Native Brook Trout

[Inspired Idler]

I agree with many comments here. It’s not about the equipment, it’s about the experience. The Frying Pan, Roaring Fork and Colorado are just a few minutes from my house but some of my best memories are little known streams and small fish. It’s the time spent on the water, the views, the escape. The fish caught are just a bonus.

Thanks for the advice guys. I have a lot of learning to do but that's part of the fun. Good luck to all of you on your next fishing adventures.

 

[Derby]

Are the most beautiful thing in nature.
View attachment 100408

Elk County, PA. Caught on barbless hooks and released. Him and 17 others. My girlfriend, who holds a PhD in freshwater ecology and has spent countless hours sampling fish, has finally begun to understand my obsession with these fish. It's the places you have to go to find them, the careful casting and presentation, all for a few seconds to enjoy their magnificent colors. A quiet trout stream beneath the hemlocks is my church.

I always ask myself, why? Why do they have to be so lovely, bright orange and those blue ringed red spots...

And yeah. They're tasty. I will only keep them from stocked waters, though. They're just too damn gorgeous for me to slice open, too fine a creature.

You are spot on. Glad you release them far too wonderful to kill.

 

[SBC]

I lived in the Lancaster, PA, area for years, and had no clue how close I was to some of the most nostalgic streams in fly fishing history. I didn't fly fish, then.

Since moving to northern WI, I've tried to pick up fly fishing, but with very little success. I've been making some glass rods and stacked birch bark grips for them, and I have a beautiful time casting under the waterfalls of Marinette County... I just don't catch fish!

If there are any fly fishermen in my neck of the woods who'd like to show me the ropes, I'll bring pipe tobacco...

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Caught my first brown trout in a stream in the Black Hills a year ago! Used to fly fish ponds for bass and bluegill back in the day, made my own rods, tied flies, but got away from it and starting chasing walleyes for a few years after a move took me away from farm pond country. Had a blast with a guide for a day and learned a lot about fly fishing in current, etc. Great day! Terrible pic, but this was the first one of the day, and my first trout ever - they got much, much smaller!

 

[Jaylotw]

Caught my first brown trout in a stream in the Black Hills a year ago! Used to fly fish ponds for bass and bluegill back in the day, made my own rods, tied flies, but got away from it and starting chasing walleyes for a few years after a move took me away from farm pond country. Had a blast with a guide for a day and learned a lot about fly fishing in current, etc. Great day! Terrible pic, but this was the first one of the day, and my first trout ever - they got much, much smaller!

View attachment 103998

Browns are beautiful fish, and that's a perfect specimen!

 

[Jaylotw]

I lived in the Lancaster, PA, area for years, and had no clue how close I was to some of the most nostalgic streams in fly fishing history. I didn't fly fish, then.

Since moving to northern WI, I've tried to pick up fly fishing, but with very little success. I've been making some glass rods and stacked birch bark grips for them, and I have a beautiful time casting under the waterfalls of Marinette County... I just don't catch fish!

If there are any fly fishermen in my neck of the woods who'd like to show me the ropes, I'll bring pipe tobacco...

Honestly, practice on a pond or lake with a ton of bluegill, you'll get casting and presentation down and catch loads.

I more or less gave up on fly fishing streams for trout, as I have just as much fun and often more success with spinning gear. If you want to stick with fly fishing, hiring a guide for a day is money well spent. A good one can get even the most novice fly fisherman to catch a fish or two!

 

[stevecourtright]

Mother's Day on the Arkansas River.

"...because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better..." Robert Traver

 

[stevecourtright]

I lived in the Lancaster, PA, area for years, and had no clue how close I was to some of the most nostalgic streams in fly fishing history. I didn't fly fish, then.

Since moving to northern WI, I've tried to pick up fly fishing, but with very little success. I've been making some glass rods and stacked birch bark grips for them, and I have a beautiful time casting under the waterfalls of Marinette County... I just don't catch fish!

If there are any fly fishermen in my neck of the woods who'd like to show me the ropes, I'll bring pipe tobacco...

I don't get up to your neck of the woods as much as I would like, but have fly fished the Brule, very famous river which is discussed in moving detail in Gordon MacQuarrie's famous stories.