Brookie Fever in January

With the toasty weather in the upper 40s I left work early last Monday and headed down to southeast MN with Tommy. A long drive but it was worth getting back to a new favorite brook trout stream I discovered this summer. As it turns out, brook trout streams are getting harder to come by these days. I understand in recent years any water connected to brown trout gets taken over. Luckily this one is somewhat isolated. This is in fact the only solid brook trout stream I know of listed in the Minnesota winter streams.

Brook trout have a special place in my heart. Their colors are a true delight compared to browns and I also love the fact that they are always anxious to chomp on a worm – any time of day, and almost any time of year. I don’t have that much experience with bait fishing in the winter. Yesterday was an example of pure success. Small but beautiful and worth the drive in my opinion.

Those are very nice fish in deed…Looks like the 1st one in the pic might be over 10″ which is a very big brookie. Care to share if you caught alot and what pattern??

I fish alot in NE Minnesota for Brookies and have spots I keep closely guarded.

Hi KWP the top one was 12.” All were caught on chunks of crawlers and a tiny split or no split at all. I imagine brook trout water rare in your area too. My personal best in Grand Marais area is 13.” What is the fish you are holding in your display photo?

Quote:

---

Hi KWP the top one was 12.” All were caught on chunks of crawlers and a tiny split or no split at all. I imagine brook trout water rare in your area too. My personal best in Grand Marais area is 13.” What is the fish you are holding in your display photo?

---

What are you doing using live bait. Live bait is illegal during the winter trout fishing season. Artificial lures with barb-less hooks are all you are allowed to use.

Quote:

---

Subp. 3. Winter trout stream season. These waters are open to angling during a winter trout season from January 1 through March 31. Except as provided in subparts 36 and 37, the following restrictions apply to the winter season. While on or fishing in these waters, angling for trout is limited to catch and release only, whereby any trout caught must be immediately returned to the water. It is unlawful for anyone to have in possession, regardless of where taken, any trout while on or fishing in these waters. All legal methods of taking trout are allowed, except that barbed hooks are prohibited. A hook from which the barb has been removed by crimping or filing is allowed.

---

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=6264.0400

In fact MN DNR winter trout page used to say “live bait allowed” but was removed to prevent confusion. If I was fishing an AO stream I cannot use bait any time of year. The stream I fished does not have an AO regulation.

The fish on my display was a 23″ Master Angler Brook Trout I caught in the God’s River, Manitoba. The guide estimated the weight between 5 to 6 lbs. It was caught on a fly rod with a mouse pattern. Was a daily fly out from base camp and we did not catch huge numbers but did catch several big ones (18″ to 23″).

My personal best near Grand Marias is 16″. Although, I have a friend who caught one 18″ from the same spot. It’s a spot best fished with a canoe/belly boat and the brookies are mixed in with smallmouth and walleyes.

I have heard about God’s River. Big brookies for sure. Was that fish caught on an actual river or God’s Lake? Brook trout in a stream that big is just mind boggling but I know they grow big in Canada.

Quote:

---

My personal best near Grand Marias is 16″. Although, I have a friend who caught one 18″ from the same spot. It’s a spot best fished with a canoe/belly boat and the brookies are mixed in with smallmouth and walleyes.

---

That is impressive. Big water shared with smallies and walleye. I have measured water temp of 70 degrees on two different brook trout stream. They are more resilient than people think. I have yet to break the 15″ mark for a brookie.

We were fishing God’s River for the brook trout. We were staying at a resort on the lake (also a fly in) and did a couple “fly outs” to the river for the brook trout…about 40 miles or so. Went with a guide and they had a 14′ Al boat and a 15hp Johnson to navigate the river. I can still remember the guide navigating class 2 rapids with that boat. As in most Canadian trophy brook trout waters, the river also had walleyes/notherens/whitefish along with brook trout. I also remember the river was very large…maybe the size of the Mississippi up by Anoka.

Speaking of brook trout, here are some pictures a couple years back of “Rock Creek” in Ontario. These are Coaster brook trout from Lake Superior. A drive to spot not too far from the boarder with exremely large brook trout. A closley guarded spot we visit every few years or so.

The trout are voracious, numerous when conditions are right, and are quite easy to catch averaging 16″ to 20″ in lenght. We have caught them up to 23.5″. Notice how pale the females are compared to the colored up males in their spawning colors. They are also not as thick as residents.

A friend of mine even had one break off his 10 lb tippet one time in higher water after he faught it several minutes. We both agreed it would have broken the 23.5″ record in “rock creek”.

It has been a couple years since we have visited our creek so hopefully I will make it back up there this year. I will report back with a full report…

Is a resident coaster one that lives in the stream year round? Assume rare and otherwise best chance of a Lake Superior coaster would be fall when they spawn? Lots of green in the photo which looks more like late summer perhaps. Quite a deep river.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Those a beautiful slab brook trout!

Yes, a resident coaster lives in the river year round whereas a coaster lives in lake superior and returns to their native stream to spawn (similar to a steelhead). Late Summer/early Fall is the best time to catch them in the river.

The may be “rare” in the US but they have stagged a great comeback in Ontario with restrictions of harvest/slot limits/seasons. Fishing sucess is determinded by river choice, time of yr, and certian areas of the river. We don’t always catch large numbers but several trips we have each caught 15 to 20/day…So no, they are not “rare” or a “once in a lifetime” fish in Canada.

I have fished several rivers up there and our “rock creek” has stagged a remarkable comeback the last 10 to 15 yrs with overall harvest restrictions within lake Superior.

Nice winter fish. Those Canadian brookies are unreal.