Jewels of the Stream

As intended, I headed for the upper most reaches of the Credit River this morning (August 4) in search of the Brook Trout.

The weather has continued to be unrelenting in its grip here in Southern Ontario. The smog, humidity and heat have made for a very sticky combination. It's days like these where I wouldn't mind being a fish swimming in some nice cool water.

For the past 2 days, the thick, wet air lead way to severe thunder storms that sparked tornados, downed power lines, and wreaked havoc on commuters. But it also produced a cool breeze, gave new life to the flora, and brought cooler stream temperatures.

I arrived at the river rather late this morning, but it welcomed my tardiness with the grasshoppers frantically popping at my feet as I approached the first deep run, and a healthy population of emergers floating downstream when I got there. Just as I had left them 3 months ago, the Brook Trout were bulging and swirling at the surface, capitalizing on this breakfast buffet. It was nice to see that even though I'm not always around to witness it, nature continues its course. The Hendrickson's in May, the Sulphers, Green and Brown Drakes, Isonychia and Light Cahills in June and July, and today the BWO emerger - the Brook Trout on the other hand are there to see it all.

Over the past few months, I've been spending my time in pursuit of the elusive Brown Trout, and much of it was spent nymphing and wet-fly fishing. My rusty lack-lustre skills as a dry-fly and/or emerger fisherman were very apparent today, by losing a number of very nice specimens due to poor hooksets or no hooksets at all. The Klinkhamer Special was the MVF (most valuable fly) today - if only it would signal me when mouthed. Of all missed strikes, I would have to say that the missed surface strike is the most painful. One juvenile Brooky, as if to see my frustration, hit my fly in slow motion, giving me a chance at success.



When the surface activity dwindled away, I gladly tied on a nymph and headed downstream.


The Credit River's wild brook trout don't possess the power and size of the wild Browns that it inhabits, but there is something magical about each encounter with creatures of such startling beauty. It represents nature in its purest form. Our Brook Trout are true gems and today I wondered why I had stayed away from them for so long.