Brook trout and brown trout are fall spawners and are becoming brilliantly colored in anticipation of that. They are also on the move, looking for spawning habitat and fattening up for winter as well as the energy-draining mating ritual that generally starts in late September and October. Doucette Tiger trout, a cross between brook and brown trout, are sterile, but due to their parentage are even more aggressive than normal this time of year.
When fishing for browns, brookies or tigers in streams, large terrestrial patterns such as beetles, hoppers, wasps and ant patterns are just like candy to these fish. While the cold nights do start to kill these types of food, the fish are used to seeing them and will readily take them. The best time to fish for brown trout is late afternoon into early evening and at first light as they come into the shallow water looking for food and spawning habitat.
This is stealthy fishing and, especially on our small streams, extra care should be taken with noise, ground vibrations and shadows on the water. Popular brown trout waters include the collection ditch at Ruby Lake NWR, Illipah Creek and Reservoir, Kingston Creek, Groves Lake, Salmon Falls Creek, Huntington Creek, Willow Creek Pond and the South Fork and Wild Horse Reservoirs. Many of our small creeks and the high mountain lakes in the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range hold brook trout with a few holding tiger trout.
With the above average air temperatures we are experiencing, the tim.
