NewsBreak Original

This is what happens when a Primarily bait fisherman commits to the fly rod for a day of trout fishing. My dad was absolutely slaying fish with the trout magnet this day so it was very tricky to not wanna switch back lol.

While fishing a local stream, I caught a gigantic rainbow trout on the fly! It even took me for a crazy ride down the river.

Some people might be surprised to learn that Washington State has a fairly healthy population of Eastern Brook Trout. I’m not sure when they were added as game fish to Washington State, as the “Eastern” part in their name suggests, they are not native to Washington. But many lakes and some smaller streams and rivers in the Cascade mountains have them now.

Sedona Arizona is home to oak creek which is home to TONS of trout! The first time I ever came here I fell in love with this place. The red rock scenery is amazing along with the sheer amounts of rainbow and brown trout present in this creek.

The Adirondacks of northern New York has some of the best native brook trout fishing there is to offer. These remote ponds are hidden in the backwoods and fishing pressure is little to none, which can make for some banner days of fishing for these beastly native brookies!

Arctic char in Maine, also known as Blueback trout, are one of the rarest fish species in North America. While targeting them in a remote North Woods pond, I was lucky enough to stumble upon one of these rare fish.

I remember the very first time I caught a Brown Trout on a fly. My late step father had taken me to fly fish a small stream in Eastern Washington. This was my first time fishing that stream and really only my second or third time fishing small streams at all. It was early in the morning when we hit the stream and I was a little frustrated because for the first hour or so I wasn’t having any luck at all. While my step father, who was using worms, had already caught three nice Rainbows. It was early Jul and fairly warm out. I was using a Prince Nymph pattern to search with since I was new to this stream. The sun was up and starting to light up parts of the stream, so I switched to a size #12 Elk Hair Caddis think maybe the trout would think it was a medium sized grasshopper. In one of those classic fly fishing moments, I cast across the little stream near some weeds that were hanging into the water and a fish exploded on my fly a second or two after it hit the water. After a spirited fight on my four weight rod I was able to land a beautiful fourteen inch Brown Trout. I’ve been chasing Brown Trout whenever possible ever since that day on that little stream. Brown Trout certainly aren’t as common in Washington State as Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout are. And unlike those species, Brown Trout are originally native to Europe, not North America. They are a species well worth putting in the effort to catch though. They can grow to some very impressive sizes and a very hard fighting fish. And yes the stories are true, the big ones will sometimes take Deer Hair Mice patterns designed for Large Mouth Bass, not freaking trout. I’ve caught a few this way myself. The current record in Washington State is 22 pounds caught in 1965 at Sullivan Lake, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Game. Many lakes and a few creeks and rivers also have Brown Trout in Washington State. Unfortunately if you mainly fly fish in King County like myself, the only lake that has them (officially) is Green Lake in Seattle. I wrote about my misadventures fly fishing for Tiger Muskies in Green Lake here, if you are interested in reading about that. https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2232933225724/fly-fishing-on-green-lake-in-seattle?s=influencer But if you don’t mind traveling a bit there are plenty of other places in Washington to try for Brown Trout. Aside from Green Lake the other lake that I have the most experience with fly fishing for them are Dry Falls Lake in Grant County and Crab Creek (near Potholes Reservoir), also in Grant County. And both along that magical stretch of fly fishing Highway, Route 17. Gear Fly Rods: A good fast action four to six weight rod will handle pretty much any situation you encounter fly fishing for Browns on lakes, rivers, or streams in Washington State. If I’m fishing deeper in lakes for Browns I tend to use a Six weight more often. For small streams I use my trusty four weight most of the time. Fly Lines: For Browns I most often use an intermediate sinking line. They seem to be much more willing to ambush a streamer, leech, or Wooley Bugger pattern that is being trolled than Rainbows will.

We caught over 60+ fish in this small creek! They were biting it all! From rapalas, spinners, flys, trout magnets, worms, etc… These are the days we dream about!

While bottom fishing one of my favorite rivers, I had this nice lake trout take the bait and give me a wild fight!

While river fishing with my buddy, I caught a super rare tagged brook trout on a spoon! Have you ever caught a tagged trout? Let me know in the comments below!