Brookies in the wood

By Gord Ellis

It was something I thought I'd never live to see. Wild brook trout, some of them better than 6 pounds (2.7 kg), swam below the boat like koi in a garden pond. The bow of the boat was stuffed into the branches of a fallen tree that was holding the fish. It was good protection, and the fish didn't want to leave. Yet, typical trout tactics weren't working. The fish looked at a fly and even a worm as if they were stinky road-kill. What to do? The answer was a surprise.

My partner and I found this hotspot by accident. We'd been casting wobbling spoons and spinners to shoreline deadfalls and beaver houses that dotted the lake. We pulled out a couple of trout, but noticed that most of the fish were reluctant to follow our baits. Perhaps the clear water or the bright sky was keeping them down.

A splash in a deep, wood-lined bay caught our attention, and we pointed the boat towards it. My boat mate cast in the direction of the splash and his lure was instantly pursued by a football-shaped shadow. There was a flash and he was fast into a fish. The trout sounded and fought doggedly right to the net. The chubby 22-inch (55.8 cm) speckled beauty had a dark green back and a light blue sheen of a fish that had probably lived much of its life in deep water. A couple more casts produced only a few half-hearted follows.

We moved closer to some fallen trees and tossed small bucktail jigs, flies, and spinners towards them. As we neared one tree, my eyes picked up a lot of movement. I shielded the top of my glasses from the sun, and an awesome sight appeared. Two dozen brook trout from 8 inches (20 cm) to 8 pounds (3.6 kg) were milling in the submerged branches below us. My mouth fell open, but no sound came out.

Flies, jigs, spinners, and worms were all ignored. My partner lived up to his reputation as a pattern breaker and clipped on a 1/4-ounce silver and red Hopkins jigging spoon, flipped it into the water, and started to jerk it vertically in the snarl of branches below. The spoon's flash agitated the trout. Several took swings at it before a 20-inch (50 cm) block hit the bull's-eye. The hooked trout spun like a top just a few feet below the surface. The rest of the school remained excited, darting all over the place as the other fish was netted.

I clipped on a similar spoon and dropped it down to the fish. One jerk of the rod tip was all it took to entice an 18-incher (46 cm) to suck up the spoon. I leaned hard on the rod to keep the fish from wrapping my line around one of the limbs it had been hiding under. The chaos overhead started to disperse the squaretails, and they swam in a large loop around the boat. One monster -- I'd guess it was in the neighbourhood of 8 pounds (3.6 kg) -- was headed slowly for deep water. I made a quick cast in front of it. The downward flutter of the spoon did the trick and the bruiser bit. Unfortunately, the watermelon-sized speck made two hard headshakes and the hook pulled free. But what great fishing action, most of it right below our boat!

Brook trout are cover-seeking creatures. In streams and rivers they prefer shade and overhead protection provided by a tree, shrub, log-jam, or undercut bank. Put that same fish in a lake or pond and it will look for the same things. Since most woody cover in a lake is found near shore, that's were brook trout will be when water temperatures are cool enough for them.

In shallow water and sandy bays, brookies cruise into wood during low-light periods to feed, but don't stay long. Shallow water allows airborne marauders such as the osprey to see them. For trout to stay close to shoreline cover for extended periods of time, they must have deep water nearby. In fact, the deeper the better. A deadfall-strewn shoreline with a sharp dropoff into deep water usually holds brookies. The wood provides cover and the deep water provides a measure of security. There are usually enough minnows and insects living among the branches and blow-downs to keep the fish well fed.

Fallen evergreen trees provide the best cover. On many brook trout lakes, this usually means a cedar, balsam, or jackpine. If the tree is still alive and has green boughs hanging over the water, so much the better. Green cover is thicker, so fish feel safer. Last year I fished a lake that had several large, live cedars blown down along the shore. Some of the trees were laying over water that was 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) deep. Conditions were perfect, and there were big brookies living there.

If you have identified a cover-rich area on the lake you are fishing, plan your attack carefully, and keep in mind that the best spots often hold more than one brookie. Start your approach by making a long cast with a heavy-bodied spoon or spinner. Let the lure flutter down the outside edge of the cover and then start reeling. The sudden horizontal movement of the lure often triggers a strike from the "hot" fish, the one that's easiest to catch in the school of trout.

If you don't get a strike or see a fish follow after several casts, put on a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce Hopkins, Crippled Herring, Kastmaster, Rattlin' Snakie Spoon, or similar spoon. Cast out, let the spoon sink, then give it a sharp jerk. Reel in more line and jerk it again. The erratic action of a jigging spoon can entice fish that otherwise might not hit. Usually they strike as the lure drops. I've also had good success retrieving spinners the same way, particularly sonar-blade styles such as the Luhr Jensen Tiger Tail and the Panther Martin. A spinner has an entirely different action than a spoon when retrieved with a jerk and a pause, but is just as effective.

When the blow-down is over water deeper than 10 feet (3 m), brookies might hold near bottom, so allow your lure to sink farther before retrieving it. Inactive fish tend to be deeper than aggressive fish, which suspend. In some instances, you might be able to sit in a canoe or belly-boat, right over the fish, and jig a spoon vertically like an ice angler. In recent years, this has accounted for trout when nothing else was working. Jig aggressively. Rip the rod tip up and then follow with the tip as the lure drops. Watch your line carefully; brookies usually hit a spoon on the way down. In some instances, quickly reeling the lure to the surface and dropping it down again triggers a strike. Stopping the spoon in mid-jig and letting it sit still also can occasionally cause a fish to hit.

This vertical technique doesn't require fancy tackle. A 7-foot spinning rod, a decent spinning reel, and 6- to 8-pound-test monofilament does the job. If you plan to use jigging spoons, attach the lure with a straight clip. With spinners, use a snap-swivel. When fishing brookies in the wood, a good pair of polarizing sunglasses are invaluable. They cut glare and increase your view into the underwater world. Brook trout lakes are often crystal clear, and in some of them, fish are visible holding under cover. Polarizing glasses also help you watch for follow-ups, a sure sign trout are in the area. With on-the-water practice, you'll be amazed at just how many fish you'll see.

One more thing. Expect to get a lot of snags and lose a few lures. You'll be fishing in wood-littered hell holes in which most people wouldn't even consider wetting a line. That's just the way big brook trout like it.