If I had to pick one species of fish to fly fish for, for the rest of my life, the brook trout would probably be it. Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) would have to be one of the prettiest fish around, and they live in the prettiest places. They are a member of the char genus which include lake trout, bull trout, dolly varden, aurora trout and arctic char. They are also in the Salmonid family like many other of our favourite species – the adipose fin is a bit of a giveaway.
Brook trout are native to northeastern North America but can now be found in parts of most continents where conditions are suitable for them. Part of the appeal of brook trout is that they don’t live in ugly places – they thrive in cold, pollution free streams, rivers and lakes usually at high altitudes or latitudes. Throughout their native range, ‘brookies’ or ‘speckled trout’ can grow upwards of 6 or 7 pounds, with the world record brook trout coming from Canada’s legendary Nipigon River over a hundred years ago weighing in at an unbelievable 14.5 pounds! (By the way – it’s an incredible story – read about it here). In most places where brook trout have been introduced though, they make great sport in mountain streams on a 2 - 4 weight rod, where a 10-inch fish might be considered a big one. In fact, brook trout are almost the perfect species to target with a fly – they are rarely selective and will eagerly rise to generalist dry flies in many places, though they can be caught using pretty much any fly fishing method. I’ve even caught these fish on dry flies in 4°C water while ice still covered most of a lake in Canada during Spring!
Interestingly, brook trout can hybridise with lake trout to form ‘Splake’ (speckled + lake trout) and with brown trout to form sterile ‘tiger trout’ – distinguishable by their unique vermiculations (squirly markings) on their dorsal surface (back).
But, as I mentioned earlier, one of the greatest appeals of brook trout are the places they take you. A trip to catch brookies will take you to the wilderness, or pretty close to it.
Check out the magic of brook trout fishing in the video below.
Video credit: Fulling Mill Fly Fishing
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