Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Trout fishing outside of NJ
Post Reply
martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Fri Jul 29, 2022 9:29 am

I am up in Vermont near Mount Holly for a few days on my own. Growing up we came several times a year for fishing/skiing but it has been five years since I have been year. Lots of memories being out on the water with my dad and brother. chasing anything that swims and always catching something. Anyway, I checked out a brook trout steam a mile from the house last night and flows look to low for good fishing so I fished the boat launch of a remote lake near our cabin at magic hour and a thunderstorm. I was a fishing a jig to see if I could get some smallmouth and ended up with a citation size rock bass. I remember these fish being almost a nuisance as we would catch dozens of small ones-this I thought I had on a good sized smallmouth-much to my surprise it was a massive, citation size rock bass-state record is 2 pounds-it probably wasnt that but not too far off!

Today I am off to hike/fish the Little Rock pond for brook trout-its only 19 acres so I hope to be able to walk around it and locate where they are hanging out-there is a steam that comes out of it with a high density of small brookies but the pond itself holds them up to 15-16 inches. Fall would be the best time to find them as they come shallow but I think I can locate them. There is another pond in the Northeast Kingdom that reliably holds fish up to 18 inches or more but that is over 2.5 hours away and would likely require a boat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SClF5PoOvic
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gmfl/lan ... rdb5288809

Do any of you have a experience fishing brook trout ponds in Vermont or elsewhere ?
sunset.jpg
sunset.jpg (141.3 KiB) Viewed 12752 times
sunset.jpg
sunset.jpg (141.3 KiB) Viewed 12752 times
rock bass.jpg
rock bass.jpg (179.23 KiB) Viewed 12752 times

Troutman
Posts: 1078
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:40 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by Troutman » Fri Jul 29, 2022 6:07 pm

looks so tranquil up there
Was known as Troutman1

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Fri Jul 29, 2022 9:58 pm

fish fry.jpg
fish fry.jpg (283.6 KiB) Viewed 12722 times
Attachments
camp fire.jpg
camp fire.jpg (371.43 KiB) Viewed 12722 times
big VT brookie.jpg
big VT brookie.jpg (233.39 KiB) Viewed 12722 times

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Fri Jul 29, 2022 10:10 pm

What a day in the Green Mountain state! I hiked around a few different brookie streams and caught some micro brookies on dry flies-nothing big but nice scenery. Then I hiked an hour and a half up a mountain to Little Rock pond. I had hiked there once before and it is supposed to have large wild brookies. It was an intense hike up about a 1000 vertical feet and I was feeling pretty gassed when I finally reached the 19 acre 'pond'. I started hiking around it to find the deeper water as the shallows were quite warm. I found some drop offs next to a cliff where it went quickly down to 20-30 feet deep-I knew this would be where I could find them as the shallows were just too warm. I was up against a cliff so I gave up on the fly rode and started throwing worms on the ultra light and sure enough I caught a nice 12 incher which I harvested I switched to a spinner and got a bigger 14-15 incher which I also kept for supper. Then before leaving I put on a crappie jig for the hell of it and caught one that was pushing 18 inches and a smaller one, both of which I released before hiking down the mountain. I drove 25 minutes back to cabin and cooked them up on a campfire. I certainly feel blessed today!
Attachments
Little Rock pond.jpg
Little Rock pond.jpg (251.56 KiB) Viewed 12722 times

Fishybig
Posts: 326
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:43 am

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by Fishybig » Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:02 pm

Blessed my ass , you earned it!! Hour and a half hike...i woulda died after a half hour....shoulda stuck wit the long stick...more rewarding, but u gotter done...good yob!!

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:20 am

It sure was a special day! There were some primitive camping spots near the lake where the AT passed by-it would be been nice to fish magic hour when the fish come to shallower sections and rise to insects. I was fishing from a rock ledge with a cliff behind me that made casting a fly rod very challenging. Doing some research, I realize I picked a perfect spot as during the summer brook trout favor 10-20 feet of water which is exactly where I was-the lake went to about 40 feet in the middle, but brook trout don't favor it that deep. Also doing some research, while the trout do successfully spawn in the shallower sections near the outflow and near springs, the state of VT does supplement the population with helicopter fingerling stockings from time to time. They use a fairly local genetic strain from what a I read. There may be some small minnows for forage, but there are zero other game fish-not even pumpkin seeds-this allows the brookies to growth quite large. I saw a lot of what i think were small salamanders swimming around the shallows-the brookies must haver a field day on them!

User avatar
lightenup
Posts: 684
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:35 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by lightenup » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:13 pm

Looks like something tried to eat that rock bass?

PortMurrayAng
Posts: 151
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:06 am

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by PortMurrayAng » Sat Jul 30, 2022 1:09 pm

How were the fish? Looks like something out of a Travers story. I'm adding this to the list!

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Sat Jul 30, 2022 8:36 pm

There are some big pickerel in the first lake-I imagine that they could have tried to eat the rock bass.

The brook trout were good-I was kind of rushing and tried cooking in a cast iron pan directly over fire-they may have came out better on the stove with a little more oil but I was going for it all with a camp fire! I definitely do recommend trying one of the Vermont brook trout ponds- a bunch are in the Green Mountains plus two in the North East Kingdom which is much further away. The brooks/rivers this time of year are not great for trout fishing with low flows and crystal clear water.

Razorbacker
Posts: 164
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:42 pm
Location: Pottersville

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by Razorbacker » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:09 am

martalus wrote:
Fri Jul 29, 2022 10:10 pm
What a day in the Green Mountain state! I hiked around a few different brookie streams and caught some micro brookies on dry flies-nothing big but nice scenery. Then I hiked an hour and a half up a mountain to Little Rock pond. I had hiked there once before and it is supposed to have large wild brookies. It was an intense hike up about a 1000 vertical feet and I was feeling pretty gassed when I finally reached the 19 acre 'pond'. I started hiking around it to find the deeper water as the shallows were quite warm. I found some drop offs next to a cliff where it went quickly down to 20-30 feet deep-I knew this would be where I could find them as the shallows were just too warm. I was up against a cliff so I gave up on the fly rode and started throwing worms on the ultra light and sure enough I caught a nice 12 incher which I harvested I switched to a spinner and got a bigger 14-15 incher which I also kept for supper. Then before leaving I put on a crappie jig for the hell of it and caught one that was pushing 18 inches and a smaller one, both of which I released before hiking down the mountain. I drove 25 minutes back to cabin and cooked them up on a campfire. I certainly feel blessed today!
awesome trip!

Troutman
Posts: 1078
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:40 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by Troutman » Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:23 pm

niceee adventure :!: :!: :!: . campfire fish always taste better for some reason :lol: :lol: :lol:
Was known as Troutman1

User avatar
Rusty Spinner
Posts: 1225
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:35 pm
Location: Flanders, NJ
Contact:

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by Rusty Spinner » Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:19 am

Great pix and stories! Vermont very much needs to drag itself into modern times with its trout regulations. They prioritize non natives over natives and stock over natives regularly. The Native Fish Coalition has been successful in shaming that state into reducing brook trout creel limits from 10/day down to 6/day which is still too high, but a step in the right direction.
"A sinking fly is closer to Hell" - Unknown

martalus
Posts: 486
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:39 pm

Re: Brook trout ponds of Vermont

Post by martalus » Tue Aug 09, 2022 10:20 am

As far as I can tell, when they do stock brookies, they try to take from a more or less local strain, but probaably the exact strain. The pond I was fishing has natural reproduction that is supplemented by fingerling stocking by helicopter-again not sure if they are using the exact heritage strain from that specific pond. From talking to lots of local folks, many people seem to think of wild brookies as an inexhaustible resource bordering on a beloved, tasty nuisance that they like to harvest by the dozen full. That thinking may be evolving, but local working class folks definitely see them as a food source for the taking.

Post Reply