"Future monster" brown- caught twice!

[sarce]

Forum member Lutz and I had a blast fishing together this weekend. Saturday we hit a stream in Shenandoah and caught brookies like they were going out of style. Sunday we made a few quick stops in MD, where things haven't quite warmed up as much and I have not had much luck this year. Really, I haven't had a good day fishing for trout in MD since I started fishing the state after moving to northern VA in September.

However, one trip last fall was pretty interesting. On my way to check out a tiny little brookie creek, I had to cross over the much bigger creek that the brookie stream empties into. From the bridge I noticed a really nice looking spot just downstream. This big creek is not stocked and is not known to support wild trout, so imagine my surprise when, after a few minutes of fishing that nice run, a really nice fish rose and ate my caddis dry!! I landed the fish after an acrobatic fight- a brown, apparently wild, in the 12" range! I was in total disbelief.

I returned to that area a few times in the following weeks. I fished that run and more good looking water upstream but did not see another trout.

Fast forward to Sunday, my first return "trip" to this creek and Lutz's first time fishing in MD. We only drove by this creek as part of a "scenic route" to our real destination. But we decided to stop and take a quick shot at the spot where I caught the brown in October. In fact, I didn't even rig up, I chose to eat my Sheetz sandwich while watching Lutz toss a streamer through the deep rocky run.

But of course, I had the advantage of knowing EXACTLY where I hooked that fish before, and as Lutz was ready to move on from that exact area, I felt like maybe he hadn't quite gotten the fly perfectly in the feeding lane. He agreed to let me take a few casts there while he scouted the next run not far upstream.

I made a cast way up to the head of the run and right up against the far bank. The creek was running high, making it difficult to get the fly down, so I made a few huge upstream mends, in the process yanking the fly to dead-center in the creek, about 20 feet upstream of where I thought the fish could be. I let the streamer sink and dead drift downstream to the spot and then tightened up and started to strip it back...

...and there it was! Black shape suddenly appeared right behind the fly! It turned away for a split second but then came back and whacked the muddler only about 10 feet from me. Lutz came running and the first thing we both noticed was that this fish was FAT! It was also very silvery, to the extent that I wasn't even sure I had a trout on the line until I got it close and saw the spots. Once it was landed we estimated it was about 14, maybe 14.5". The first thought on my mind was that it could be the same fish, so we made sure to get good photos of both sides to compare the spot pattern.

When I got back I compared photos and sure enough it's the same freaking fish. The spots match up perfectly. Hard to believe the change in weight and appearance though. I guess, being in a marginal stream like that and seeing how silvery it looked, it was probably chowing down on the abundant forage fish all fall/winter. I can't imagine this creek stays cold enough for trout to survive in a hot summer...so it will be interesting to see if this fish sticks around! As far as I can tell, it has at least that prime lie to itself in a food-rich stream...and possibly no other trout around for miles! If this summer doesn't cook it, I think this fish is a monster in the making.

Pics below have the dates in the file names. Last one is included mainly to show the stream in the background.

Anyway that was a heck of a way to cap off an incredible weekend!

 

[BrooksAndHooks]

That is a pretty cool story! I know of a few spots on local streams where I have gotten into the same fish twice. I wonder if the stream with brookies also has some reproducing browns in it, and the fish moved down stream for the cooler months. He might make a run up stream for the summer, or stay in the pool at the bottom of the cool brookie stream.

 

[sarce]

Brooks, I've wondered the same thing. The trib with brookies is so small (coincidentally, about the size of the little creek in Swattie's post) I think this fish would be heron or raccoon food if he went up there. The cold water might be enough to create a tiny refuge in the main creek. But in summer the main creek runs about 25 CFS and that trib is just a trickle. I'd think the cold water gets mixed out quickly.

But there's obviously something about that spot that keeps that trout hanging around!

 

[Swattie87]

Cool story, definitely. Some of my favorite and most memorable fish I have ever caught are not necessarily terribly special fish, aside from the fact that I caught them more than once. The coloration differences I think are most likely the result of water conditions at the times you caught it. First time in the Fall, I’m guessing relatively low, clear water? This lends itself to bolder, darker coloration. More recently in the Spring I’m guessing the water was higher and possibly a little off color…this lends itself to a lighter “washed out” coloration.

I liked your breakdown of the watershed and how it seemed odd that fish was there. It reminded me of a 15”ish, wild looking Brown I caught in a small Brookie trib to a larger warmwater creek a few years ago. According to everything I know, the Trout streams in the area are supposed to be all Brookies, due at least in part to AMD. To this day, I still haven’t caught another wild Brown within a 20 mile or so radius of this section of stream. The presence of that fish where it is and your observations of the watershed definitely create more questions than answers…I’d say some more exploration is in order! I suppose it’s possible we came across two very mobile Browns, but I’d say it’s more likely in both of our cases that there’s Browns reproducing somewhere nearby, or even in the streams in question. And I agree, if that fish can figure out a way to stay in that run…maybe there’s a spring seep at the bottom?…it has the potential to become a whopper, fast. See if you can catch it again in a few months.

 

[sarce]

That's pretty interesting Swattie. For whatever reason, information on the streams in this area is scarce post-2005 or so, but I did turn up info on fingerling brown plantings in a major tributary of this creek. It seems at times those fish reproduced successfully in the trib but it is unclear to me whether or not that population still exists or whether or not the fingerling plantings are still occurring. I fished the major trib 3 times in the fall and never saw a trout (and you were right, low and clear conditions). Either way the mouth of that trib is several miles upstream of where I caught this fish.

Absolutely more exploring necessary!

 

[Longbow]

Great story. Didn't realize that a fish that size could grow that much in a year. Must be a "teenager".

 

[sarce]

Lol. Yeah I thought it was pretty unusual. That growth was only over 6 months O_0

 

[milbug]

I had a fish that I caught at least 4 times out of the same run over the course of a summer. I would always fish the run at night, and he had a weakness for a mouse at night! I bet he took the fly within a 4 foot radius every time. I stopped casting to that spot because it just didn't seem to be fair!

 

[pete41]

I caught my second biggest ever brown ,a hookjawed 8 1/2 lb male two mornings in a row on the same fly at same spot on the Missouri river.I knew it was the same fish but debated with myself if it counted as 2 that size or just one....finally ten years later I topped it by a half pd...problem solved...
And yes in those days we weighed the ones we wanted to record.Wish I could still make those memories...have fun guys....