Trout Grand Slam (Tiger, Brown, Brook, Bow): Sat May 4, 2019

[JDTuna]

Headed out Saturday am to go chase wild brown trout in PA (total shocker). I got to the stream bright and early, and despite the heavy rain Friday night the water had good clarity. The fish were waiting and it didn’t take long to put a nice 17” wild brown in the net.



I continued my way through the stretch with a few more swipes and hits before I hooked up again. It was a smaller fish, and as I got it closer I could see it wasn’t a brown. It flashed in the current, and I though rainbow for a second until it rolled and thrashed on top of the water several feet from me. Then, there was no mistaking it. The worm-like vermiculation pattern down the side immediately gave it away: it was a beautiful tiger trout. I quickly got the fish in the net. Now, I fish for trout quite often and I very rarely see tigers. In addition, judging by the sleek body and perfect fins, this was a wild tiger trout…an incredibly prized catch for me.







I continued to fish the spot, and caught a nice 22” shad, smallmouth and another 18” wild brown.





Now, I was at a crossroads. Did I want to hit a few other spots looking for a 20+” wild brown, or did I want to try to achieve a grand slam of all four local trout species in one day (brown, brook, rainbow and tiger)? I already caught the hardest species to find (tiger), and had the brown so all I needed was the brook and the rainbow. I thought for a little bit and came to the decision that I can always chase big browns, I very rarely see a tiger so I should go for the slam.

Before anyone mentions it, I consider a grand slam to be every different species available. I did not count golden rainbows because they are the exact same species as a rainbow trout, just bred for a particular color pattern. Besides, these slams are somewhat arbitrary, anyway.

The next up was the rainbow. I knew my friend had a spot on a river that I never fish that was in NJ on the way to the brook trout area. I headed out to the spot and in no time I put two standard rainbows in the net. I knew the spot held some big fish, but I was running short on time and I still had another species to catch.



I continued on to the wild brook trout streams in NJ. I knew they were here, but I had never fished it before. It didn’t take long to find them. On my third cast, I hooked a fat little brookie. However, as I lifted him from the water, he shook the hook and splashed back in to the stream. After a few expletives, I continued on. I found brookies in most of the good looking pockets and holes, but they proved difficult to hook on the size spinners and jigs I had. I watched time and time again as they shot out, chased my lure, whacked it, and did not get hooked. It was a true exercise in frustration. Finally, after switching to a small jig, I managed to hook and land a beautiful little brook trout around 6”. I had achieved my grand slam!



Tired, sweaty and partially consumed by flying insects, I called it a day and headed home.