Some years in the past, whereas working as a newspaper journalist within the mountains of Colorado, I bear in mind having an epiphany that I couldn’t assist however embrace in a chunk I did for the paper on fall fly fishing. On the time, we have been having fun with a very nice Indian summer season — we had a blustery begin to September after which, as issues are vulnerable to do within the southern Rockies, these completely blue and cloudless skies got here again, together with heat temperatures and that flawless golden hue that graces the aspens and the cottonwoods of the West each autumn.
That is maybe the most effective time of the 12 months to be a fly fisher, even when fall is a harbinger of winter — and I hate winter nowadays. These vivid, sunny days are perfect for anglers trying to spend another day or another weekend within the excessive nation chasing trout which are simply too damned prepared for their very own good.
As I knelt by an exquisite little mountain creek that flows off the shoulders of the Sawatch Vary within the Arkansas River drainage, I bear in mind cradling a palm-sized brook trout that got here at hand after completely crushing a measurement 12 Royal Coachman (it was my go-to attractor again within the day). I bear in mind pondering, “Rattling. There’s nothing prettier than a September brook trout. Besides possibly an October brook trout.”
I included that phrase in my weekly newspaper column for the Mountain Mail, a Salida every day that’s nonetheless chugging alongside at present, solely to be scolded by some die-hard native anglers who thought it was improper to be telling the paper’s readership in regards to the “secrets and techniques” of fall fishing within the surrounding mountains.
“It’s looking season,” one reader wrote. “Let the hunters suppose that the fishing is finished for the 12 months, and let everybody else suppose that the mountains are so overrun with the hunters that anglers are more likely to be shot.”
Whatever the backlash, I stand by my epiphany. The invasive little char from the backbone of Appalachia actually places on a present come fall. And whereas they don’t belong anyplace close to the creeks and streams of the Rockies, they do their greatest to have fun the season. Fall spawners, after they shade up and get busy on the redds, brookies are probably the most stunning salmonid on the planet. Show me mistaken.
Say what you’ll about fall’s kype-jawed, butter-tinged browns — a monarch of any river or stream anyplace it swims — the diminutive brook trout and its inexplicably excellent blends of orange, blue, creamy white, deep pink and olive inexperienced is a sight to behold.
And the life power of a brook trout is arguably probably the most acute amongst wild fish that swim the waters of America. The fish is relentless and exuberant, regardless of the place it swims. It’s the Capt. Jason Nesmith of the salmonid household. By no means quit. By no means give up.
Which may be why you’ll discover brook trout in waters the place you received’t discover a lot else. First, to be clear, that’s not essentially a great factor. Brookies have wreaked havoc on the West’s native trout, notably cutthroat trout. The place they have been launched — generally effectively over a century in the past — they outcompeted the native fish and have largely taken over the coldest, most austere trout habitat within the Rockies.
Sadly, that habitat can also be the place native cutthroats spawned each spring and, in some distant drainages, it’s the place they thrived within the habitat through which they developed. However the introduction of the brook trout is perhaps the single-biggest issue chargeable for the demise of native cutthroat trout populations within the West. Our native fish now cling on in about 10 % of their native ranges, from the Rio Grande cutts of the Southwest to the west slopes of Rockies north into southern Canada.
Actually, one might argue that transplanted rainbows from the coastal rivers and streams of the West Coast have completed a quantity on native cutthroats — the 2 fish can mingle on spawning redds and produce a fertile hybrid. However I’d argue that brookies have been a stronger addition to the western trout cocktail. They didn’t slowly breed the cutthroats out of existence. They ate their opponents out of home and residential, making completely liveable waters for cutthroats fully unlivable.
Many biologists credit score that truth to the fall-spawning regime of brook trout and the spring spawning of cutthroats. By the point cutthroats are digging redds and laying eggs, brook trout fry are rising from the gravel and going after the exact same meals sources the little cutthroats will want later within the 12 months, after they emerge. In brief, the cutthroat fry emerge right into a world the place meals is tough to come back by.
And brookies are their very own worst enemies. In many of the waters the place they’ve turn out to be naturalized, they’ve exhausted the edible sources. Whereas they nonetheless spawn prolifically, they have an inclination to stunt and develop solely to the boundaries their habitat can help. That’s why while you hear the phrases “brook trout,” you additionally hear accompanying adjectives, like “little,” “tiny.” For many western anglers, brookies are merely not well worth the effort.
However even I, being profoundly appreciative of native trout, can nonetheless discover worth in chasing brook trout. If I’m fortunate sufficient to seek out a number of which have grown longer than six inches lengthy, I’ll readily harvest the fish. In my view, they’re the best-tasting wild fish within the water, even when it’ll take a half a dozen to make a meal. And I’m not alone.
A pal of mine, as I used to be matriculating via my journalism profession in Colorado, was fast to reap each brook trout he caught, no matter measurement. He’d take the fish house, intestine them and take away the heads, after which he’d pressure-can them in Mason jars, like sardines.
“Beats the hell out of tuna salad any day,” he stated. And, on multiple event, I sampled his canned brookies, served with salt and pepper on a soda cracker. Scrumptious.
‘Tis the season for stunning brook trout. Even when your motivation is to easily mild up the viewfinder of your digicam or the display of your cellphone with the prettiest of all of the trout and salmon, chasing backcountry brookies is an journey. And whilst you admire the beautiful, colourful hues that grace the fish that hit your fly, search for and go searching on occasion.
The golden aspen and willow leaves are simply as gorgeous because the fish that makes a fall fly-rod journey completely value it. Particularly in October.
