A new personal best!

[fishaholictaz]

Well I had the opportunity to go fishing last night and I am glad I did.... I only got 1 fish to bite drifting a worm and egg under a bobber but it was a 14-15" Brookie. I guess the fish weighed just over a lb. but it is the biggest brookie I have ever caught:cheers:

[Amx]

Congrats. Fat fishie there.

[fishaholictaz]

Thanks...Ya it was crazy all the brook trout I have ever seen look half starved.I have been looking into it and it seems there are bigger yet that come from that lake:-"

[Coastfishin]

Good Job Taz!!!

[The Quadfather]

Taz. I don't know how they grow them in Wyoming? (I think you're in Wyoming?) But yes, that would be a very nice fish for our alpine lake brookies here in the cascades. Congrats! And I agree with you, that the brookies I always see in the moutain lakes have great color etc. but skinny freakin' fish.

[SPARKY101]

Nice work...A rookie and a Brookie

[fishaholictaz]

Nice work...A rookie and a Brookie

Rookie huh... And I thought I was a good fisherman#-o

[Anglinarcher]

Good fish TAZ, and boy are Brookies good eating.

I have caught several large brookies some 40 years ago that were bigger, but I have not caught anything nearly that large in quite some time. One thing I noticed was that Brookies tend to over populate and consume all of the food available. In other words, if they can spawn, they tend to be plentiful but small. They also tend to live well in the smallest of streams and the highest of lakes, so again, low amounts of food means smaller fish.

Still, if they are found in a lake or reservoir that has good concentrations of food, they can grow huge - well huge by brookie standards. In a lake in the Southern Utah mountains back in the late 60's there was a reservoir that did not have a fall river or creek for spawning. There was some limited spawning on a wind blown shore near the rock and gravel dam, but nothing more. As a result, the brookies grew huge. I have caught and weighed several in the 4 to 6 pound range as a kid. Granted, most were 12 to 16 inches, but the monster would show up a few times a year.

In a stream on Western WY on some private land I found a bunch of brookies that ran about 16", but I later found out that they were raised in a private pond that had washed out that spring. The fish in the pond had almost unlimited food, so the brookies and bows I was catching were larger then normal.

In Henry's Lake in South East Idaho they have brought some Brookies in from Labrador that live longer then the normal Brookie, and every once in a while I'd hear of a 6 or 8 pounder, but never saw one.

If I caught a 14 or 15 inch brookie today I'd be pretty surprised, but, given the right conditions, ........................

If I was you I'd keep fishing that lake.

[fishaholictaz]

Hey AA thanks for the info. I plan to hit that lake as much as possible it is tiny but full of fresh water shrimp and has BIG fish. I have heard of a 12 and 14 lb bows being taken out of there this year.... The best part is it is only 12 miles away:-"

[ryan2202]

That is a great looking fish! I've caught several brookies at Leech Lake that are longer and have plenty of meat on them. Leech is fly fishing only though....Its a natural habitat of eastern brooks and the state also plants triploids...small lake, fly fishing only, and beautiful scenery. Awesome fish! Makes me want to go fishing one last time before the freeze hits Leech lake.