ghost or other similar patterns just under the surface.

No hatch:
Grab the sinking line and dredge the bottom for them, a systematic approach works well for this until you start to get into the fish. Fish in a circle around the boat letting your line sink to similar depths all around the boat then repeat at a deeper depth until you find some fish. Fishing wet can be extremely boring so stay positive. best of luck, would like to see your results!

[dartonvpr]

bumblebee, I've never been on Timothy lake, but we fished the Quinn river channel in Crane Prairie with spruce flies, wollybuggers and carey specials. Prefered the dark spruce flies, but knew people that used lighter ones as well. Wolly buggers were usually brown, orange or olive with black tail and hackles. We also used them in some of the smaller lakes around central Oregon with the same success.

[arlie]

Chironomids work for me,,,

[nehalemguy]

Joe's Hopper, Big Creek, Logan Valley.

E

[El Wapo]

black body white legs...girdle bug....shhhh!

[bendtbbucsfan]

Try Todd lake. Fishing there is usually red hot for a couple of weeks after ice out.

[FlieFreak]

On some of the high lakes you can kill them on just a dry fly..

[Dullhook]

I'm probably one of the world's least skilled fly casters, but have had pretty good success at Gold Lake for brookies. Try a #12 tied-down yellow caddis off the bottom. :wink:

[Moe]

We go to Timothy Lake every year right after Labor Day and it's been my goal to catch a couple of nice brookies to fry up for a meal. So far we've had that meal every year.

Big brookies like feeding just off the bottom and the ones in Timothy are no exception. At the north end of the lake go to where the shallow water goes deep in the channel heading back into the main part of the lake and with a full sinking fly line strip the fly close to the bottom. If there's a brookie there you'll catch him.

Sometimes we'll catch smaller brookies on dries when a hatch is coming off on the shallow water but the big fish are deep. A size 10 muddler works well, too. There are some 5+ lb brookies in there.

Even though Timothy is a put and take lake we release pretty much all of our rainbows.

[PittsburghD]

How in the world does someone go about catching a brook trout in a lake on a fly?.....I've been fishing up at Timothy lake for years and years and caught my fair share of brook trout, but only with worms on the bottom. I know they feed on small minnows and little crawfish but I've tried immitations and none have worked so far...Any suggestions?


Go to gear on any lake is a wolly with a muddler dropper. Hit ice out on any mountain lake with them in it and you will get your share of brookies and rainbows depending on which one is bigger and stalking at the time.

Timothy is full of rainbows so trying to target brookies is harder. Skip the species and just catch whatever fish are out there whenever.

I catch a lot of brookies around structure at the beginning of Summer/late spring with these patterns. They are hunters.

[Horsecreek]

I've never fished for Brookies in Oregon but I have 22 years of experience fishing them in Maine (where they are supposed to be!)


No hatch:
Grab the sinking line and dredge the bottom for them, a systematic approach works well for this until you start to get into the fish.

Brooks are secretive...almost as bad as the bad boy...the Brown (a loner)! They huddle together...find them in cooler water...a slow, sexy, deep, switching retrieve just off the bottom is the key...pattern is really incidental...leech marabou patterns work well...if you are not getting an occasional weed you are not deep enough....remember they are ambushers hiding from any prey...also the longer the line the better...try wind drifting...deadly!

[Siwash]

Dunno squat about throwing flies for trout this time of year, or targeting lakes, but what little fly-fishing I've done... even this hack had no trouble getting a bunch of brookies on the upper Deschutes (between CP and Wickiup) in the summertime. They've gotta be about the dumbest flavor of trout around from all I've seen, but then I tend to stick to moving water so I can't say how that may change the equation if you're sold on lake action.

[Dave Miller]

Fish early morning or just before sunset where you have streams running into the lake/pond. Use dry flies in sizes 14 or 12, unless you have really small flies like our Black Fly, then even down to 20 - 22 size (which I can barely see any more at 67 yrs of age). If you don't see fish working the surface (all you may see is a fin or tail cutting the surface some times) use streamers such as the above mentioned Gray Ghost, or others such as a Mickey Finn, Nine Three, Red & White, Grady Special etc. There are many good brook trout and salmon (landlock) streamers. Size 8 is about right for brook trout that run 12 inches on up. These streamers are not the wilder colors that you use on the west coast.
Brook trout are also fished for with wet flies and nymphs; again use ones in sizes from 12 on down.
I have been catching trout here in Maine for over 60 years, and my dad made a living at guiding for fishing & hunting as did my grandfather. I have fished Europe, Great Britain and Canada for various types of trout.

Even after all of that, I enjoy the most - getting a half dozen small 6 to 8 inch brookies early in the spring of the year and cooking them right there in the woods by rolling them in some corn meal, salt, and pepper and frying them up in salt pork or bacon grease until nice & golden brown. They go great with a couple handfulls of just picked fiddleheads cooked up, or if they aren't available a couple of fried eggs.
I can't wait for spring. I went ice fishing today and caught some lake trout and a salmon, we have approx. 3 feet of ice on the lake I fished. Guess it'll be awhile before I get to use a fly rod.

[desertjunky]

Joe's Hopper, Big Creek, Logan Valley.

E


Done that, Loved it!!!!!

[Horsecreek]

East Lake years back use to be one of my favorite haunts in late fall....October....when the first snow came...... it was best to get out quickly if flakes fell....easy targets for Brooks when they are on their nesting beds.......less than 8 feet from shore...pretty much along the entire lake in sandy stretches by the hundreds...big bucks fighting each other for the right to spawn with that gorgeous female...all in beautiful spawning colors...it was a sight for sure and easy to catch....of course all were released....that fishery was so good that it was a place Fish and Game used to restock other lakes...I believe it is all but gone today.......

First ice off (East Lake) opening day Spring was the day to target these babies when they were in prime shape for the skillet....I remember one snow packed opening day fishing the by the Red Fissure......ice was free at that end...1/4 of the lake...my German Sheppard and myself hooking brooks in deep water over the weed beds...very cold......I was so busy with good fishing that when I turned around the ice had shifted...blocking us in from our camp across the lake....that little dinghy and 3 hp kicker were breaking slabs of ice into ice cubes shapes on a very slow return to camp...fear was I would shear the prop pin..... then be stuck in the middle of this ice jam overnight. Wore a deep freeze refrigerated suit and my dog's warmth..... if worse came to worse...! Just thinking about it makes me cold today......of course 35 years older....got back to shore at dark safe and sound!