Posts Tagged ‘Brown Trout’

Recently, I’ve written a couple of posts about where I’ve found errors in fact by so called “experts” in regard to fly fishing. In “Free Fly Fishing Advice,” I wrote about reading where an “expert” had answered a question about tippets and suggested you matched your tippet to the type of fish you were pursuing. In “Fly Fishing Giggles,” I reported on some absolute rubbish that was written by someone named “Markus Debra.” Debra talked suggested halibut was a freshwater species, and that bamboo rods were “common,” while graphite or carbon fiber rods are mainly used for catching “coarse” fish. It’s all kind of funny and a little sad to read stuff like that.

I was browsing the Wikipedia entry on fly fishing this morning and came across this in the first paragraph:

“Fly fishing is a distinct and ancient angling method, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon, but employed today for a wide variety of species including pike, bass, panfish, grayling and carp, as well as marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and striped bass. There are many reports of fly anglers taking unintended species such as chub, bream and rudd while fishing for ‘main target’ species such as trout. There is a growing population of anglers whose aim is to catch as many different species as possible with the fly.”

I don’t know who writes this stuff, and perhaps I’ve missed something, but it seems to me from the reading that I’ve done, focusing on trout and salmon is a fairly modern thing among fly anglers. The above paragraph is written in such a way that some folk might not realize that fly fishing in Izaak Walton’s day included pursuing a number of different fish species, including gudgeons, sprats, bleaks, herns, tench, roach, umber, loach, and sticklebag. Walton also provides a recipe for cooking eel.

It’s kind of funny – if Brown Trout were being introduced to North America today, there would be a hue and cry from many fly anglers about this “invasive” species that voraciously competes with the naturals of North America. Perhaps many still don’t realize that Brown Trout are not native to North America and were imported from Europe. And indeed, they have competed with natural species. In some watersheds, there is evidence that the browns feast upon the brook trout, and have lowered their numbers.

If we’re going to give fish “respect,” then perhaps we should take another look at Izaak Walton’s attitude. Many consider him the “father of fly fishing,” and use his name in all sorts of ways to promote businesses, clubs and associations. Let’s dispel those salmon and trout myths – and let’s remember that Atlantic Salmon were once “so respected and revered” that they were pitchforked during their runs up rivers from the Great Lakes by folk who wanted to make a meal of them.

By the way, there’s a copy of The Compleat Angler by Walton on this site.

For about two decades, the Grand River in Ontario, just north, south and through Fergus has been hyped as a grand brown trout fishery.

I’m having my doubts.

I’d like to investigate this further – but many folk might be surprised to find out that Brown Trout are not even native to Ontario. Indeed, there are no “trout” native to Ontario – what we call Brook or Speckled Trout are actually members of the Char family, as are Lake Trout. Aurora Trout, native to a few rare northern lakes are also Chars.

At one time, there were fresh water fun Atlantic Salmon that could be found in tributaries of the Great Lakes. But Brown Trout? Not until some folk decided to import them from Europe.

And in many rivers and streams, Brown Trout have been able to reproduce naturally and maintain population. They’ve even migrated into other tributaries, and brown trout today, in Ontario are widely found.

But let’s consider the Grand River for a moment.

Earnest stocking of Brown Trout began about 20 years ago. Since then, between 20 and 25 thousand brown trout are stocked annually into the river below the Shand Damn. Some miles south of Wilson’s Flats, there is little expectation that Brown Trout could survive, let alone reproduce in the Grand River due to water conditions.

And if it weren’t for the Shand Damn, it’s unlikely too many trout of any species would survive in any part of the Grand River – being more historically and naturally a warmer water river in summer – conducive to bass, walleye, etc.

Let me also be clear: I very much enjoy the opportunity to fly fish and catch brown trout on the Grand River. It is so much fun, especially in the evenings while the fish are sipping on caddis to trick a few into thinking that the immitation I’m presenting is caddis looking enough – or edible enough – and watch and feel a brown trout attack it.

But is the Grand so grand and great? If for some reason, financial issues for example, were to be such that 25,000 trout couldn’t be stocked into the river over the course of two years in a row, would it be as pleasant as it is right now, in the pursuit of the brown trout?

I have my doubts.

Isn’t it interesting that after “Opening Day,” the Brown Trout action on the Grand kind of sucks – and the excuses are “it’s too cold,” or “flow rates are too high,” etc etc. – but after an influx of a stocking of 25,000 new trout – suddenly, things get better?

Merely co-incidence? I’m not so sure.

When you look at what various folk say about Brown Trout reproduction on the Grand, it’s interesting. Some say, “Success! We’ve seen some reproduction,” while others say, “There is little reproduction.”

Neither are lying. Perhaps to some, the fact that there is evidence of even a few new “naturally” reproduced trout in the Grand is success, while others are quite disappointed with how little the numbers seem to point to.

Are there some who just become “orgasmic” at the thought of brown trout, while ignoring other species that in the long run, might have done, and might do better? I don’t know.

Will the Grand be a “success” as long as 25,000 stockies are added each year? And while there are reports of folk catching some monstor browns in the 24+ inch category, what really keeps them coming back is the ability to hook one year old and some two year old stocked fish?

I’ll agree: Between the Shand Damn and quite a bit below Wilson’s Flats, on a good day – there is a lot of “brown trouty looking” water. But – there is a lot of water there that not only is “brown trouty” looking, but smallmouth bass looking – rainbow looking, migratory atlantic salmon looking, so why the emphasis on a species that is not even natural in the first place, and up to this point in time, evidence of reproduction is measured as “successful” when a few eggs hatch?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not suggesting that the entire “Grand Plan” be done away with. On the other hand, is the “Plan” so prejudiced toward Brown Trout, that nothing else is being looked at?

And why do non-native trout get so much energy and resources when it is possible that some amazing wonderful game species like smallmouth bass, that might do as well or better in an improved fishery, get no attention at all? Hell, if we assisted species like smallmouth bass, perhaps there wouldn’t need to be so many “catch and release” regulations; you could actually eat something you caught.

Pound for pound, I’d put up a Smallie any day against a Brown Trout for sheer enjoyment experience on the end of any line, whether fly line or that coming out of a baitcasting reel. And when cooked correctly, just as tasty too.

When the folks who first came up with the idea of having a great tailwater fishery on the Grand, did they oooh and ahhh over Brown Trout, and then spend equal time on thinking about other natural species? Or did they just keep on ooohing and ahhhing over Brown Trout? And since then, with 25,000 stocked each year, it’s the only direction they want to go, and will “make it happen, even if takes a thousand years” attitude? And I’m not suggesting that Brown Trout aren’t the best selection for the Grand Tailwater – but if there is an expectation that these Browns are going to reproduce naturally – well that hasn’t happened much at all – so why aren’t things being reviewed with this fact in mind?
The more I think about it, the more fraudulent the “Grand Plan” seems to be. Many are well meaning, but have bought into the masturbatory dreams of of some brown trout anglers, a few decades ago – and the cost of maintaining that masturbatory dream will never stop – as long as there are funds available to stock brown trout, that is the only thing to do, I guess.

Again, perhaps browns ARE the most suited for the idea of a “fishery” on the Grand’s Tailwaters. But why are Browns now being introduced into the Conestogo tailwaters when we’ve already got bass that can actually reproduce in that river? Why not be focussing attention on the fish that are native and instead of trying to create another brown trout fishery, improving what is already there?

That’s what baffles me.

First, I think Ian James is onto something.

Second, had a great evening on the Grand River near Fergus this evening. This was a portion of the river I had never fished before, so it took me a few minutes of reconnasaince to figure out where I wanted to place myself in the river. There were a few folks fishing upstream of where I had entered, and one fellow about 150 yards downstream. I decided to fish some nice riffle water, with some deeper pools through it, along with some still water within casting distance across.

It was a beautiful evening, part cloud, part sun and mild temperatures – but interestingly, there were no hatches of anything going on to speak of. I think the whole evening I saw a total of ten fish rising – so I decided to tie on a wet fly pattern. Now, once again, because of the upcoming Canadian Fly Fishing Championships, upon agreement with my teammates, I’m not at liberty to say what patterns I used until after the competition has been completed. But I must have been lucky in my hunch this evening, as I stuck with one pattern just about the entire time, and was quite successful.

In fact, I caught my first fish on the fourth cast. A nice 12 incher. I lost a few more, caught a few more – and ended up bringing about a dozen browns to hand on the one fly – the largest being about 16 inches, and the smallest, 10 inches.

I also had one monster on that broke my 4 lb. test leader. This guy was BIG. My TCO rod was bent right over, and line was slipping through my fingers as I fought it. Then all of a sudden, Snap! Sheesh.

No idea what the fish was – it could have been a big brown, but I was told there are also some carp in that area – but with the particular pattern I was fishing, I doubt it was a carp. It could have been a big bass though as later on, I did hook a smallmouth but lost it. As I was bringing it in, it did a nice little tail dance for me on top of the water, and it was a green smallie, no doubt, about 14 inches or so. After the tail dance, it dove to the bottom and shook the fly.

I decided to wade a little further downstream and have a chat with the angler who was fishing a pool about 75 yards away. Turns out his name is Josh Rienhardt, visiting Ontario from West Texas. A fine fly angler he is too. I had some time to admire his casting skills before chatting with him. Josh shared some of his experiences over the past few days with me, and I shared some stuff, under the threat of disembowlment if he let out what I was using to anyone who might be competing in the championships this weekend. It was nice to meet him, and talk about fly fishing in general, and our own favorite waters specifically. Hope to see you again on the river sometime, Josh!
Just before dark, I decided to switch flies, just to experiment and test something out, and sure enough, two more nice browns, both about 12 inches were caught and released. I wanted to fish longer, but by this time, the sun had completely gone down below the horizon and I was in darkness. As I waded back to the path along the side of the river, a favorite sight of mine – fireflies! I love seeing fireflies at night, and there were hundreds of them, flashing their little bums green.

Did you know that fireflies flash their bums with that little light because they are looking to attract a mate? I sometimes wonder what it would be like if humans, when they were ummm… aroused, had their bums flash…

Might make things easier at the singles bars, huh? Well, I’d prefer to be fly fishing myself than hangin’ out at the singles’s bars anyhow. And now, I’m going to tie up some more flies and hopefully convince some of my team members to give them a try during the competition. I think they might be surprised!