Header image
Enter a name
Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Lateral view of a Onocosmoecus (Limnephilidae) (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

About "Mystery Creeks": If you recognize one of these, you already understand why I'm keeping it a secret. I'm not as strict as some anglers about hiding where I fish, mostly because I don't expect to substantially affect fishing pressure on already well-known or simply unpopular waters. But there are some gems where I don't want to add a single unfamiliar bootprint to the mix, due to the fishing, their wild character, or keeping a friend's secret. They're all "Mystery Creek" here—even the lakes.

Landscape & scenery photos from Mystery Creek # 19

Me trying to catch some hungry little brook trout on opening day, 2004.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
This little brookie is my dad's first trout on a fly.  It came on opening day of the 2004 early season for trout in Wisconsin.
My dad throws a cast on opening day, 2004.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin

Underwater photos from Mystery Creek # 19

This is my favorite picture of this school of brookies. Notice there are a few other fish mixed in, minnow family mostly. Near the bottom right there's a really big brookie. These trout were densely schooled up near a major spring source during the dead of winter.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
A 4 inch brookie hides from the camera behind a rock under a cut bank.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
This tiny brook trout fry lived in a crystal clear nursery area where a large spring flows straight from the ground.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
There's one small brook trout running with this school of minnows at the head of a crystal clear spring.
The Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
There's a brook trout running with this school of creek chubs and common shiners at the head of a crystal clear spring.
The Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
The Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
There's a brook trout running with this school of creek chubs and common shiners at the head of a crystal clear spring.
A small creek chub hides behind a rock under a cut bank.
The fresh spring water here is so clear it's hard to believe it's an underwater picture at all.

From the Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin
I was able to photograph these young yearling brook trout from a distance in the crystal clear water of a small spring.  When I tried to get closer, they all hid in the lush vegetation.

From Mystery Creek # 19 in Wisconsin

Videos from Mystery Creek # 19

Winter trout at a spring creek's mouth

In mid-January I visited a spot where a heavily spring-fed tributary feeds into a river without much as much spring flow, creating an area of (in the winter) warmer water where hundreds of brookies were stacked up.

The video quality's as lousy as in all my early videos, but it's still amazing to see so many brook trout in such a small spot.

Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy