Thats what I was thinking yesterday.

I went turkey hunting in the morning and heard around a dozen gobblers but they were all call shy or henned up and wouldnt work with me.

Well, my best friend and I left my house at 2:45 to head to Little Mahonning to do some fishing. The fish weren' t very active, but, my friend and I made a killing. We used a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow and it was the ONLY thing they were hitting on. I saw one other guy on the stream fishing with live minnows and he wasnt catching anything. I caught a total of 12 trout, 4 smallmouth bass, one largemouth bass, and 3 rock bass. My best friend only managed to pull out 4 trout, one smallmouth, and two rock bass, but I still consider that productive.

Now, we each caught two very impressive brook trout. I was wondering what length a Brook Trout would have to be to be considered a breeder. My friend caught a female brook trout that was 16" long, and I caught a male brook trout that was 16 3/4" long. My friends had very little coloring to it, but mine was awsome. My brookie had a hooked jaw, and its stomach was THICK with scar tissue (probablly from the hatchery).

Would these be considered breeder brook trout or just large brook trout? That was the biggest trout of the day for me, and the biggest brook trout that I have ever caught.

I took pictures of both of our trout, and when I get that roll of film developed I will post pictures of them.

They put a good number of that 15" to 17" range brooks and browns in there. Good brooks no doubt, but a little shy of what the comission calls thier " trophy" fish. They seem to need to hit the 19" + mark for that.
My Dad was off last week and made a killing on that creek. His biggest was a 20.75" brook, with several more brooks and browns runing from 14-17" . I fished there last weekend and caugth 16" and 17" browns, but missed the big one[:@][:@][:' (]

Hey Wimp,

May not be a trophy trout to them, but it is to me That stream is PACKED full of trout, atleast my secret honey hole. I saw probablly thirty different trout in there.

I missed on HECK of a trout in the deep hole by the trailor. I cast my Yo-Zuri in by the tree at the bottom of the hole and a HUGE rainbow came out and hit it as soon as it hit the water, and I didn' t have time to set the hook and he was gone. He was probablly 21" plus. I don' t think they stocked that stream earlier in the year like they said they did. Earlier in the season you could maybe find a few trout a day, now, the stream is teaming with them. My friend saw what he said was atleast 24" rainbow down in the slow riffles below the bridge down from the deep hole. I saw one palamino in there, and one up in my honey hole, but, I couldn' t connect on them. They weren' t big, maybe 14" but I stil have never caught a palamino.

Wimp, have you ever tried a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow in that stream? If not, get one. They are expensive, around $7.00 but they are well worth it. All you do is cast it out, reel in at a medium speed and jerk your rod tip like a mad man. The lure looks like it would be too " crazy" of a motion but I am telling you, I have never seen ANYTHING, including live minnows, that will get trout like that thing. There are two colors that are really good, one is a chrome/purple, and the other is what I believe a chrome version of a fire-tiger pattern, without the brillancy in the colors. These two lures will destroy the trout in there, try them.

BM,
No question that 16" brooks are real nice fish.
I am a firm believer after having fished that stream for as long as I can remember that during the past 4 or so years, that stream gets heavily poached preseason. I have found no other explaination. Either me or my Dad usually both, have stocked that stream preseason every year. We used to kill them the 1st day. Until the last 4 years, when we' d go to a spot the 1st day and no one catches many fish at all, and you see very few caught. At first we thought cold water, etc etc. But after several years in a row if it happening and going to different stretches of the creek to see it, you suspect something funny. This year it was high and bad opening day, and they put a ton of fish in preseason. Should have had tons of fish left that 1st weekend. Everything you could do to find one or two fish. They weren' t there.
The reason there are so many now, is that it was stocked wednesday of last week. They did a good job and scattered em good over the length of the creek. There are a lot of fish left.

I' ve never tried one of them. I' m a cheapskate, can' t see spending 7$ on a lure Maybe I' ll break down and give it a try though.

Hey Wimp,

I am glad to hear that it is getting stocked good before season, but there is definetly something going on there. I have noticed the same thing as you, for about 4 years now it has gone downhill in the first week.

Actually, yesterday that was the main discussion my best friend and I had while there. We were walkin upstream from the deep hole at the trailor and we got into those big shallows and never saw a trout. It looks perfect up there. I would imagine there being trout all in those slow water areas picking off bugs but they aren' t there.

Another thing that I noticed is that the Smallmouth population is growing. That whole slow water area above the deep hole has no trout but is LOADED with smallmouth. Last year I saw what was probablly a 20" smallmouth in there. Not only that, but last year my sister hooked into a pike at the deep hole. I have heard that awhile back there was a major problem with pike in that hole, maybe they are comming back. My grandfather told me that awhile back, the fish commission shocked that deep hole to get the pike out of it, and they pulled 6 large pike out. Maybe they are comming back again and eating the trout.

Definetly get a yo-zuri, it is worth it. TRUST ME!!!! When nothing else is working, that thing will make a killing. $7.00 is a small price to pay for a great day of fishing Cheap-skate

I might head out to Little Mahoning again tommorow if the weather holds out. Right now it is just supposed to be slightly cloudy, but, then again, this morning was supposed to be clear skies and it rained.

If I go out there tommorow, I am trying something a little different. I will go buy some mice at a pet store and use those in the deep hole and under the bridge. I figure that if there is a big trout in there, that should get his attention.

SHHHH the smallmouth population is not growing, I repeat there are none to be found in that creek
I remember pike being in there for as long as I can remember, they may take some but I can' t see them destroying the population like it would seem they' d have to do.
Whatever is happening its messing up a beautiful stream. I here lots of locals complain about poaching and after these past few years I can see it happening. When you think about it much of that creek isn' t visible from the road and thieves could have field day.

THat stretch you talk about is one of the most beautiful stretches, but in order for fish to get there, they really have to come down far from the gas wells and I just don' t think many get down that far. Years ago they used to drive back that neighboring camp above the one with the trailer, but its been a LONG time since they' ve done that.

Good luck if you head out.

Hey Wimp,

I agree, the poaching is the most likely suspect. It needs to be patrolled more. I would imagine that it was the most patroled stream around here considering the reputation of the stream and the amount of trout that go into it. Add to that the pike, and the LACK of smallmouth and you got a big problem.

That stretch above the deep hole is absolutely beautiful. My friend and I got AWSOME pictures of each other in that section one day last year. The sun was setting and just made for some awsome pictures.

The fish commission needs to float stock that stream. It is ridiculous how concentrated some of the holes are in that stream. I love having alot of trout in one hole, but, there is soooooo much wonderful stream there that doesn' t even have trout in it.

From the bridge on 119 down, I can think of 6 holes in the stretch from there down to the next bridge that have trout in them. And only two or three of them have alot of trout in them.

My grandfather is good friends with the people who own the property where the camp ground is at. They have the first house upstream from there. I havn' t talked to them in about three years, but, things have changed and I am not sure if they still live there. The pond in their backyard that is normally full of bullfrogs is now filled in.

I just wish people would start respecting that stream more. The holes that have trout in them are all tore up and have a bunch of junk laying on the banks after the first day. I went out to the Yellow Creek Trout Club section of Yellow Creek stream and fished that the Thursday before last and it amazed me to see a stream that had no junk laying on the banks. I don' t know if you have ever heard of that stream or been there, Joe Renosky is the lead guy for that portion of the stream. A membership to fish there is something like $1,000.00 a year, and you aren' t allowed to keep any trout. There are feeders set up and down the entire stream to get the trout fat and there are little dams set-up to create some of the most beautiful deep holes and riffles ever. I didn' t catch any there that day (didn' t have my Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow with me), but, I saw more trout of two feet long than anyone could believe.

I was able to fish that section of yellow creek twice. A friend of mine had a lure business and had a couple memberships so that he could take clients. He took me a couple times. I caught a couple fish around 22" there and a bunch in that 16" -18" range.

They used to float Little Mo but its been at least 6 years or so. That is one nice stream.

Hmm, I wonder how far in terms of driving time these creeks are....especially if they are so " lacking" in terms of substantial sized fish...

I have not been out for about a week and a half...no time with two jobs.....but it is threads like these that get me pumped.

Well,

Today I went out fishing at the same stream, and this is what I caught. I was using a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow. You can see the full story in the " Off Season" forum under the post title " This is why I love Pennsylvania"

20 1/4" Female Brown Trout