In search of specks

**mudminnow** · 05-18-2012, 05:56 AM

so i think anyone who hunts or fishes has a species that for some odd reason is their favorite. The fish that has caught my imagination is the wild southern appalachian brook trout. Specifically ones in SC. We don't have too many streams with them in it and the ones that are around are seldom over 4 or five inches. So yesterday i set out to find a one of these guys in a drainage where i heard that there might be a few left. I have fished this stream many times before and have been working my way up it and what i have always caught are beautiful wild rainbows like this

After catching about 15 of these ranging from 5 to 10 inches i took a break over a little pool with rhododendron covering it. The hole was pretty deep for this stream and the only way to get a fly to it was to scramble out on a downed tree and dap the fly like i was using a cane pole. After checking for snakes on the log, i quietly made my way out on the log, placed the fly in an area about as big as a basketball hoop, then bam. This guy showed up

So i was tickled just to catch this fish. For some reason i love this species and respect for surviving in these hills since the ice age. It was a great end to the day and made the few miles of hiking out uphill alot easier.