Small Stream Brookies!

Small Stream Brookies!

Oh the Brook Trout!  Small but mighty…and probably, well in my mind, the most aggressive feeding ‘Salmonidae’ species. I say Salmonidae because brook trout are not really trout, they are actually in the Char family. Further, Brookies, as most anglers call them, are not even native to Montana or for that fact, the western continental USA!  But, I have never talked to anyone that has thrown a fly to Brookies that did not loves fishing for Brookies. They readily take flies and are fairly easy to catch. Plus, most importantly, they are absolutely beautiful fish. 

I love chasing Brookies in high mountain streams and lakes. Why?  I was told once by an old guy on the side of a stream that the reason he loved fishing for trout is because they live in beautiful places. I second that! Nothing beats being in the middle of no where with just you and a small stream for a relaxing fishing trip.

So I headed up into the Stillwater State Forest area north of Whitefish. The Stillwater State Forest runs along Highway 93 from just north of Whitefish all the way to the Lincoln/Flathead County line. It covers a lot of land and has decent size lakes, a lot of small streams and some small ponds.  Once you get out of Whitefish, Stillwater is surrounded by National Forest so you could explore forever.  Driving north along 93, I make a right turn into Stillwater and start seeking out my spot to fish. Yea, that is about as close as I can get you to my ‘secret’ spot, but, if you are in the Stillwater State Forest and see a stream it is a pretty good bet that it has Brook Trout in it.  It is also a pretty good bet that no one else will be there and finally, double down big here, because if you find a decent size rock with deeper water behind it you will find Brook Trout.  Now, Brookies are not big in most streams, a 10 inch Brook Trout is a good size Brook Trout in most western streams. Sure, there are spots that have monster Brook Trout but most of the high mountain streams in Northwest Montana are small in size and not very deep. Add the fact that most of the small mountain streams in Northwest Montana are feed from snow and you got very cold water with very little nutrients which means very little bug life. Ok, that also means these fish are aggressive when they see an insect on the water…or a fly I happen to throw to them. 

Now the fact that these trout are small is why you need more than one fly rod.  I almost always carry my 7,9” 3 weight fly rod when I go into small streams.  It allows me to cast in tight places and a 10 inch fish puts up a heck of a fight on that rod.  For those that don’t fly fish, the weight of the rod refers to the stiffness and flex of the rod. 

Today I probably fished a half mile of a stream in two hours. Because these fish are fairly thick in this particular high mountain stream, once you find them, you can catch fish in bunches. Behind one rock alone I probably caught 4 or 5 fish. They just kept coming and coming.   

At one point I broke off a fly and needed to tie a new one on.  I sat down and found myself just staring at the surroundings!  How could you not.  Today was about as perfect as it could be.  No one else around, clear skies and lots of fish on the end of my fly line. You do not get many days like this, but when you do, it is special.