Trip Report: Fun With Foam

Today I celebrated Columbus Day by exploring my mountains. I discovered some spawning brook trout which readily took a foam deer hair caddis. My final count numbered over 100 beautiful brookies. It felt refreshing to catch a good number of fish!

I drove about 20 minutes south until I reached the foothills. A small audience waited patiently for me to take the stage.

I entered the water crouched low and moved smooth and methodically.

The yellow foam deer hair caddis stood up well. After catching a few average sized ones I hooked into a few beasts. These next two came from the same pool.

The pictures of these fish do not do them justice. The colors shined more vibrantly and the males sported a hunchback. Some of the smaller males even sported those qualities.

Most of the fish had not yet spawned. I persuaded them from the depths of the deepest runs. I even tossed a foam hopper that I tied this morning! I didn't expect to catch much but these brookies were voracious feeders.

 I just learned to tie these which already has me excited for next summer. After a little hopper play I switched back to the foam caddis.

This little guy came up from under a submerged rock. He wore his colors much different that many of the others.

These two healthy brookies happily slurped the caddis. It's a good thing foam floats so well! After pulling a few more out of this area I returned to the car and drove to an access point further south. The fish in this area also wore beautiful fall colors.

This spot held smaller fish so I didn't fish it as long. I was surprised by a nice little rainbow!

It was nice to catch all of these spectacularly beautiful brookies but I can't wait to chase bigger fish next summer on the hopper.