Brown trout? Spring Creek (Pic)

[joeyd71]

Went out on Spring Creek, upriver of Fisherman's Paradise. Third time out fly fishing, and FINALLY got one. Due to my lack of landing fish, I get my brook and brown trout mixed up. I don't think Spring Creek has much in the way of brook trout, so I am thinking the one I caught is a brown. The Red spots with the light blue halo have me thinking that. Plus the belly doesn't seem to be as dark as it would be on a brook.

I wish I got a better picture, but I was in a very sketchy position on an embankment.

Very enjoyable day though. It was my first real time out on Spring Creek and I was amazed at the amount of fish. Even saw some very large carp swimming around with some closely sized trout.

 

[klingy]

Yeah, that's a brown - nice one!

 

[joeyd71]

Thanks!
How about that other picture? Does that look like a carp to you? There was about 5 of them and they wanted nothing to do with anything I threw at them.

 

[Fishidiot]

Yep - a brown and a carp.

Good job! Spring Creek can be a challenge to fish and the trout you caught is wild. Carp can be caught on flies but oftentimes they won't bite and I rarely bother to cast to them when I see them.

 

[pcray1231]

Yep. For ID, forget the red spots and halo. Look at the "other" spots. Dark spots on a light body = brown. Light spots on a dark body = brookie.

 

[Foxgap239]

Congrats. Tell us how you were feelling when you hooked up. I always like to hear those stories.

Were you thinking, I'd better not lose this damn fish!!!!!!!!! Or was it something like........"finally"?

 

[joeyd71]

Foxgap239 wrote:
Congrats. Tell us how you were feelling when you hooked up. I always like to hear those stories.

Were you thinking, I'd better not lose this damn fish!!!!!!!!! Or was it something like........"finally"?

haha Well my first reaction was "I better not lose this one!" because last summer I lost one. Once I knew he wasn't going anywhere, I had to fumble around to get my camera out for proof.
After it was all over I had the "FINALLY!" feeling. I caught him using a red brassie. I tried a few dry flies because there was a hatch coming off, but they didn't like what I had. They would start to go after it but then at the last second would peel off. Smart fish.

 

[Foxgap239]

Love it. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[Foxgap239]

joeyd71 wrote:
I tried a few dry flies because there was a hatch coming off, but they didn't like what I had. They would start to go after it but then at the last second would peel off. Smart fish.

Two possible reasons for that, tippet size was too big (what size were you using) or drag. They generally won't take flies that aren't floating the way the rest of the current is. Caddis can be the exception though.