So what is everyone’s favorite brook trout water? I have two. Henry’s Lake in Idaho and fish lake in the Uintas not down south. My biggest in Henrys was just over five and an 18" football out of the Uintas. Love to hear where everyone else catches them. They are in my opinion the prettiest fish I chase.
Fishjon
Biggest would be Henrys- probably not going to talk about any Utah places
I’d have to say Boulder Creek up on Boulder Mountain. I caught something like 240 and I just got tired of catching them. Nothing huge though, biggest were maybe 14" and skinny. I caught quite a few out of the Upper Provo along the Mirror Lake Highway also. I still haven’t caught any since I moved up to Cache last year, I’m still looking.
There is a good number of brookies below Soldier Creek damn. caught an 18-19 incher that was at least 2 lbs. I also was being watched by a fish cop the whole time
I set the fish on the grass to take a picture of it and then released it. No more than 2 min later here comes the fish cop with a German Shepherd. She was completely convinced that I had stashed the fish in the bushes or on the bank undercut. I was just laughing telling her “you can look all you want to but the fish is ALIVE and I saw it swim downstream!!” She then started to search everything in my vest I had an old dried up thing of powerbait and she said she could give me a ticket for having it in my possession on that stretch. And yes she was correct. She clearly saw that I had a fly rod in one hand and a spinning rod in the other with a silver blue fox spinner tied on to it. Finally she left and so did I. BTW i threw the powerbait away as soon as I found a garbage. So everybody remember artificial only and catch and release. And you are most likely being watched anywhere around strawberry, keeps the honest people honest.[fishon][;)]
Yankee Meadows 17.5 inches its my profile picture
I love that stretch below Strawberry. I never caught any brookies that big there, but lots of them over a foot, and the scenery is amazing. That river saved the day quite a few times when my tube and I got blown off the reservoir.
Take the hike to white pine, they are decent size…the hike is great and you won’t see too many people.
I’ve been thinking about going up there this summer, but it sounds like I should definitely go. It looks like a pretty hike as well, so maybe I can convince my wife to go with me.
It hit the spinner. And it was also all the way up close to the damn. That water is SOOO cold. Great stretch below also, there are nice browns as well but they are hard to catch unless your the first one on the water.
Really, brookies? I’ve never heard of there being Brook Trout in the Strawberry River. It is however, full of nice Brown Trout. Disclaimer I’ve never actually fished it.
Promise, I have caught a bunch of them down there. I have some phone pics of a couple. I just have no Idea how to put them on my computer so you might have to wait for me to go again and use my digital camera. One I caught had a huge chunk taken out of its back from some sort of bird I am assuming.
The brookies however have seemed to be a lot smaller now days but they are there. I am not sure how far down they go maybe all the way to starvation but I have not heard of that yet I am just rambling.
The hike is pretty easy about four miles, but only the first mile and last mile are steep. Most of the hike runs around the mountain and through a couple different valleys. In the fall when the aspens start to change is my favorite time. I would go early, because once the sun drops below the mountain it gets really cold fast. I got my wife to go and she loved it, I think it is her favorite hike so far…I plan on exploring the Uintas this year.
I’d have to say Boulder Creek up on Boulder Mountain. I caught something like 240 and I just got tired of catching them. Nothing huge though, biggest were maybe 14" and skinny.
that’s a crying shame, if you ask me. Boulder Creek is a perfect example of what happens when you introduce non-native fish to a stream that was home to a remnant population of colorado river cutthroat.
Out of curiosity, how many colorado river cutts did you catch while fishing Boulder Creek?
I guess the good news is that this should change in the not-so-distant future…
I know you diddnt ask me but thought maybe you want to know that I have caught a lot of cuts on the boulder, but not in boulder creek. They are all over the mountain still dont worry. I was wondering though what you meant by the good news that it will all change in the future? Have you heard of some kind of plan to exterminate all the brookies?
Have you tried up above Porcupine? I used to catch quite a few pretty little brookies in the little creek that feeds Porcupine. Plus its a nice place to spend a few hours.
I catch quite a few on the north fork of the Duchesne river. They’re not very big, but they’re beautiful and very uneducated.[;)] My biggest one on that stretch was probably 14 inches.
I’ll have to try out the creek that comes into Porcupine. I didn’t know it had brookies, but it’s been on my list of places to try this summer. Thanks for the heads up on that, all the more reason to give it a shot.
Sounds like I will definitely plan on White Pine as well. I haven’t gotten to fish a high mountain lake for a while, I can’t wait.
The Strawberry River definitely has brookies. I’ve only found them in maybe the first mile or two below the dam, but there were quite a few. That water is definitely cold, don’t want to wet wade it.
As for Boulder Creek, I caught maybe 10 cutts that day. So definitely out numbered by the brook trout by a wide margin. The cutts I did get were really pretty though. As much fun as the brook trout were to catch, it is too bad that they took over the stream. I did eat quite a few of them, but with that many of them, it would take a lot to put a dent in the population.
I know you diddnt ask me but thought maybe you want to know that I have caught a lot of cuts on the boulder, but not in boulder creek. They are all over the mountain still dont worry.
Thanks for the info FOD. That’s good to know.
As for Boulder Creek, I caught maybe 10 cutts that day. So definitely out numbered by the brook trout by a wide margin. The cutts I did get were really pretty though. As much fun as the brook trout were to catch, it is too bad that they took over the stream. I did eat quite a few of them, but with that many of them, it would take a lot to put a dent in the population.
Gstott – You can catch a lot of cutthroat up in the headwaters of Boulder Creek. The Meadow contains a population of native cutthroat that have been there for longer than white-man has been around Utah. Luckily, natural migration barriers have prevented brook trout and rainbow trout from moving up-stream to the headwaters and tainting that population of native CR Cutts.
There are plans to rennovate Boulder Creek (at least the upper stretches) to remove the brook trout (via rotenone) and repopulate with CR Cutts. The cutthroat, given the opportunity to thrive without competition from overpopulated brook trout, have potential to grow larger than what the current brook trout do. Imagine going back to Boulder Creek and catching 100’s of cutts in the 16" range vs. big-headed 12" brook trout!
From what I know, there has not been a date set yet for the rennovation project. Short Lake has already been done, so I imagine that it won’t be long until Boulder Creek is also done. I can’t wait!
That’s really interesting. I hope it happens. I love catching brook trout, but there are plenty of places in the Boulder Mts to catch them. Colorado cutts are a lot more valuable.
That’s great they’re getting rid of all those stunted brookies there. They have ruined many a stream. My biggest brookie in Utah was an 18 inch on the Provo in the lower national forest. That was probable 6-7 years ago. Now if I fish that area you’re lucky to catch a 12 inch brookie. You can’t keep the smaller ones of your fly to catch the few other fish that still grow to descent size. In a lot of these streams DWR should require all brookies caught be kept or killed. May seem extreme but the only other option to return many of these streams to a descent fishery is rotenone.