The Giant Brown Trout of Lake Ontario
Want to catch the brown trout of a lifetime? There are a few places that constantly come to mind: Iceland. New Zealand. Argentina. Chile. New York. Yes, you read that right. Many of the big brown trout you see on your social media feed and in books and magazines are caught in far-flung locations with astronomical price tags for guides and lodging. However, right here in New York we have brown trout in the Lake Ontario watershed that rival, if not exceed, the size of the browns in those distant waters. Lodging is inexpensive and the fishing techniques can be learned quickly on your own, if you choose. So, what’s stopping you from catching the brown trout of your dreams this fall?
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The Fresh Water Fall Run
Just like saltwater gamefish, as the leaves fall and the days get shorter and colder, brown trout, salmon, and steelhead in Lake Ontario change their feeding patterns and begin to migrate. Unlike saltwater fish, which largely migrate south, these fish spawn in the countless rivers and creeks that line New York’s border with Lake Ontario. While much of the press and attention in this fishery goes toward steelhead and salmon, brown trout also enter these areas in September and often stay well into the winter. Timing their run is crucial, as being off by a day or two can be the difference between casting into water that seems devoid of life and running into unbelievable numbers of migratory browns.
In terms of areas to fish, look for major Lake Ontario tributaries between the Salmon River in Pulaski to the westernmost border of New York. Every year, trophy browns are netted in the easternmost section of this range, often as bycatch for anglers targeting salmon or steelhead. However, for unknown reasons, the concentration of brown trout seems to increase the further west in New York you go. If your goal is to specifically fish for brown trout, I highly recommend focusing on the western part of the Lake Ontario watershed. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website lists a number of locations where lake-run browns are present, as well as providing information on public fishing access and parking. One of the best parts of this fishery is its accessibility. New York State excels in ensuring anglers have access to this world-class fishery through Public Fishing Rights easements.
A few factors reliably signal when browns decide to run into tributaries from Lake Ontario. Large temperature drops seem to trigger these runs, but that alone is often insufficient to trigger large runs of fish. Many of these tributaries are all but tiny trickles in the summer, so even with a large temperature drop, the absence of rain in the early fall may lead to water too shallow for a large brown trout to comfortably traverse. As a result, browns tend to stage off the mouths of tributaries as the temperature drops, waiting for sufficient rainfall to make their runs into the tributaries. A big rainfall might get anglers excited to immediately hook into some of these fish, but large amounts of runoff can reduce water clarity in these shallow, often muddy tributaries, making it difficult for fish to see your presentations. Therefore, ideal timing for fishing these waters is usually a day or so after a large rain and a temperature drop. This delay gives fish time to push into the tributaries and water clarity to improve. Once you’ve found some fish, they are opportunistic predators, feeding on steelhead and salmon eggs as well as baitfish, making them a great target for anglers.
Rigging for Big Browns
Fishing for browns can be as simple or complicated as you want. Some fly fishermen deploy elaborate spey presentations while other anglers come armed with spinning rods and get to work casting lures. Others fish with a centerpin to get the best drag-free drifts possible. Whatever method you choose, there are a few popular techniques to employ. Brown trout feed heavily on eggs during their spawning run; as a result, egg imitations are the most common presentation.
Productive Flies
On the fly rod, this can be accomplished with egg fly patterns. Many anglers opt to carry an assortment of egg patterns in various sizes and colors, but any pattern that’s close to the natural peach color of the eggs is usually a good bet. Blue can also be effective, particularly after snowfall. Choosing flies with flash or in brighter colors like chartreuse can help them stand out in murky conditions, while muted, natural colors are often a better choice in clear water.
Wet flies also account for a good number of fish. Classic patterns like Zonkers and beadhead or conehead Wooly Buggers in olive, brown, and black can produce well, as can nymphs that replicate the stoneflies found in many of the area watersheds in the fall and winter.
Bead Rigs
While egg patterns have been around for a long time, many anglers are now switching to plastic beads for their durability, low cost, and wide range of colors and sizes. Bead rigs can be deployed on a spinning rod, fly rod, or centerpin. Centerpin and spinning-rod anglers typically choose torpedo-shaped floats made of plastic or balsa wood. Fly fishermen usually go for smaller foam indicators that are more amenable to casting. I have found that an Air Lock foam indicator works very well on the fly rod. Its unique design helps it stay in place on the line without damaging it. Some spinning rod and fly-rod anglers also elect to fish bead rigs without indicators. I usually use an indicator of some sort because it helps me easily follow my drift and ensures my line isn’t dragging. However, if you are fishing in extremely fast water or heavily pressured fish in shallow water, you might choose to skip the float.
I prefer using a fly rod when I’m after lake-run browns because I can switch between throwing flies and beads. I’ll outline the rigging here in terms of how I use it with the fly rod, but this rig can be adapted to work on spinning rods and centerpins as well. I use a 9-foot, 8-weight fly rod, the same one I use for everything from stripers to albies in the salt. A 6- or 7-weight will also work, but make sure it has sufficient backbone to turn a large brown away from the downed trees and sharp rocks that are common in these waters.
If you have floating fly line that you use in salt water, it should work fine. I spool up with a floating fly line that I can mend to get better drifts and attach a 9-foot 2X or 3X fly leader to it. Having a long leader helps with spooky fish, but can be harder to cast, so you might want to cut it down a few feet if the fish are aggressive.
I tie the leader to a micro-swivel—Spro Power Swivels in size 8 (50-pound) have worked well for me. When tying to the swivel, leave the tag end of your knot around 2 inches long. Tie two or three overhand knots on top of each other at the end of it. Your split shot (if needed) will be crimped here between the swivel and the overhand knots. (The knots prevent the shot from sliding off the tag end.) If you snag the split shot, ideally the line will break at the tag end, preserving the rest of your rig.
At the other end of the swivel, tie a piece of 6- to 12-pound-test monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. The length past the swivel varies depending on water depth and flow, but around three feet usually works well. Note that New York Great Lakes tributary regulations state that there can be no more than 4 feet between any weight on your line and the hook, so go as light as you can on the leader. I have had days where even the slight difference of going down from 8-pound to 6 made a difference. The challenge is finding a leader than will stand up to rocks, snags, and headshakes from big browns while being thin enough to avoid detection.
Next, slide your bead onto the end of the leader. Tie on the hook below the bead and peg the bead about two to three inches above the hook, trimming the ends of the peg to be as close to the bead as possible. You might be wondering why the bead isn’t attached directly to the hook. Some fishermen fuse a bead directly to the hook by melting it, but this can make hookups challenging if there isn’t enough of a gap between the bead and the hook point. Additionally, there is the risk of hooking a fish deeply as it inhales the small presentation, hook and all. Pegging the bead is the most common way to deploy beads since it allows the fish to strike the bead itself. As the fish turns, pressure causes the bead to slide down toward the hook, which latches into the corner of the fish’s mouth, ensuring a good hookset.
For the bead, there are endless options. Two productive sizes to carry are 6- or 7-mm and 10- or 12-mm. The larger beads can help you get noticed in high or stained water, while the smaller beads are more realistic and better for low or clear water conditions. A Lazy Larry bead is unique in that it has a slot in the side so that you can switch beads without retying. This can be very helpful for finding out what the fish want on a given day. Great Lakes Bead Co. and Trout Beads also make great traditional beads without a slot. As with egg flies, any bead that is close to the peach color of natural eggs usually produces well, but go for chartreuse or brighter colors in stained or high water. For pegs, I like the Trout Beads Peggz.
Split shot weight will vary depending on conditions. I use a pea-sized split shot and add or subtract depending on conditions. For the hook, opt for a strong size 6/0 or 8/0 caddis-style octopus hook. The Mustad CO68 works well and can be purchased in bulk at a reasonable cost.
I recommend getting a small box with lots of compartments to store your beads, pegs, split shot, and hooks. This will keep you organized so that you can find the rigging you need easily and quickly. Some anglers also opt to add an egg sac to the hook on a bead rig if fish are being especially finicky.
Focus on Presentation
Presenting a bead rig is straightforward and follows the most important rule of all moving-water fishing: to minimize the drag on your drift. If you are fishing without an indicator, make a short cast upstream at 2 o’clock and stay tight to your rig as it tumbles in the current. When it reaches 10 o’clock, pick it up, and with a roll cast, throw again. Your goal is to get the bead bouncing along the bottom for as much of your drift as possible. On an ideal drift, you will feel your split shot ticking the bottom as your rig drifts downstream. If you are constantly getting hung up, reduce the amount of weight you have on. Conversely, if you can’t feel the rig ticking bottom, consider adding more shot.
With an indicator rig, first set the indicator around one-and-a-half times the depth of the water you are fishing. If you keep getting hung up, add some distance between the hook and the indicator, or reduce the amount of split shot. Like the non-indicator rig, you will know you’re in the zone when your rig is ticking along the bottom. Here, however, the best sign that you’re in the zone is when you see your indicator occasionally jumping as the split shot hits bottom. Cast the indicator rig using the same approach mentioned previously by drifting from 2 o’clock to 10 o’clock, or as far as you can without having your line drag. Another plus to the indicator rig is if it starts to drag, you can mend your fly line and continue the drift. With a longer leader, you can keep your line off the water altogether and reduce drag as your rig travels downstream. However, even though it’s tempting to make hero casts and long drifts, short, effective drifts and casts usually catch more fish.
When fishing streamers, casting upstream and dead-drifting with an occasional twitch can be deadly. If browns are lethargic, casting upstream and imparting aggressive, frequent twitches may trigger explosive strikes. These fish have no problem with chasing down a streamer if they are agitated enough by it. Experiment with the weight of the head of your fly. Heavily weighted streamers may send fish fleeing for cover in shallow water and bright conditions. Conversely, coaxing a strike from a big brown sitting in a deep hole or murky water sometimes requires throwing a large, heavily weighted pattern.
This fall, set aside some time to visit Lake Ontario in search of a lake-run brown trout. With proper planning, you can be in the midst of a world-class fishery at a reasonable cost. You might just catch the biggest brown of your life, one that would make any angler proud, from New York to New Zealand.
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Source: https://onthewater.com/the-giant-brown-trout-of-lake-ontario
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