Brookie Galore

[Big J]

Planned a much needed outing this morning.  Fished a stream that is probably the longest brook trout/least pressured stream in Central VA.  Fished from 8 to 3 and still did not get anywhere near the top of this stream.  Brought 30 to hand and lost another 20.  Think my hooks are dull and need sharpening.  The batch of pink weenies in my fly box need to be replaced. Fished dries a little, but the area just got to much rain last night.  Heres the pics.

























Lots of pictures I know, but I don't think this place could have too many pictures.   -0-

[jt_bassman1]

Maybe I've never fished a real good speck stream,   but these look like trophys to me.       Would these be Northern or Southern Strain brooks?   

[Big J]

Maybe I've never fished a real good speck stream,   but these look like trophys to me.       Would these be Northern or Southern Strain brooks?

My guess is southern, but I'm not exactly sure.  Some of the other guys on here might be able to chime in and say 100% sure though. 

[Phil]

Good Gawd. Those are some really nice brookies. Congrats.

[Holmes]

Hey man, glad you got some brookie mclovin today!!! No need to toss those flies away. Just buy a hook file/sharpener. I carry this one in my vest. If I start to miss some fish I hit the point of the hook a few times with this tool, and I stop missing them and hooking up again!

http://www.amazon.com/EZE-LAP-Sharpener-Unique-Shape-Groove/dp/B0001WP21Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333245167&sr=8-1

BUT... You didn't hear it from me. bd;0

[Aka]

Nice work. Some great colors on them and a lot of variety of coloration too. The hen in the 7th picture shows a lot more grey than the rest, do remember if the pool you took it from differed from the rest of the water you fished? I've noticed that brookies around here will be colored up differently depending on the make up of the water they are in.

[benben reincarnated]

Those Virginia brookies are definitely nice.  I had heard the SNP brookies are all northern strain, not sure where you were though.

[robspe7370]

Hey man, glad you got some brookie mclovin today!!! No need to toss those flies away. Just buy a hook file/sharpener. I carry this one in my vest. If I start to miss some fish I hit the point of the hook a few times with this tool, and I stop missing them and hooking up again!

http://www.amazon.com/EZE-LAP-Sharpener-Unique-Shape-Groove/dp/B0001WP21Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333245167&sr=8-1

BUT... You didn't hear it from me. bd;0

Damn, Petey linked to a Harry Murray video. I guess the world is ending in 2012 after all.

[Dougfish]

Nicely done!

[Big J]

Hey man, glad you got some brookie mclovin today!!! No need to toss those flies away. Just buy a hook file/sharpener. I carry this one in my vest. If I start to miss some fish I hit the point of the hook a few times with this tool, and I stop missing them and hooking up again!

http://www.amazon.com/EZE-LAP-Sharpener-Unique-Shape-Groove/dp/B0001WP21Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333245167&sr=8-1

BUT... You didn't hear it from me. bd;0

Thanks for the link.  I was wondering if anyone resharpened their hooks.

Nice work. Some great colors on them and a lot of variety of coloration too. The hen in the 7th picture shows a lot more grey than the rest, do remember if the pool you took it from differed from the rest of the water you fished? I've noticed that brookies around here will be colored up differently depending on the make up of the water they are in.

Yeaha, I've noticed this too.  I do not remember the pool that fish was caught in, but this stream has a couple really unique pools to it. 

Those Virginia brookies are definitely nice.  I had heard the SNP brookies are all northern strain, not sure where you were though.

And your right, the SNP does have Norther strain.  The stream I fished was in the middlish section of the Jefferson National Forest.  Hope that helps. Are there any key factors in determining if its a northern or southern strain?

[benben reincarnated]

And your right, the SNP does have Norther strain.  The stream I fished was in the middlish section of the Jefferson National Forest.  Hope that helps. Are there any key factors in determining if its a northern or southern strain?

Wish I knew.  I got my hands on some brookie data and maps for my area and I can say there is generally no rhyme or reason why one stream has northern, one has southern and one has mixed.  I've seen two feeders that feed into one stream, the more downstream one has southern brookies, the upstream feeder has northern AND I've seen this vice versa.   Go figure.

[Holmes]

SNP has a hodge-podge of brookie genetics.. Some creeks have northern strain, and then some streams have a southern strain. The NPS worked with game and inland fisheries back in the day... some of those hollows were heavily farmed and did not have brookie pops anymore around the time the SNP was created. So, some creeks have "wild fish" and others have true natives. Many of the wild fish are descendants of brookies from a hatchery in Erwin, TN.