Lake run Brook trout

[mossyoakpenn]

Hey guys, I’m trying to track down some large brook trout and my local lake has two class A feeder streams running to it. I’m wondering, what are the odds or the current knowledge of larger brook trout hanging out in the lake near the fear streams/cold water?

 

[Dave_W]

I have some local lakes with stocked and wild brook trout and in my experience they do stack up at the trib mouths come summertime. When I see this, I tend to leave them alone, although sometimes if they are stocked fish, I'll target them to creel.

It has not been my experience that these fish run up the streams to spawn in the fall, although I've long thought it possible, even likely. However, my efforts to locate such fish, so far, have not been fruitful.
I wouldn't give up on the idea.

 

[silverfox]

From what I've seen, the gradient at the mouths of the inflow streams is important. If the old stream channels can get some water depth pretty quickly, then yes. If it's a big shallow delta with no obvious channels, then no. Though they may be out off the drop-off of the shoal if the temperatures can stay relatively low, or the thermocline has enough dissolved O2 and temp to support them in the lake, and the species composition is conducive to it. I think lake elevation has a lot to do with this too. In other words, very rarely in PA.

I've spent a LOT of time on this. One thing that I've learned is that if you find them in a sizeable lake, where they are in the lake at any given moment is highly variable. I've gone and caught dozens of risers at the mouth of a trib in the fall in 3 feet of water and gone back the next day and couldn't buy a fish. I've caught them cruising 10 inch deep shallows in the delta 3 feet from shore and then the next day they're all 200 feet out on the drop off. Sometimes they're focused in the stream channels or depressions and other times they're spread out all over the place.

Wind and time of year plays a HUGE roll in them being in a "catchable" situation in my experience. There is a very brief window in the fall where I fish for them and the conditions have to be absolutely perfect. Calm, mid-day temps have dropped into the low 60's w/ 40's at night for a few weeks straight. The wind factor is what screws everything up. So you end up w/ a handful of days every year where you can actually catch them.

Just because they live in a large body of water doesn't necessarily mean the fish are large. We're still talking about a species that just doesn't get very big. I'd forget any notion of ADK or ME size pond fish in PA. Though I guess anything is possible.

One of the coolest lake fish I've ever caught.

and another

 

[mossyoakpenn]

Thanks! The lake Im looking at is a small one, 250 acres in size with a lot of bogs and a max depth of 10 feet. Small lake with no stocked trout. I was just thinking that at the right time of the year the brookies from the small class a streams would drop back into the lake and I could get them there. I was also thinking that where the tributaries come in it would stay cold enough year round to grow some larger brookies there. It is more of a Delta where the tributaries come in rather than a pronounced channel.

 

[Brown71]

What silverfox and DaveW said, good info.

 

[silverfox]

Thanks! The lake Im looking at is a small one, 250 acres in size with a lot of bogs and a max depth of 10 feet. Small lake with no stocked trout. I was just thinking that at the right time of the year the brookies from the small class a streams would drop back into the lake and I could get them there. I was also thinking that where the tributaries come in it would stay cold enough year round to grow some larger brookies there. It is more of a Delta where the tributaries come in rather than a pronounced channel.

I do know of another lake where they behave like that (stay in the streams and drop back to the lake late fall post-spawn). Most of the lakes I'm aware of though, they just use the lake all the time because they can (temp and O2 in the thermocline supports it w/ no competition from predators that prefer that temp range).

I've tried fishing the lake at the mouths of the tribs where they drop back in late fall, but have never caught them in the lake. I know last year someone caught one ice fishing in the lake though (zero brook trout stocking anywhere near there so obviously a wild ST), so they're clearly going there in winter. I've caught them in the stream right before the lake in big numbers late fall, and I've suspected I intercepted them going to the lake. I think it can just complicate things in those places because where they go in the lake is a mystery.