I am interested in fishing for Brook Trout, but i haven't tried it yet. Any advice on lakes (in or outside of bwca), lures, time of year, etc.?

Minnesota Trout Lakes List

oschleif copy off cook county brook trout lakes from inspector13 link . then cross reference them with mn dnr lake finder. cook county has a large number of stocked brook trout lakes both in and outside the bwca. i have been to a few of them mostly fishing opener or later in the fall sept-oct.or winter.... they are harder to catch as the water warms up but try to target sunrise and sunset. lures you should scale down on size exp. little cleos/small spoons-spinners (shysters mepps roosters). smaller minnow imatations(rebel rapala) crawlers on a slip sinker for shore fishing use the whole crawler/also u can tip your spoons with a piece of crawler. if you plan on going in the bwca i can tell you 2 descent lakes to try

I fished most of them, and I can tell you that early and late in the year, may and October they will be the most active. You can still catch them all throughout the summer but you need to go deep during the day.

quote Basspro69: "I fished most of them, and I can tell you that early and late in the year, may and October they will be the most active. You can still catch them all throughout the summer but you need to go deep during the day. "

Fall brookies. Pretty. Tasty?

The best tasting fish on earth in my opinion .

quote Basspro69: "The best tasting fish on earth in my opinion ."

I agree.. 100%!

I will have to agree they are the best tasting fish. Beats a walleye any day. I had one a couple of weeks ago cooked in foil over the fire.

What would be your favorite Brookie lakes in the BWCA?

quote oschleif: "What would be your favorite Brookie lakes in the BWCA? "

Long Lake Deep Lake and Rock Lake :-)

I have chronicled my trip reports that have included brook trout fishing.

Tuscarora solo

Prisoners on Pine

West Pike, Gogebic, & Salvelinus Fontinalis ~ Good reason for freezin

The Ribbon Rock

I concurr about the savory qualities of these fish!

gogebic is good . i have never pulled any pigs out of there, but that doesnt mean there isnt some. but a good number of 12"-14" brookies and rog lake..... only 1 campsite on rog and gogebic has 2 campsites and once your through clearwater you can hike to both campsites without bringing in a canoe if you choose. it's a descent portage from clearwater i would guess a total of 400 rods + ?

quote Basspro69: "

quote oschleif: "What would be your favorite Brookie lakes in the BWCA? "

Long Lake Deep Lake and Rock Lake :-)"

basspro69 you forgot round , mud , and turtle lake. do you work at all or just fish. you must live somewheres between duluth and grand marias to hit all those brook trout lakes

quote oschleif: "I am interested in fishing for Brook Trout, but i haven't tried it yet. Any advice on lakes (in or outside of bwca), lures, time of year, etc.?"

oschleif 1 more lake i thought of is found lake off of the moose lake chain (ely) only 1 campsite so walk it first to see if its taken. october would be a great time to hit this lake..... now mn dnr only go back 10 years in there reports.. well i have old paper reports about some large splake in this lake(i just got basspro69 attention) but i have no idea how long splake live. they only stock brookies now ,like alot of the lakes . dnr wants to do more native fish.

Found Lake was a great brook trout fishery back in the early 90s, with some fish as big as 4 pounds landed. Word got out (as it always does on brookie lakes), and soon you could see dogsled, ski, foot, and bicycle (!) traffic leading to the lake. Needless to say, the fishing went downhill soon after. Maybe it's better now, but even one mouth-flapper can ruin a great fishery.

quote arctic: "Found Lake was a great brook trout fishery back in the early 90s, with some fish as big as 4 pounds landed. Word got out (as it always does on brookie lakes), and soon you could see dogsled, ski, foot, and bicycle (!) traffic leading to the lake. Needless to say, the fishing went downhill soon after. Maybe it's better now, but even one mouth-flapper can ruin a great fishery."

ya it has been awhile but your right about locals getting the word ...the lakes off of pine are the same way gadwall-bench-vale

quote shock: "

quote arctic: "Found Lake was a great brook trout fishery back in the early 90s, with some fish as big as 4 pounds landed. Word got out (as it always does on brookie lakes), and soon you could see dogsled, ski, foot, and bicycle (!) traffic leading to the lake. Needless to say, the fishing went downhill soon after. Maybe it's better now, but even one mouth-flapper can ruin a great fishery."

ya it has been awhile but your right about locals getting the word ...the lakes off of pine are the same way gadwall-bench-vale"

Yep your right for sure about that. When that happens sometimes you gotta go further north

IMHO there are still a few decent fish to be had within the BWCAW.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "IMHO there are still a few decent fish to be had within the BWCAW. the pic on the paddle is awesome great colors












"

so basspro69 are you saying your holding that big brookie ?

I might be :-) Heres a couple more

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "IMHO there are still a few decent fish to be had within the BWCAW.












"

Your right TB there are, and I keep the really small lakes under wraps.

quote shock: "so basspro69 are you saying your holding that big brookie ?"

Labrador shock .

Tb I love that photo of your Splake and Brookie side by side next to your grreen thermos, its amazing how simmilar they are .

The tail is the only way I could tell the difference.

beautiful fish Tusc

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "I have chronicled my trip reports that have included brook trout fishing.

Tuscarora solo

Prisoners on Pine


West Pike, Gogebic, & Salvelinus Fontinalis ~ Good reason for freezin


The Ribbon Rock


I concurr about the savory qualities of these fish!

"

That fish in the basket over a fire is the best ever, definitely my favorite way to eat Brookies .

quote shock: "

quote Basspro69: "

quote oschleif: "What would be your favorite Brookie lakes in the BWCA? "

Long Lake Deep Lake and Rock Lake :-)"

basspro69 you forgot round , mud , and turtle lake. do you work at all or just fish. you must live somewheres between duluth and grand marias to hit all those brook trout lakes"

I wish I was that close to those lakes shock. Im about 4 hours away from them. I usually go up by myself in the fall and will hit 6 to 7 lakes or more in 3 days, nice fall days and Brook Trout, my favorite .

I caught this in fall of 20010, one of the most beautiful fish I've ever caught . You guys that know me know where I caught it, it was in the BWCA

I like a couple lakes in the Isablella area one being Redskin and Regenbogen in the Ely area

I thought that fish looked futuristic... Just joking! A really gorgeous animal for sure and I am jealous!

quote mcsweem: "I caught this in fall of 20010, one of the most beautiful fish I've ever caught . You guys that know me know where I caught it, it was in the BWCA"

quote mcsweem: "I caught this in fall of 20010, one of the most beautiful fish I've ever caught . You guys that know me know where I caught it, it was in the BWCA"

Absolutely gorgeous fish Mike!

That color pattern is amazing. Nice fish everyone.

quote mcsweem: "I caught this in fall of 20010, one of the most beautiful fish I've ever caught . You guys that know me know where I caught it, it was in the BWCA"

That picture totally captures how beautiful a Male brook trout is in its fall spawning colors, absolutely gorgeous fish mcsweem.

I had some brook trout for the first time on my last trip. I just cooked the fillets in butter and minced garlic, no breading, in a pan and the taste was incredible.

quote kayakrookie1: "I had some brook trout for the first time on my last trip. I just cooked the fillets in butter and minced garlic, no breading, in a pan and the taste was incredible."

that does sound good pan seared brookie

quote mcsweem: "I caught this in fall of 20010, one of the most beautiful fish I've ever caught . You guys that know me know where I caught it, it was in the BWCA"

Mike you are driving me nuts, Nice fish. I'm thinking about returning for some of those.

I hope I'm back up going for some brookies the end of sept

Wow basspro - now those are some brook trout. Do you fish for splake too? If so I'd like to see some pics

quote ghostrider179: "Wow basspro - now those are some brook trout. Do you fish for splake too? If so I'd like to see some pics"

Thanx for the pics bass. Those are some real beauties. Looks like they were taken in the fall. I live in New mexico so I don't get up there very often. What can you tell me about feather lake. It looks like it might be interesting

Splake are hard to find. I love to fish for them, they are one of the best fighting fish.

Pretty lake,small lake, small brookies

Gorgeous fish mcsweem, that is so nice.

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "IMHO there are still a few decent fish to be had within the BWCAW.

Very nice..:)












"

quote Basspro69: "

quote shock: "

quote arctic: "Found Lake was a great brook trout fishery back in the early 90s, with some fish as big as 4 pounds landed. Word got out (as it always does on brookie lakes), and soon you could see dogsled, ski, foot, and bicycle (!) traffic leading to the lake. Needless to say, the fishing went downhill soon after. Maybe it's better now, but even one mouth-flapper can ruin a great fishery."

ya it has been awhile but your right about locals getting the word ...the lakes off of pine are the same way gadwall-bench-vale"

Yep your right for sure about that. When that happens sometimes you gotta go further north "

Hmmm...Its football season apparently. nice fish

quote togue: "Splake are hard to find. I love to fish for them, they are one of the best fighting fish.





"

Beautiful fish Togue.

Trying my luck for them this upcoming week on the EP44-45 loop. My understanding is that the trout fishing is pretty good despite heavily fished by locals. Maybe less so Misquah.

Out to the mine pits near Crosby this afternoon for a little canoe trout fishing. Will report (if anything to report).

quote gutmon: "Out to the mine pits near Crosby this afternoon for a little canoe trout fishing. Will report (if anything to report)."

I will look for this report for sure, one of my favorite areas to fish.

3 rainbows, and lots of pesky bass and sunnies. What a gorgeous day to be out.

Yeah a gorgeous day to be out fishing for sure, did you hit Pennington.

quote oschleif: "What would be your favorite Brookie lakes in the BWCA? "

In jest, got a hunch folks would be more willing to hand over their SS# before spilling the beans on a favorite brookie lake. I will tell ya tho in trade for a 1961 ferrari 250 SWB

Here I'm filleting Brookie #1 and you can see 2 and 3 waiting their turn in the background, the color and taste were amazing.

quote trailcherry: "Here I'm filleting Brookie #1 and you can see 2 and 3 waiting their turn in the background, the color and taste were amazing.


"

Beautiful fish, im getting hungry just looking at them.

quote trailcherry: "Here I'm filleting Brookie #1 and you can see 2 and 3 waiting their turn in the background, the color and taste were amazing.


"

beautiful pic ! thats what it's all about