Long Lake

150 Brookies day, 2 Master Anglers, Fist Ice, 4am trailhead, 7 miles, Let's go! Slayers! We are back! 🎣🌲🔥🔥🇺🇲

New PB and Master Angler catch for Colorado Brook Trout alert! What a day on the lake. We are back! Ice ice baby!

An unreal day with the boys in the high country today. We pulled well over a 100 fish through the ice today. We all broke personal records and landed two Master Angler sized male Brookies. Thank you God for days like this! 🙏🏻

Good day in the alpine with Lance. I was on skis, which was nice, and he was pulling a sled on foot. I think he’s crazy for hauling a sled up there, but I suppose a lot of people think I’m crazy for skiing with ice fishing gear (I call it skicefishing). The ice on Long Lake was two feet thick, with a crusty layer of snow on top. The bite was slow, but we stuck with it and kept trying things until the bite turned on for awhile. I ended up landing 6 brook trout there, the biggest of which were a couple of 14 inchers. We stayed until the sun set behind the ridge. On the way down, we took a shortcut across Brainard Lake, and as it suddenly became windless in the final minutes of light, it became irresistible for us to drop a line. The ice there was also two feet thick, and I caught 3 nice brookies in the waning light. A great bonus! A few of the pics with me in them are courtesy of Fishing with Lance Brook trout, which are actually char (members of Salmonidae, along with trout), are among my favorite fish. While I’ve become enamored with the cutthroat trout - especially in spawning colors - the brook trout is unique in its impressive array of colors. Brookies have a green body, yellow spots, red spots with blue halos, bright red fins with stark white edges and jet black outlines, hints of purple, and white bellies that turn orange when spawning. What a design! Their backs bear a distinctly vermiculated (wormlike) pattern, which resembles the ripples and refractions in a stream, and camouflages the fish from above to protect them from predators such as birds. Brookies (and other species) adapt in a matter of months and years, not just centuries and millennia. I’ve caught brookies in algae-filled lakes that rapidly developed a light green color to match the algae. Likewise I’ve caught brookies in shady creeks that developed dark bodies that are closer to black than green. Those patterns and adaptations make sense. But what about those red spots with blue halos around them? What purpose do those serve? How about those red fins with bright white edges which are completely counterproductive to their natural camouflage? The male of the species does tend to get more colorful, which reminds me of extravagantly colored creatures like the peacock, which developed its plumage for mating purposes. But why did those blue halos evolve? Brookies don’t need them for mating. Some scientist somewhere has an explanation, but I consider it one of countless examples of God’s infinite creativity and extravagance. And just one reason why I love brookies.

Golly we smacked this morning! Let’s go boys! Tight lines to all!

Putting people on Brookies through the ice is completely cathartic. An amazing day on the ice with the boys. They crushed.

The Legend of El Bronco! Slaying brook trout at Sunrise and at the stadium by sundown. 🎣🏈

This morning I got up at 2:30am to be able to get on the trail by 4am and to the ice by 5:45 so was all set up by sunrise at 6:45. What a payoff! An unbelievable morning of fishing. Non-stop action for 90 minutes. This is why we do it boys! First ice is so 🔥!