Belfountain

It is 9:00 AM, Sunday, May 16, and I’ve just landed my 6th little brook trout.

When I arrived at the Credit today I had great expectations. I had fished this river many times in various locations, each with their own characteristics and challenges, each with their own merits, and though I’ve had my share of success at all of them, this is probably my favourite stretch of all.

It is a beautifully peaceful stretch of the Credit River Valley, away from the more popular areas that are home to brown and rainbow trout; this area is home to a healthy brook trout population. The fish here don’t grow very big, but they are prolific. Even so, that doesn’t mean success is guaranteed, as there have been days where I’ve come up empty handed, and all I could take comfort from was the chance to be outdoors. But today was different.

I arrived at the stream and took my time setting up, looking for any activity on the water. There were an abundance of small flies skimming across the surface, and it wasn’t long before I saw a trout jump to take one. Then another did likewise, followed by others. This alone was worth the trip.

Trout find 90% of their food below water, and don’t rise to the fly very often. When they do, they usually just sip the surface to take the fly. Watching trout jump out of the water to take a fly is an incredible experience. Needless to say, I was excited at the opportunity that lay ahead.

It didn’t take long to make my day; I began fishing at 8:00 AM and within an hour had caught half a dozen brookies. They weren’t large, each one about 6 or 7 inches long. I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but in Southern Ontario (and most of the Eastern States as well) the average size for a brook trout is between 6 – 9 inches. They’re an aggressive little fish, but you have to be on your game because they can be very finicky.

I had been fishing from the bank all this time, and there were a lot of trees lining the river, so my casts were limited to about 25 feet. I was reminded of this as I fed my second midge to what I think was a cedar tree. I saw a nice little clearing on the other bank further downstream which would afford me more room to cast so I made my way to it, but this caused a change in my fortunes. Despite having ample room to cast and present my fly so gently on the water, the fish stopped biting, so I made my way back to where I was and my luck changed again for the better.

I decided to wade the river after another half hour of catching the little trout ( by now my total was about 10) because I saw some very promising water downstream where the fish were still jumping.

Being in the river gave me the opportunity to stretch out with the casts, but as I was fishing downstream I had to be very stealthy and make sure I didn’t stir up the bottom as I moved.

Fish face into the current, or upstream, and due to the refractive properties of water they can see quite a distance, so they can spot approaching dangers and avoid them. Also, if a sudden cloud of silt appears they recognize the danger and will not strike. To offset this, you have to be able to make longer, more accurate casts. That is why most anglers will work upstream, since they can sneak up on the fish unseen.

I moved down to the tail end of a light riffle and began casting and at first there was no interest, despite the activity. Then about 15 minutes later I landed the biggest fish of the day so far, a fat 8 inch brook. After a couple of others of the same size, I saw something big underneath some overhanging tree cover, right by the bank. I couldn’t land on top of it, due to the trees, but I could land it just beside it and let the fly drift into the area. It took a few minutes, but finally I enticed the fish into striking. Moments later a 9 inch brook trout was in the net.

I moved further downstream, and placing a cast into the head of a small pocket of water I pulled out another 9 inch trout. I continued working the most promising areas, and over the next half hour landed another couple of smaller fish, about 7 inches long. I could have kept going downstream, or even stayed where I was, but I thought it was time to wind it down so I turned and worked back upstream to where I started. On my way I landed another couple of fish, also about 6 – 7 inches long.

When I arrived back at my original starting point, I took stock of the day’s results. I had lost count of the number of fish caught, which speaks for itself, and to witness the fish jumping out of the water catching their meal was beyond description.

The time was 11:15, I had been fishing for just over 3 hours. 45 minutes from my house. Wonderful.