Brookies!

[raffensg64]

Gents, just thought I'd post a note on one of my favorites, the eastern brook trout, which is actually misleading because this fish is actually a char. I grew up in the hills of northern PA and many mountain streams had an abundance of native brookies. Little guys, running 6-9", but oh so good eating! If you ever have an inkling for a fish fry and you know of a local lake with these, give them a try. A few years ago when I was still single, a partner and I would do 2-4 day pack trips into the Cabinet Wilderness (Montana), the Selkirks (Idaho) and the Cascades. Float tubes, fins, fly rods, tents, sleeping gear, water filtration pumps, etc, we packed it all! Having grown up in Missoula, and later Washington, he had an intimate knowledge of these areas. We would often target trailheads that led to brookie lakes, where necessary sustenance after a 6, 8 or 10 miles hike was obtained! Simple meals of butter-fried brookies and home fries, chased with filtered mountain stream water, CANNOT be beat!!! It was a simple proposition....catch fish or go hungry! Who wants to eat just potatoes? If no brookies were available, we'd have to settle for some cutties or rainbows, which was somewhat disheartening, because they NEVER, EVER tasted as good as those brookies! Give em a try.....they're awesome!

[Aaron]

I agree. They are very tasty. Power Lake up in Pend Oreille County is mostly full of brookies in the 10-11" range. Last time I was there it was pretty much impossible to get any kind of boat into the lake, but it can be done. Following the high road around the lake leads to a nice spot on the southest corner of the lake with a nice beach area perfect for shore fishing.

[Marc Martyn]

A word of caution about Power Lake. When I was up there a few years back, I remember seeing a lot of submerged trees and stumps, especially on the north end of the lake. That might have been because of the water level controled by the dam. I also got the impression that it is kind of a party lake. Over night camping might be loud.

[Aaron]

Everything at Power Lake is fine except for Holiday weekends... then it is a party lake. I've never seen more than 1 other person at that lake except on those weekends. The lake is man made and over the years the trees have come to the surface, bunched up on the shore and been removed by the state. I've been on the lake in a boat many times and never had a problem with submerged stumps/logs.

Here is the nice beach I was talking about:

[Marc Martyn]

Glad to hear they got rid of the trees. I remember hitting them with my feet in my pontoon boat. Scares you when you aren't expecting it. Keep me posted as to how it is producing. I'll give it another try.

Great picture!

[raffensg64]

Power lake, huh? Looks nice...that's a good picture Aaron submitted! I've fished several brookie lakes up that way but have never tried that one. And logs and stumps, provided they're submerged, can be a good thing. Brook trout use them as cover, much as bass do. I like to fish submerged piles of logs that can be clearly seen underwater. Many a fish has announced his presence by way of a silvery streak shooting from these piles and hammering my nymph. This is especially the case during a bright day when most fish are not actively feeding and are seeking cover and security, and I work on seeking out those opportunists.

Another good lake is McGinnis, on the Colville Indian Reservation. While not as picturesque as others, it's still nice and can give up lots of brookies, some of which reach and exceed 20". While this may seem unbelievable to some folks, but I hung and landed a 25" brookie there two years ago, a female at about 6 pounds (I love Washington, it has given me my personal best brookie, rainbow, and brownie). The belief amongst most folks is that brookies are naturally small. This is usually the case because they, much like cutthroat, thrive in more pristine waters where food is scarce. Plus, they have a tendency to overpopulate and will eat their own young! Anyways....if they're placed in a lake where food is plentiful, they will get BIG. I can't remember exact details but I believe Washington's record brook is a 9-pounder out of Lake Washington. Remote areas of northeast Canada regularly give up brookies in excess of 10 pounds. Now that's a big brookie!

Another decent lake in the Spokane area is Fish Lake near Cheney. It's tough to fish, though, and takes several outings to learn. But once you figure it out, you'll regularly get 16-18" brookies and a spattering of comparable tigers. I don't keep these fish, though, and instead string up at few 10-12" fry pan fish.

[raffensg64]

I stand corrected....it was a 9-pounder from Wobbly Lake in Lewis County but I swear I read Lake Washington at one point in time.

[bustin]

I second that about Fish Lake near Cheney. I was there today a twelve year old fishing next to me was just dropping her line under the dock and caught a large brookie without even casting. It was awesome to see how excited this kid was from catching such a big and great fish!

[Aaron]

I updated the description for Lake McGinnis. People might want to know they need a special license before the nice officer writes them a ticket, not after. After reading about that lake, I think I need to get up there this year.

[juicyjay504]

I love brookie fishing. When I was younger I used to fish South Skookum pretty religiously. Then all of a sudden they decided to turn it into a Rainbow lake. I still remember mt disappointment when I reeled in my first Rainbow out of Skookum. For a lake that was long considered my personal favorite lake to fish I rarely even make the drive there to fish it now. The same kinda goes for Sacheen as well to some extent. It just doesnt seem that they are or really are intending to plant Brookies anywhere anymore really.