I took yesterday to get out and check some spots for the two season that are coming up; trout and turkey. Although I like to catch bigger fish, brookies are by far my favorite trout to target. I fish a lot of smaller streams for native trout throughout the summer and with this low water I thought I would be able to see how active they were. I checked two streams close to the road that I frequent and found lots of fish cruising around. It was killing me not being able to fish for them yet but definitely not worth the ticket! I guess as long as the water level doesn’t come up much between now and the opener, the more remote streams I fish will be similar and yield bigger fish!
You just can’t beat the colors!
Along my travels yesterday I came across some frog eggs that were frozen under ice in puddles. They were in at least a dozen spots in an abandoned logging landing.
I saw close to 30 birds on more than one occasion during rifle season so I thought it would be worth a scouting trip this spring. Although I wasn’t able to visibly find any turkeys while in the woods, there was good evidence they were close by. Lots of scratching and feathers were scattered throughout the woods. Big woods birds intrigue because I can’t imagine they get pressured much. At least these ones anyway. Time will tell though. I will be heading there for some early morning roosting action soon to see if there are any nice toms in the mix.
I decided I needed to see some wildlife when I got home so I took a stroll out behind the house. I ended up stumbling across some deer and turkeys that I watched from a distance for about 45 minutes. It was a good day to sit in sun and waste some time!
On the way out of the woods I pulled one of my trail cameras to see whats been happening. Here’s some of what I found:
D & B Ice Adventures 
Nice shots on the night camera. I envy your ability to locate some nice brookies so early in the year. There is no more fun that hooking into a brookie and then have him/her strum that line like a Stratavarius violin. They are tough little guys. I fish NY up near you (Malone) and just love the area. I have never fished Vermont except for Champlain. Had good luck on a flatfish. Trolling. If the lure didn’t get hung up on itself (all those hooks you know) then it would dive and I would come up with a walleye. If it did get hung up it would dance near the top and then I would catch a bass. It was a nice trip. We stayed on Burton Island for a week. Thanks for a nice post and flying the colors of a brookie.
Thanks for the kind words. Vermont has some exceptional fishing. Champlain is a blast and if you put your time in, you can get into just as good of fish on inland waters. There will be more on trout to come this summer.
That’s a beautiful brookie! A day of brookie fishing is the best, I can’t wait until our season opens up here. Looks like you had a great day outside. Thanks for reminding me that I need to buy a trail cam 🙂
Every day outside is great! Make sure you get a few trail cams… One is never enough!
excellent pics thanks for sharing
Love those trail cam shots. Looks like a decent sized cat; maybe he’s been feasting on turkey breast?
I wouldn’t be surprised! Here’s another one from the same area last fall
I like to fly fish small mountian streams, which is a good thing, since that is pretty much all there is in AZ. I see stocker brookies every once and a while. I’d like to get out and catch some Gila Cutthroat. They have been recently delisted. It is all catch and release, but no one was allowed to legally catch them for decades.
That sounds like a good time! We are fortunate here in Vermont to have some very nice numbers of wild fish throughout the state.