Secret lures and tactics for big fall walleye, trout, bass and crappies

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BROOK TROUT

If Canada ever had a contest to choose a national fish, my vote would go to the brook trout, which, in reality, isn’t a trout at all—it’s a char, just like its lake trout cousin. Such details aside, this fish is a true beauty, especially in the fall when the males develop huge, black-hooked jaws and flaming red bellies to complement their ivory-white fin edges.

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Wild brook trout populations are usually protected during the fall spawn through fishing closures that typically start in early to mid-October. Luckily, brookies are the darlings of most provincial fish hatcheries, so Canadian anglers are treated to an almost unlimited supply of magnificent year-round fishing opportunities in a multitude of stocked waters.

A Mepps Black Fury will often fool autumn brook trout

Although the fish rarely spawn successfully in stocked lakes, that doesn’t stop them from venturing into knee-deep shallows to go through the spawning motions. I always look for a portion of shoreline, or a small back bay, that has the most standing and submerged wood cover in the form of flooded trees and deadheads. And if you know where a spring bubbles up, you’ve found brook trout nirvana—so much so, it often matters little what you offer the fish.

That said, if you’re fly fishing, cast a green Woolly Bugger with a gold bead head, or a dark Egg Sucking Leech with a fluorescent red head. In either case, tie the fly to a 36-inch, eight-pound-test Maxima leader knotted to the end of your floating fly line. For the spinning angler, you can’t go wrong with a Mepps #3 Black Fury. As with my tactics for my other favourite fall fish, put these tips to the test and you’ll never think about putting your tackle away early again.

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Fishing editor Gord Pyzer keeps his boat in the water for as long as he can each fall.