thebassman
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- Mar 28, 2009
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- 469
Sarce. I will make sure I give you a follow to keep up with the pics and stories. I am thesilentpursuit on IG.
B
barbless
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- Jun 28, 2008
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- 483
Congratulations!
goes to show that perseverance pays off.
I'm pretty sure that like most salmonids, the colors of brook trout fade quite a bit after spawning. Especially compared to pre-spawn. That looks like a very healthy fish. And not at all what I'd refer to as "pallid" or washed out in color. Just a nicely shaded dark purplish dun.
goes to show that perseverance pays off.
I'm pretty sure that like most salmonids, the colors of brook trout fade quite a bit after spawning. Especially compared to pre-spawn. That looks like a very healthy fish. And not at all what I'd refer to as "pallid" or washed out in color. Just a nicely shaded dark purplish dun.
Reeder
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- May 30, 2007
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Awesome fish and story!
wildtrout2
Well-known member
That's an amazing brook trout! Congrats to you. It's no doubt the largest wild brookie I've seen caught in Pa, and I do believe it's wild.
I think that's actually more rare than catching a wild tiger trout. It's one of those things that you don't expect to happen again. lol
I think that's actually more rare than catching a wild tiger trout. It's one of those things that you don't expect to happen again. lol
The_Sasquatch
Well-known member
Fantastic, and I'll take a big Big Spring brookie over any giant migratory brown any day!
BrooksAndHooks
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- Nov 28, 2014
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Awesome, thanks for sharing. Sometimes thing just happen to line up for us. Great to see some of the fish that are produced out there.
sarce
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- Feb 16, 2013
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Barbless,
Yeah, the coloration looked great to my eyes, that purple hue is something I have only seen in post spawn fish. Personally I love that coloration. But a lot of people may have expected a big wild brookie to have the classic gorgeous orange belly, and I didn't want that argument to get started.
WT2, I bet some Big Spring regulars have seen or caught several in this size range. Any other stream though, yeah, this would be completely unheard of, and maybe as rare as the wild tiger like you said.
I've spent enough hours fishing for wild brookies in general to have earned a really nice fish...but I've only spent about 3 hrs total on Big Spring over the course of two quick trips, so I was shocked to catch one of the bigger ones in there. It's not like I could take all that small mountain stream experience and apply it directly to a heavily pressured, flat spring creek.
I think it would be really incredible if we could rehab some more limestone springs back into native brook trout waters. There's probably like 5 in the whole state. Seeing what Big Spring is, it's sad that similar potential has been totally wasted (or is a great brown trout fishery) in the rest of the limestone regions.
Yeah, the coloration looked great to my eyes, that purple hue is something I have only seen in post spawn fish. Personally I love that coloration. But a lot of people may have expected a big wild brookie to have the classic gorgeous orange belly, and I didn't want that argument to get started.
WT2, I bet some Big Spring regulars have seen or caught several in this size range. Any other stream though, yeah, this would be completely unheard of, and maybe as rare as the wild tiger like you said.
I've spent enough hours fishing for wild brookies in general to have earned a really nice fish...but I've only spent about 3 hrs total on Big Spring over the course of two quick trips, so I was shocked to catch one of the bigger ones in there. It's not like I could take all that small mountain stream experience and apply it directly to a heavily pressured, flat spring creek.
I think it would be really incredible if we could rehab some more limestone springs back into native brook trout waters. There's probably like 5 in the whole state. Seeing what Big Spring is, it's sad that similar potential has been totally wasted (or is a great brown trout fishery) in the rest of the limestone regions.
Chaz
Active member
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- Sep 13, 2006
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Took me an hour to read that.
sarce
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- Feb 16, 2013
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^But you did and I thank you for it!
