Although Brook trout fishing is relatively easy in Vermont, there’s a couple things you should be aware of when going out after these fish that may get over looked a lot. It all starts with the approach of the stream. We always work our way upstream because fish face upstream when in a river. If you use an upstream approach to the river, you will be approaching the fish from behind, being less likely to spook them. You also don’t need to step in the water. Stepping in the water especially in these small streams may cause some fish to get a bad case of lockjaw, leaving you scratching your head, wondering why there isn’t a single brook trout in that specific hole. Another important thing to keep in mind is clothing, do not wear brightly colored hats and t-shirts as these will just scare the fish off as well.
There’s multiple ways to fish for brook trout. Most peoples favorite is in the middle of the summer in lower water flows with dry flies. This is by far the most exciting way to catch them and arguably the most productive. Brook trout will readily eat a dead drifted dry fly but they’ll also eat it if it’s skating across the surface or even being twitched beneath it. An important consideration would also be that these fish are not too selective. The more time you spend changing flies, the less time your fly will be in the water and in turn, you’re probably going to catch a few less fish. When it comes to gear, the smaller the rod the better. In VT streams we love a 3-Tand T-20 paired up with a TFO Lefty Kreh Finesse Series 5ft Half Weight. This set up is super light, and makes catching finger long fish extremely exciting! Click Here for a Special on our favorite Brook Trout set up.
When choosing a leader, you don’t need to be too concerned about spooking the fish. We generally fish 7.5ft 5x leaders and very rarely do we need to go any lighter than that. As far a flies go, like mentioned earlier, the patterns don’t make too much of a difference because these fish are pretty opportunistic feeders. Having said that, a fly that floats well is a huge plus and if you can see it you’re less likely going to mis strikes. We’re huge fans of the Wulf Family of flies. Because of the fact that they have a stiffer, beefier hackle it’s going to ride higher in the water and float much longer. Other popular patterns include Elk Hair Caddis Flies, Adams, Hoppers, Ants, Beetles and many more! When it comes to sizes, we almost always fish #12s and #14s without any trouble. In super low clear water, you may need to downsize to a #16 but anything smaller than that in Vermont Streams is probably unnecessary. If you’ve been thinking of coming to Vermont during the summer to fish, or if you’re already up here and the bigger rivers are a bit too warm. Go Brook Trout fishing, you’ll end up in some of the most beautiful parts of the state, in complete solitude, targeting one of the most beautiful fish that can be caught!