Feature Article Early Morning Big Trout

This brown was caught very early in the morning using a  rather large woolly bugger.

Trout are wary creatures; they become more aware of the surrounding environment, especially after they mature. During daylight hours the larger fish will seek out the best shelter, such as deep pools, deep heavy riffles, deep runs, undercut banks, logjams, and subsurface rock formations.  The cover of darkness brings an increased sense of security.  Large trout will venture out of their haunts into shallower water in search of prey especially in streams with good populations of crayfish and baitfish.

Night fishing can be very productive and produce some large trout, but it is difficult to see and can become frustrating.  A good way to hook one of these late night carnivores is to arrive on the stream early, an hour or so before sunrise, and cast some big flies.   The hungry trout that were hunting through the night may still be lurking in the shallows at first light on a quest for larger prey.

One of my best fish stories involves an encounter with one of these early morning giants.  I was fishing one of my favorite central New York streams, the Sauquoit Creek, at about 6am on an slightly overcast may morning.  The water was slightly off-color from some recent rains.  Off-color water can also draw the larger fish out of their hiding places.  I was fishing a #8 hare’s ear nymph, drifting the fly from the head of a pool down through a short but deep pool that I call the kettle.  I hooked a small brown, about 7 inches, and was proceeding to land the fish.  As a pulled the fish up towards me, it was causing quite a disturbance on the surface.  Then right in front of me from the depths of the kettle, came one of the largest browns I had ever seen in this creek (easily 20+ inches).  It was obviously in pursuit of what it perceived as an injured fish.  The huge fish approached then was startled by my presence and turned and swam back into the depths of the pool.  I stood there in awe.  I doubt that fish would bother with small aquatic insects, he is on the lookout for the big stuff, and probably does not show itself too often during bright days.

Here are some adaptations of old standards effective at first light. Tie them BIG!

These are some effective fish catchers.  Fish them before dawn and at first light, there could be a lunker predator lurking in search of a satisfying meal.