I usually focus on small brook fishing for a good portion of most Aprils, and 2024 was no exception. The season opener provided good conditions, and a solid bite kicked things off. Then came the snows, with the late white stuff nearly surpassing the totals we'd received during the rest of the winter. That slowed things down a bit (particularly away from the coast), but an average outing still saw 15 native brookies come to hand. I covered a variety of water, each with its own character.
The transition to bigger flowing water and lakes and ponds at the end of April was more difficult and often downright frustrating. Admittedly, fishing lakes and ponds on foot can be a hit or miss crapshoot. Often, an outing can be turned around with a hit or 2, but timely lightning strikes were way more the exception than the rule this April
Splake provided the only bright spot and booster of mojo on bigger water during early spring. There's a lot of debate and name calling toward these hybrids ("Frankenfish, etc.), but I'll take their fast growth and ability to hold over
By May 8th or so, stream flows had calmed down to the point where bigger river and streams were a good option. One local stream used to produce real nice browns by mid-month. A review of my record books showed browns topping 20" at least on occasion in past springs. I hit the water several times by this mid-May, with good memories having me close to drooling
On the first attempt, I'm pretty sure I saw decent brown slurp on top. I got no interest from him or any other salmonid, but I did come up with everything else but the kitchen sink over the next few trips. The times they do change in the trout and salmon world. On the other hand, sizable warm water species did give the 2-weight a decent workout.
Another reliable option in past mid-May’s was lake run smallies in some tribs. Another "no go". The water temps were favorable this year, but I saw no spawning activity and hardly any remnant beds. A few yellow perch kept the skunk monster at bay. Another water that has appeared to tank in the last 8 years or so
May 20 or thereabouts had traditionally been a good time for lake run browns in another local stream. As recently as 2023, I came up with 3 browns in the 16-20" range on dry and dropper. The water temps were good at 63* when I hit this stream on the 21st. A few smallies warmed up the 2-weight before I headed to the historical brown trout section only to be greeted by a flock of the Wingless Maine State Bird. These were fine, fresh specimens. I couldn't resist taking a few pics to document the expanded range of the species.
That little camera made the human overseer some mad. I'm just glad I had a chance to offer constructive feedback
Maybe that "fun" was what I needed to kick it into the next gear and hit a pattern that had served me well in the past. A number of small, tannic acid stained streams draining out of upland swamps are not directly stocked, but draw up browns from the stocked main stems like a magnet. Their arrival time is consistently late May, there are few holdovers in the mix, and the action can hold up for the rest of the season if flows are good. A bonus is the dark chocolate brown color that most of the browns take on to match the stained water
My last try of the month was to a local brook. The water was surprisingly low and pollen covered the back eddies, but I was able to ferret out 10 natives.....spooking way more than I caught. Water temps were still great at 57*.
More good news is that we just got almost 2" of rain to bolster flows. Right now, signs are good for the summer
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