Fly-in Brook Trout Fishing North of Nakina, Ontario

Brook Trout, also called the Speckled Trout by many people in Ontario, are one of the most beautiful trout species in Canada and the rivers and streams north of Nakina are legendary for them.

Brook Trout generally like bright sunny days with high pressure. If you target them on nice days you will be successful. In the smaller streams trout of all sizes up to 4 pounds are common and on occasion bigger ones do get caught. On larger rivers, like the Albany River System, much larger Brook Trout are available. Brookies in the 3 to 5 pound range are more common but on occasion true trophies in the 6 to 8 pound range get caught. An 8 pound Brook Trout is rare but they are there and waiting for you to find them.

The trout are constantly migrating up and down stream throughout the season as water temperatures change. The trout need water to be 53° or colder or they have a hard time processing oxygen. In the spring they are wherever there is current. In early spring, where a stream is flowing in or out of the lake, there may be large schools of Suckers spawning and the Brook Trout will stuff themselves with eggs. If this is the case you need to walk/boat/canoe past them to find hungry trout farther up or down stream. After the Suckers spawn the trout will stay in the rapids where the lake water is out-flowing. They will remain there until the May Fly hatch is over. By this time the lake water flowing out is starting to warm up and the Brookies will leave to find cooler water. There are plenty of cold springs coming into the rivers where they will hold up. After the trout leave they are no longer accessible from Kagianagani Lake or Whittle Lake. They are easily accessible from the other outpost lakes with rivers.

When fishing on a stream you need to be very stealthy. Brook Trout spook easily so walking slowly with no sudden movements is best. It's also a good practice to dress in natural colors like dark green or dark brown. When you do catch a trout please wet your hands before handling them. Dry hands may compromise their protective skin slime and they become susceptible to parasites and infections.

Lures & Colors:
Trout like small spinners such as Panther Martins, Mepps and Blue Foxes. They also like small casting spoons such as Little Cleos and Mepps Syclops. If they are not aggressively feeding enough to hit lures they will move to the bottom of larger deep pools. This is when you can cast an old fashion worm on a hook and let it swirl around in the pool. You can even let the worm sit on bottom.

One day the trout are hitting bright colors and the next they are hitting dull colors. You will need a good selection of different bright colored spinners. You should also have a couple of darker lures such as a Mepps Black Furry (black with yellow dots) or brass and copper colored lures. You will also need thin dark line to minimize visibility. The Berkley dark-green 4-pound XT or XL line is recommended.

Brook Trout are available at Percy (Kapikotongua and Little Current River Systems), Kellow (Opichiwan River), Washi (Albany River System), Kagianagami (Opichiwan River) in the spring and Whittle (various feeder streams) in the spring.