Potter County Brookies

[afishinado]

Nice video of our friend Old Lefty / Dave Rothrock catching some wild ones on a Potter County stream.

 

[Prospector]

Nice action at a time when there are no leaves on the trees. I fish 2 of those holes every time I’m up there. Always a good choice if you want to catch some brookies. As I’ve covered in my stream reports there are many other locations on the larger creek to catch a handful of brookies. Specific places with a decent amount brook trout.

 

[Millsertime]

I've never fished/visited Potter County (yet) but that is some large water to hold natives. Most brookie water I fish can nearly be jumped across.

 

[rrt]

A nice reminder that winter doesn't last forever, thank goodness.

 

[Dave_W]

Very nice video - thanks!

 

[OldLefty]

There's a bit of talk lately about fishing in stream sections that wouldn't ordinarily be considered trout water. In this case, it's a matter of wild brook trout ranging down into a larger stream that isn't considered wild brook trout water. They disappear once the stream temp. rises to a level they won't tolerate.

Some folks emphasize the fact that wild browns can be found to range into areas that aren't considered trout water; well, wild brook trout can be found to range into areas not considered wild brook trout water.

My fear is that, with the drought and hot weather, we may have lost these exceptionally large fish. Time will tell.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Nice video, agree with old lefty that in the right conditions it is remarkable where you can find brook trout. One can wonder how much more common this would have been without brown trout.. While I more commonly run into wild browns in our larger freestoners, I have a few spots that I seem to catch brook trout on a fairly regular basis early in the season. I would like to try and find more of these fish later this winter before the March 1 shutdown on some of these streams.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

This is a great video.

 

[dryflyguy]

Sitting here now with lots of cold and snow around, that video is some great eye candy for sure!

 

[Chaz]

I’ve been a fan of fishing large streams for brook trout and many times have found brookies near the mouths of brook trout streams.
Thanks for posting the video.

 

[Mike]

OldLefty,
With last summer’s exceptionally low flows in much of the state, you may have lost more than just big fish, although they are usually the first to go when habitat shrinks and water warms. There are lots of stream sections or portions thereof, often downstream portions, that are marginally wild trout water: marginally Class A, marginally Class B, etc. Many are in a perpetual biomass cycle with a low point that can be very low. The low part of the cycle could have easily and prematurely been hit in 2020. These sections, possibly more than usual, may be starting over again.

 

[Swattie87]

I don’t recognize exactly where this video was shot, but realistically, there’s only a relatively small handful of places it could be in terms of the bigger water. (There’s some shots interspersed that appear to be smaller streams, or sections of stream too.)

In any case, I was up in that general area twice this Fall, and everyone can relax. There are plenty of fish alive. Enough to have made for enjoyable fishing while I was there, and certainly enough to replenish populations.

This YouTube channel is one I follow and features several videos with Dave, and has very good content in general. If you’re looking for something to watch on a snowy evening.