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PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:23 pm • # 21 
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Location: Michigan's U.P.
I have a lot of small streams up here that I fish for Brookies and about any decent dry in 18 to 22 works although I seem to favor a Adams.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:03 pm • # 22 
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I've caught brookies on all size flies but most often in faster water where it's impossible for me to see a small dry. So under those circumstances, a trude or bushy caddis works well and can be seen. In slow skinny water, I'll always offer something more realistic like parachute adams or if they're really finicky, a smaller cdc caddis or mayfly.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:07 pm • # 23 
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Location: Rusagonis, New Brunswick, Canada
tiptop:
In what sizes?
brent


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:08 pm • # 24 
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Location: Michigan's U.P.
Just about any decent dry fly in 18 to 22 works on the smaller streams up here. I really haven't tried any thing larger on the same streams; but, I wouldn't be surprised if they worked also.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:58 pm • # 25 
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Location: Central Pa.
I keep it simple and flyfish for brookies with one pattern, The Royal Wulff in sizes 12,14 and 16. I use 14 the most. It's not that brookies are stupid it's that most streams they live in are not the most fertile and they cannot afford to let ANY form of food get away. Thus they are not as selective as those lazy limestone water trout. :lol


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:24 am • # 26 
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Most often in fast water, I use a sz 14. They'll certainly take larger flies sometimes, but attractors larger than a 14 become harder to cast with a light line rod. I'll go down to a sz 16 under the right circumstances but seldom smaller than that for brookies although I'm sure they'll eat much smaller flies.


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PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2015 2:26 pm • # 27 
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In your neck of the woods, I would bet that brookies in a beaver pond environment with a silty bottom would spend lots of time feeding on chironomids/midges.


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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 3:00 pm • # 28 
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Location: Michigan's U.P.
A 16 is as big as I'll go and prefer 20-22 size dry flies when fishing for Brookies.


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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 7:11 pm • # 29 
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Location: Virginia's Northern Neck
I fish mostly in the SNP, Rapidan WMA area of VA and use size 12 - 18 flies/nymphs. And you know what? I've found that "size doesn't matter" so much to the Brook Trout and the occcasionaal Brown I catch. I like to use something that I can actually see if it's a dry fly so I seldom go below a 16. I guess you can catch Brookies on tiny flies, but why even try? But I don't go big either. Unless I'm fishing for Bluegills or Bass, and then I don't go bigger than size 8.


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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 9:28 pm • # 30 
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Sometimes the brook trout on Wisconsin's spring ponds will key in on midges, usually a size 20 or 22. When this happens the larger flies are almost useless. Normally I use small size 16 or 18 softhackles when prospecting a brookie pond. Smaller flies seem to work better for me.


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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 9:54 pm • # 31 
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Anything tied with peacock: lead wing coachman, Griffiths gnats, renegade, grey hackle and buzz hackles to name a few


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:02 pm • # 32 
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softhackle wrote:
Sometimes the brook trout on Wisconsin's spring ponds will key in on midges, usually a size 20 or 22. When this happens the larger flies are almost useless. Normally I use small size 16 or 18 softhackles when prospecting a brookie pond. Smaller flies seem to work better for me.


Conventional wisdom tells us that brook trout are very gullible and not selective, so they can be taken on pretty large flies. Unfortunately, brook trout don't always listen to conventional wisdom.

I fished a lot of spring ponds and small streams with beaver ponds in Michigan. Some of the most interesting fishing for brookies came after July 4th when the tricos started hatching regularly. Then it would be a matter of spinner and some dun patterns betweeen size 20 and 24.

I also have been baffled more than once by trout keying in on midges. Since conventional wisdom tells us that it's best to use pupa imitations under such circumstances, I tried it, to little avail. But I had better luck with adult midge imitations: dry flies. Some were grizzly spiders on 20-24 hooks, and also more specific patterns on 28s. They were just tying silk for the body, a few hackle fibers for the wing, and a couple turns of hackle. The problem is that with such small flies, they are really difficult to see on the water, even with a short cast. But it's really fine to watch a brookie come up through the water to a flie you can't even see, turn back down, and suddenly get hooked.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:30 am • # 33 
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PampasPete wrote:
softhackle wrote:
Sometimes the brook trout on Wisconsin's spring ponds will key in on midges, usually a size 20 or 22. When this happens the larger flies are almost useless. Normally I use small size 16 or 18 softhackles when prospecting a brookie pond. Smaller flies seem to work better for me.


Conventional wisdom tells us that brook trout are very gullible and not selective, so they can be taken on pretty large flies. Unfortunately, brook trout don't always listen to conventional wisdom.

I fished a lot of spring ponds and small streams with beaver ponds in Michigan. Some of the most interesting fishing for brookies came after July 4th when the tricos started hatching regularly. Then it would be a matter of spinner and some dun patterns betweeen size 20 and 24.

I also have been baffled more than once by trout keying in on midges. Since conventional wisdom tells us that it's best to use pupa imitations under such circumstances, I tried it, to little avail. But I had better luck with adult midge imitations: dry flies. Some were grizzly spiders on 20-24 hooks, and also more specific patterns on 28s. They were just tying silk for the body, a few hackle fibers for the wing, and a couple turns of hackle. The problem is that with such small flies, they are really difficult to see on the water, even with a short cast. But it's really fine to watch a brookie come up through the water to a flie you can't even see, turn back down, and suddenly get hooked.


You're right, the cliche is that speckled trout are fairly easy to catch. I've seen them so aggressive that they've hit both the fly and the loop at the end of my line simultaneously. I have also not been able to raise a fish only to see a good one rise when I've decided to spool up. The fish are there I just haven't shown them what they need to see, or where and how they need to see it. Its times like this that presentation seems to be more important than fly selection, regardless of size. That being said, nothing is written in stone and while my starting fly is almost always a #12 muddler(about as small a muddler as I can find and rarely do I find a need to go any larger on the backwoods water I fish) I often have great luck with small salmon flies like a #12 grizzly king or similar. Especially early season.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:39 am • # 34 
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When I fished brookies back home in the eastern upper peninsula it was usually with larger size 14-16 royal wolfs but there were times that a size 20-22 mosquito was the go to fly. If there is no hatch coming off I go bigger unless Mosquitos were seen being taken. There is always a mosquito hatch in Michigan swamps lol.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:53 am • # 35 
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Ajcarricktx wrote:
There is always a mosquito hatch in Michigan swamps lol.


I know I can relate. I killed a fish on my first outing this year and when I inspected its stomach all I saw were what I thought to be black fly larvae, a small fly indeed. There were no black flies in the air but they would crawl up my legs whenever I waded. I guess the fish are doing their part. :)


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:10 pm • # 36 
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Schuey wrote:
I guess the fish are doing their part. :)


I think the local fish could try a little harder... :eek
brent


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:37 am • # 37 
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Location: Presque Isle, Maine
I've been using Hans Weilenmann's Rolled Muddler Variant in size 10 and 12, its been working real well.

I substitute wood duck for the **** de leon, tie it sparse

Image


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:16 am • # 38 
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Tim: The ribbing technique on that fly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QIyQuKdNq0) is intriguing! Gonna give that a try.
brent


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