Favorite trout to catch?

[wildtrout2]

Same here w/ max brookie size in PA. Frank Nale has put up a few much bigger brookies in PA. I'm sure his preferred lure choice has something to do with that.

I've seen some shocking brook trout from the Virginias. In larger 3rd/4th order allopatric streams which we're lacking in PA. I'm sure elevation has something to do with this too. +/- 6,000 ft vs +/- 3,000 ft in PA.

Case in point. Virginia. This guy has caught dozens of this class of fish and bigger.
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That's an amazing brook trout right there. Wasn't missing any meals.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Spotted sea trout.

 

[Swattie87]

Spotted sea trout.

Now that’s a Weak fish.

 

[rustbeltwilds]

I have a softspot for those wild browns that show up in peculiar places its what drives me,, i know of streams that have much larger and more numbers i can readily fish... but when you fish marginal unstocked waters and get some wild browns its really special.. ive got some very nice wild browns in places most anglers drive over while on there way to more known and fished streams,,,it always amazes me where these browns take hold.

 

[use2wuz]

Though it requires a bit of a drive - I LOVE Cutts! They are cooperative bug eaters and fight like Channel Cats!

 

[Fish Sticks]

Native Brook trout, fallfish, smallmouth, redbreast sunfish and brown trout all fun to
Pursue. Obviously brook trout my favorite to catch, hold, and admire for a moment but for that reason I don’t really pound my home brook trout streams that ate smaller systems. I like to take photos of the lie I caught an enormous brookie in because I like to hang it up near the fly tying table, takes me to the stream when I’m not at the stream if that makes sense. When i fish them I will usually just catch one or two, get a nice shot of em underwater in net and then go fish another species near by unless its a bigger system of which there are only a few within a reasonable day trip drive from Harrisburg area.

 

[use2wuz]

Native Brook trout, fallfish, smallmouth, redbreast sunfish and brown trout all fun to
Pursue. Obviously brook trout my favorite to catch, hold, and admire for a moment but for that reason I don’t really pound my home brook trout streams that ate smaller systems. I like to take photos of the lie I caught an enormous brookie in because I like to hang it up near the fly tying table, takes me to the stream when I’m not at the stream if that makes sense. When i fish them I will usually just catch one or two, get a nice shot of em underwater in net and then go fish another species near by unless its a bigger system of which there are only a few within a reasonable day trip drive from Harrisburg area.

View attachment 1641226380

I leave the local Brookies alone too - to not draw attention to them, and to reduce the chance of mis-handling (and I’m not much of a bushwhacker anymore)

 

[Swattie87]

I leave the local Brookies alone too - to not draw attention to them, and to reduce the chance of mis-handling (and I’m not much of a bushwhacker anymore)

Draw attention to and handle the Brookies from other people’s local honey holes…Nice. You guys are on to something.

 

[silverfox]

Draw attention to and handle the Brookies from other people’s local honey holes…Nice. You guys are on to something.

I tend to focus on the systems I know can support angling and possible incidental mortality. The local ones I check in on maybe once a year to say hi but leave them alone mostly.

Incidentally, I just discovered a trib that I've seen dry several times doesn't actually go dry. It just goes subterranean a little ways off the road and so it looks like it's dry when you drive by. I was elated when I found that. It explained how they've held on when I've gone and saw it was bone dry. Funny enough, I grew up near there and fished it as a kid in the early 90s and didn't discover the subterranean dynamic until a few weeks ago. I'd always just leave when I saw it was "dry".

 

[use2wuz]

Draw attention to and handle the Brookies from other people’s local honey holes…Nice. You guys are on to something.

Draw attention to and handle the Brookies from other people’s local honey holes…Nice. You guys are on to something.

perhaps I should’ve clarified - I don’t draw attention to anyone’s specific spots - local or not - I’ll mention creek names without specifics. Besides, l’ll wafer that most “secret” spots are known by lots of people - the internet and GPS has eliminated the keeping of those sacred places

 

[Fish Sticks]

I leave the local Brookies alone too - to not draw attention to them, and to reduce the chance of mis-handling (and I’m not much of a bushwhacker anymore)

Draw attention to and handle the Brookies from other people’s local honey holes…Nice. You guys are on to something.

What I am saying is I focus my fishing efforts for brook trout on larger well connected systems if they are in my back yard or someone elses it doesn’t matter(i just don’t happen to have a ton where i can drive in a weeknight with kids) it basically just ensures I’m not hitting a population of a couple hundred individuals multiple times a year and catching and releasing 30-50 fish in each outing out of a tiny system. But thats just me.

 

[WWKimba]

I'm lucky enough to have a lot of "box-of-chocolates water in my area. These are lakes/ponds/gravel pits that are fed and emptied by the same stream/river. You cast and are never quite sure what you'll catch - rainbow trout, bluegill trout, bass trout and even a stick trout! I'm just happy when something is on my line - even the stick trout on a slow day!

Kim

 

[redietz]

Tie between brook trout and wild browns for me, if we're limiting it to our area.

 

[Prospector]

If I had to single one out I’d have to say the wild brook trout but I enjoy them all, even the stocked ones.

Wild brook trout have intrigued me ever since my dad introduced me to them. The setting is awesome. However I limit my trip to once a year per stream. It’s hard on them. Sneaking up and being on my knees making a cast over a bank several feet from water’s edge. Hooking them is a fine line. Not enough pressure on a larger fish is a lost fish. Too much pressure on a small fish catapults them out of the water and even worse if a mid air release occurs they hit the bank or the streamside rocks hard. I have regret every time it happens and makes me think I should leave them alone.

I guess my second favorite to fish for right now is Lake O browns, although the setting is just terrible. Polar opposite from brookies. Other notables, I’ve enjoyed Slough Creek cutthroat, wild rainbows in PA for the novelty and the amazing coloration, wild browns in PA are very special too. The rainbows the state stocked this year in streams I fished were great leapers, very fun. However I hate seeing stocked fish in streams that can sustain a respectable wild population.

 

[Bamboozle]

I don't necessarily catch wild brook trout everywhere I catch wild browns, but I catch tons of wild brown trout in the same gorgeous environs as brook trout meaning remote wilderness streams.

Bottom line for me, I can fish at the special surroundings folks use as a prerequisite for preferring brookies and catch the trout I enjoy the most.

 

[JimNovo]

In my mind nothing beats fooling a big Brown, bank feeder, sipping tiny sulphurs on the West Branch of the Delaware.

 

[rrt]

I think DFG and Z have it about right: rising trout and the next one.

 

[krayfish2]

Wild bow hands down. They might not be the toughest to fool but the chaos after hookups is a beautiful thing.

 

[JackM]

Didn't read it all, but I read DFG and he hit my nail on the head-- anything that's rising, trout or not. Fish only rise to dry flies and that is the only reason to fly fish.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Have to vote for the natives first: Brookies in the east and west slope cutthroats in the west, followed by Delaware River rainbows (really the fighting-est rainbows I have come across), and then mature brownies in a limestoner. Warmwater would be any smallie or striper over 15 inches.