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Brook Trout Of The Boulder Mountain

Brook Trout [Salvelinus fontinalis] are found in most of the lakes, beaver ponds and the higher elevations of some of the streams on Boulder Mountain and the Aquarius Plateau. They are not native to Utah but have been stocked in cold water fisheries throughout much of the state for many decades.

Brook trout were first introduced to Utah and most of the western United States in the early part of the twentieth century. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources [UDWR] then known as the Utah Fish & Game began stocking brook trout on the Boulder Mountain as early as 1945.

Only a few lakes in the area were accessible by vehicle in those days. So, most stocking was done the old fashioned way. Dedicated wildlife officers, sometimes with help from local volunteers would load milk cans containing fingerling brook trout as well as cutthroat trout onto pack saddles. Burlap sacks were tied over the open tops of the milk cans to enable the precious cargo to breathe without being sloshed out on the rough trails. This arduous task of loading pack saddles with milk cans and climbing the rugged slopes of Boulder Mountain was carried out many times over the years until most of the remote lakes and beaver ponds thought to be able to sustain trout were stocked. This continued to be the preferred method of stocking trout into these backcountry waters that conventional fish stocking vehicles could not access until 1956, when the UDWR discovered a new and more efficient way of stocking trout.

Brook trout subsist on a varied diet in the lakes and ponds of the Boulder Mountain. Brookies will take advantage of any and all available natural food sources as the opportunities are presented to them. They are not shy of small swimming rodents like shrews or mice. Fledgling birds falling from overhanging tree branches are also occasionally eaten by them.

Many of the shallow grassy lakes and old beaver ponds on the Boulder Mountain contain Tiger salamanders [Ambystoma tigrinum]. Brook trout feed upon the larvae and immature salamanders at every opportunity. Salamanders will typically stop breeding in lakes or ponds when trout are introduced. However, most of the lakes on Boulder Mountain have some shallow grassy areas. Several lakes have large beds of tule reeds and floating grass islands. These reed beds, floating grass islands and the shallow grassy areas along the shoreline are prime habitat for the salamanders. The bottom is muddy and there are plenty of insects for the salamanders to feed upon. Trout cannot easily access these areas which might explain why salamanders continue to breed there in close proximity to the trout.

Striped Chorus frogs [peepers] and their tadpoles are also fair game for hungry brook trout. When brook trout encounter tadpoles regardless of the particular species, toads or frogs, they simply devour them. A large brook trout feeding along the shallow grassy edges of a lake or beaver pond would occasionally encounter fully grown frogs and toads as individuals, and would likely eat them if possible. However, any brook trout cruising through the shallows that happens upon the mass of tadpoles in the image below is very likely to gorge upon them.

The rest of the brook trout’s feeding activity is concentrated on the regular cycle of insect hatches that occur daily at these waters. While caddis hatches are usually not heavy at these high elevations, the evidence of their existence here is right in front of you as you stand on the shoreline. Just look down at the submerged basalt rocks at your feet.

Caddis cases literally cover the undersides of these rocks. Speaking of looking down at your feet....if you choose to wet wade keep a close watch on you legs and feet.

There are leeches in nearly every body of water on the Boulder Mountain. They will usually find you if your skin is exposed for more than a few minutes! Damselflies are always present during the mid summer months and hatches can be very heavy. Dragonflies are also flying about all season long. Mayflies such as Callibaetis are hatching regularly. Midge hatches can be so intense in spring and early summer that they form dense midge clouds on many waters here! The midges on the Boulder Mountain are not the biting type, but they can be quite annoying by virtue of their sheer numbers at the peak of the hatch cycle. It is wise to bring a head net or scarf to cover your face when these immense hatches are occurring.

Scuds are found in most lakes and ponds on the Boulder Mountain. In some places the scud populations are so dense that you might wonder if scuds are all these trout eat! The availability of scuds could explain the phenomenal girth of the huge brook trout on Boulder Mountain as compared to other places where anglers usually catch much smaller and thinner brook trout.

Brook trout will eat just about anything that is in the water with them. The image above shows the stomach contents of a large brook trout. These items were pumped from the fish and then the fish was released unharmed. You will notice that there are caddis larvae, leeches, midge, dragonfliy larvae and other insects that are in various stages of digestion. Clearly these were the prey items on the menu just hours prior to this big brook trout being caught. Do you think your flies are to big?

Anglers usually harvest enough of the brook trout annually in these small lakes and beaver ponds to keep their numbers in check. Any small lake or beaver pond where brook trout have shown a tendency to propagate easily and overpopulate their environment should be managed carefully. Some of these small off the beaten path fisheries on the Boulder Mountain are being managed very well by local anglers who fish there frequently and quite often take their legal limit home with them.

Successful management of smaller brook trout fisheries on the Boulder Mountain can be as simple as visiting anglers keeping a limit of brook trout on a regular basis. This practice is completely opposite that of brook trout management strategies in the eastern states. Where brook trout reproduce naturally and so prolifically such as the waters on Boulder Mountain, they can and will get out of control quickly, resulting in overpopulation and stunting. This ultimately leads to a decline in the quality of the fishery and subsequent chemical treatment and restocking to restore the lake or pond to the quality fishery anglers previously enjoyed. Over the decades a cycle of peaking and crashing has developed in many of the lakes and ponds on Boulder Mountain where brook trout are stocked.

After chemical treatment and restocking the brook trout will flourish. This trend will last a number of years depending on several factors. When word begins to spread about a restored lake or pond that is fishing well, anglers will visit that water regularly and the angler pressure is sometimes enough to keep the brook trout numbers in check......al least for awhile. I most cases, the brook trout will proliferate eventually leading to overcrowding and stunting.  

Hybrid trout have been stocked into many lakes on Boulder Mountain after successful rotenone treatments to offer anglers some exciting diversity and to enhance the quality of fishing there. Where brook trout have shown a tendency to overpopulate a lake, they are being completely removed and replaced with native cutthroat trout such as the Colorado River cutthroat [Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus] or the Bonneville cutthroat [Oncorhynchus clarkii utah] and also hybrid trout such as the tiger trout [Salmo trutta X Salvelinus fontinalis] and splake, another hybrid cross [Salvelinus namaycush X Salvelinus fontinalis].

The tiger trout pictured above and below have been stocked into many of the lakes and beaver ponds on the Boulder Mountain. After several seasons in these lakes and ponds these hybrid trout have reached an impressive size. These hybrid trout are very aggressive and will put up quite a fight on a fly rod!

The tiger trout have been stocked into these small remote lakes and ponds to offer anglers some exciting diversity and to act as a control measure against the sometimes inevitable return of the brook trout. Unless the lake or pond is drained completely and dried up totally, brook trout seem to find some way to make a comeback. With the piscivorous tiger trout and or splake in place, the odds of brook trout overpopulating the water again are at least minimized. While it would be nice to take home some of these big tiger trout or splake, leaving them in the lake to fight another day and continue to do their intended job of controlling brook trout populations would help to ensure that brook trout numbers there stay in check. You will usually find that all of the lakes and ponds that hold these tiger trout also contain restored populations of native cutthroat. These cutthroat were stocked by UDWR as put and take fish unless specifically listed otherwise in the Utah Fishing Guidebook. The cutthroat are stocked on a fairly regular basis. They are usually quite easy to hook on a fly.

Another hybrid trout found on Boulder Mountain is the splake pictured above. The splake [Salvelinus fontinalis X Salvelinus namaycush] is a cross between the brook trout and the lake trout or Makinaw. When they mature, like the tiger trout, the splake is also notoriously piscivorous and was stocked for the same reasons as the tiger trout.

Quality brook trout fishing still exists today in several lakes and ponds on the Boulder Mountain. But now more than ever you really have to know where to look. A lake or pond that was very good just a few years ago may no longer even hold trout today. A favorite lake or pond where you used to catch big trout but have not visited for a couple of seasons might look the same when you see it again, but with entirely different results this time. This phenomenon has bewildered many anglers who could not understand how they could do so well one season and come back and fair so poorly the next. For those hidden beaver ponds, small remote lakes and reservoirs that remain here, the future is uncertain.

Recent satellite imagery is irrefutable proof as to how many of these waters remain today on the Boulder Mountain and the Aquarius Plateau. Old legends always die hard. The old stories of hundreds or even thousands of lakes on the Boulder Mountain are just that.....old stories. When we are talking about viable, sustainable fisheries, that will over winter trout consistently, there are only a fraction of that. The UDWR only recognizes around 75 - 80 bodies of water on the Boulder Mountain and the Aquarius Plateau that meet this criteria. That means the entire mountain. Many will dispute these numbers. However, when you take a close look at the satellite imagery available today, you may be surprised. When you also look at the current UDWR fish stocking records for this area, you may be surprised to find out when your favorite beaver pond, lake or reservoir was stocked last, and with what.

If you have not visited your favorite fishing spot in a few years, you may want to go and check it out. If you have a secret spot that is still doing just fine...keep a close eye on it and do whatever you can to protect it.

The 2012 fly fishing season for the Boulder Mountain lakes begins in April, and there are still plenty of quality brook trout fisheries remaining on this mountain, for those who know where to look. If you thought that you had to travel all the way to Quebec or Labrador to catch trophy quality brookies on a fly rod.....well, think again! Why travel so far at such great expense when you can catch huge brookies so close to home? If you live in any one of the western states, you are closer than you could have imagined. If you live in Las Vegas, you're right next door! A guided trip can eliminate the guess work and put you there with a fly rod in front of the biggest brookies you have ever seen, sooner and easier than you ever thought possible. If you would like to book a guided trip to fly fish for these beautiful wild brook trout this season, keep in mind that space is definitely limited and plan on booking early. Why wait any longer? Check out this link for a Utah Highway Map and plan your next trip soon.

 

Contact Us soon to make your reservation for the 2012 season.

Call Steve Stoner at 1- 435-335-7306 Your call will always be returned 

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