Difference between brookies and other trout?

[pnptrapp 0]

Every year in my family we draw names for Christmas and this year I got my brother-in-law who was very excited as he learned I've started tying flies. That's what he's asked for Christmas. When I asked what kind of flies do you want, he responded with "the kind that catch brookies."

 

I know brookies are small trout. But what things should I be aware of when trying to tie flies for them? He lives in Wyoming and fishes all over the state and Idaho and Utah as well.

 

What size hook should I be using for his flies?

 

Thanks for helping point me in the right direction!

[shoebop 0]

Any trout fly whether dry/wet or nymph will catch Brook trout. Since he was not specific, Give him an assortment of all types in sizes of 14-20. Some caddis patterns for sure. Some small mayfly patterns like Blue Wing Olives. Maybe some foam terrestrial patterns like hoppers or ants.

[pnptrapp 0]

thanks. looking those patterns up now. any more ideas?

[Fisherboy0301 0]

Hares eat and PT nymph, wooly buggers, stayner ducktail, hoppers, soft hackles, wet flies, Adams, royal wulff, stimulator. Sizes 12-20 for the nymphs and 12-16 or 18 with the dries. A size 12-8 for the buggers, and stayner duck tails.

[utyer 0]

Brookies are very prone to surface feed. I do very well with elk hair caddis in the small mountain streams. The Elk Hair Caddis is fairly easy to tie, and the X Caddis is even easier. The X Caddis I use most often is the Opal X which uses opal tinsel for the body, and a short Elk hair wing. There is also a "shuck" on the X Caddis made from a bit of tan or amber synthetic yarn.

 

Another easy pattern is the balloon caddis. It has a foam head and under wing.

[Christopher K 0]

Brookies are a char

 

But what has been suggested will work well, royal wulffs are my favourite, on the faster streams in wyoming you shouldn't need to really "match the hatch" so much as make something with some colour and lots of hackle/hair.

[SILKHDH 0]

I've caught hundreds of brookies on red humpies in beaver ponds in Colorado. Size 14 & 16. Also a mosquito pattern I tie with red floss on the belly of the fly. I call it the Blood filled mosquito.

[Jaydub 0]

I know brookies are small trout.

 

I would not make that assumption.

 

I have just used the same flies I would use for other Trout or Char. I think some people around here say the Alexandra is especially good for Brook Trout.

[Philly 0]

Interesting that we considered brookies small trout. The biggest I've ever caught was 14 inches in a small isolated brook in Vermont. Not far from the lake where I go for my vacation in Northern Ontario there are smaller lakes that hold brook trout in the 5 to 7 lb range. It comes down to location and in the Northeast they are small trout. I've caught most of mine on CDC & Elk(deer hair on the ones I tie), the Usual and an attractor called the Nalle Puh.

[pnptrapp 0]

Thanks for all the replies. I've never fished for trout outside of a hatchery, and that's been many, many moons ago. I had no idea there were so many different types. I'm getting excited to try tying some of the flies mentioned here and see how they do next year. I'll post pics if my brother-in-law catches anything! (if he doesn't it won't be because of my flies )

 

Please keep the information and ideas coming. I'm learning so much.

[SilverCreek 0]

Nature vs nurture raises it's head.

 

I've had a similar discussion on another BB when discussing selectivity. One poster who shall remain nameless, but has published several good articles in fly fishing magazines, said that cutthroat were easy fish to catch. I remind him that cutthroat could be very difficult to catch in waters where there was enough food for them to become selective feeders.

 

The environment shaped the feeding behavior of the species.

 

I understand that brook trout are not really trout, and that there are some real genetically based difference in trout species such as water temperature tolerances, the type of water they prefer, and when they spawn. But as to feeding behavior, I am less certain that the flies that work on brookies are a large part dependent on the fact that most of the fishing for them occur in small waters that are not nutrient rich and therefore the fish must be opportunistic feeders.

 

Keep in mine that the flies that are being recommended are in a large part dependent on where the fly fisher fishes for his brookies. Just as the flies I would recommend for rainbow trout in the Madison River would differ from the flies I would recommend for rainbow trout in the White River in Arkansas, I suspect that seem of the flies will work better in the home waters in the east than on the waters of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming where your brother lives.

[Istripbuggers 0]

Sz. 10-12 olive wolly buggers.

They work for all brookies. Period.

[Stevester 0]

As others have noted, where you are fishing will make a difference in both the size of the fish and what their preferred flies will be. I have caught them in sizes from 6 inched to 20 inches. All were caught in the northeast and no, the big one was a wild fish from a lake in Maine not a hatchery breeder fish.

 

Traditional flies for eastern brookies tend to be on the bright side both in flash and color. But fish that are in areas with more forage will respond to "normal" flies that imitate stream insects and minnows. Case in point; the original Muddler Minnow is not a flashy fly by modern standards and was originally designed for the big brook trout in the Nipigon River, a tributary of Lake Superior.

 

Steve

[pnptrapp 0]

Holy Cow. I had no idea there was so much to think about for a Christmas present. I think I'll browse the suggested patterns and tie the ones that I like the looks of best, and that I think I can make a good fly of. I'll also through in one or two that maybe I might find challenging just to keep things fun!

 

Is there anyone out there who fishes in the Yellowstone area? that would be the most likely area he'll be fishing.

[Montanacur 0]

I would look up Park's Fly Shop in Gardiner, MT. I'm a Montana resident and use their patterns with great success. The website has a pile of great flies to browse thru, most of which were created for the Yellowstone basin. I fish in central MT, including on the Missouri where its a blue ribbon stream with great success using many of those patterns. On YouTube their head guide Walter Wiese has a channel with many videos that show how to tie their flies. One I would suggest is the yellow haze cripple. Its the same as the purple haze cripple, but uses yellow wonder wrap for body material. I have been using olive thread as an underbody which shows through the wonder wrap enough to make it a closer match to most natural PMD's. I'm going to tie some up using yellow thread and cream wonder wrap to see if that will match the creamier yellow looking PMD's I have seen. Good luck and happy tying. Oh, and go size 16 and 18 on those pmd patterns.