| I had a free hour last night after work, so I decided to walk into
a small beaver pond in Wilton that I hadn't been to for a couple years,
to see if the small native brookies were still in there. I put on the
waders and grabbed a few worms, and followed the brook up to the
series of small beaver dams. (There sure was a lot of buck sign in there
from last November ! I'll be back this fall, with my bow, Lord willing.)
Anyway, as I got near the main pond, I could see a couple of small rises
indicating my little friends were there. When I tossed out a piece of
worm on a #8 hook, they really came alive ! They almost fought each
other to get to the worm first. I caught several 6 " fish which were
absolutely gorgeously colored. The colors were neon-bright. Gold dots,
red dots inside of blue dots, fins striped red-orange, black and white.
I told myself I would keep a few to pan fry, if they came any bigger.
Well, I got a few 7 " and one 9" (this one was the PERFECT specimen
of a native brookie). But even though these are my favorite eating fish,
I couldn't keep 'em. I had to return them to their perfect little
environment. (I'm NOT a C & R fanatic, by any means).
It's really great that these little, local, unspoiled places are still
out there ! And even with acid rain, etc., there's still some good
habitat. The water was cold and clear. The beavers were thriving, and
adding on to the pond. Ducks were nesting there, and a muskrat came right
over to check me out (I almost stepped on him by accident).
The trout were doing fine in there, and it really made my day.
Happy fishin',
Dave
|
| I was glad to learn of another healthy population of native brookies.
They're by far the most beautiful freshwater fish I've ever seen (and
one of the best tasting, too).
I know of a population of native brookies that inhabit one of the
tributaries of Willard Brook in Ashby. These are definitely not stocked
fish. They average only about 5 or 6 inches in length and their
coloration is gorgeous. It's a real thrill to catch these wild
treasures. I've never been excited about catching stocked
brookies (unless they've held over for several years, in which case
they've come to somewhat resemble their native counterparts). I'd
rather catch 5 inch native brookies than 12 inch stocked ones any day.
I agree with you; it IS great that there are still pockets of unspoiled
habitat perfect for native brookies, and I was glad to hear of another
such spot. Fortunately, I think many people have no interest in
catching small trout. Nowadays it seems many if not most of them don't
care about the origins of a fish (i.e., whether it was stocked or not);
all they seem to be concerned with is size. That's fine with me,
though. The more they leave the native brookies alone, the happier I'll
be.
That 9 incher must have been a beauty. I don't blame you for letting it
go; I have trouble keeping any of them, no matter what the size.
|
| Glad to hear it. Does that tributary happen to have a name? What size
-- in inches -- would you estimate the trout averaged? How about your
largest catch?
Have you heard any reports of people catching brookies out of the
reservoir itself? If there's a healthy population of them in Quabbin's
tributaries, you'd think that some of them would choose the open waters
of the reservoir over the stream.
BTW, how long ago was this? I hope it's still brimming with brookies.
Todd
|
| I was in college, so it had to be 9 or 10 years back. My roommate knew about
it, being a local guy (UMASS, in case you have not guessed.) I couldn't tell
you any more than that. I would guess 8 or 9" as the largest of the natives.
We use to peak over a cliff with polarized glasses and you could see dozens and
dozens of them in the pools and on the riffles. Drift a small worm on a #10 or
#12 hook (no weight) and they would kill each other to get to it. I wish I
flyfished at the time.
Tim
|