What elevation???

[swamphammock]

I am not looking for any spots, (wouldn't give mine away either) or even creeks, but am just curious at the elevation some of you find specks... I was told, pretty strongly I might add, that brookies ONLY occur in elevation over 3.5k. I am almost positive I saw a few this past summer in a small creek above a couple falls that would be in the neighborhood of about 2600 if I read my topo right. (And I know I did) Did I see an anomaly, or have any of you seen similar? I'm going back I'm November, but just curious about the 3500' "rule".... Is it right, or anyone see any even lower than I did?

 

[Mexican Squealer]

2500

 

[northgeorgiasportsman]

The nicest native brookie I've ever seen came somewhere around 2200ft and there's not a part of that creek that ever gets above 2800ft. Elevation is good, but a barrier waterfall is best for brookie water.

Come to think of it, I know several brookie streams that are under 3000ft.

However, the absolute best quintessential brookie stream I know of is above a set of waterfalls at 4000ft.

 

[NCHillbilly]

There is no magical line on a map that defines where specks live. Generally, the higher you get, the more of them you find, but I have caught specks at not much over 2,000' to well over 5,000'.

 

[ripplerider]

Elevation is more important when considering the origin of the stream. In other words the higher the mountain or mountains that the creek originates on the better the chances it has specks, as long as theres a barrier falls. When the falls are at a lower elevation in the drainage then specks are generally found all the way down to the top of them. It stands to reason that the lower reaches of a stream are somewhat more fertile than the upper parts so as long as the temperature is good you would expect to find bigger fish there. However fishing pressure plays a part too so when the headwaters are more inaccessible as they usually are they may hold bigger fish. I hope this makes sense didnt get much sleep and am about to leave on a challenging day of driving.

 

[swamphammock]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I guess I know at least one place I will be hitting in November! I am dead set on finding a speck or two! I hope they are still in the area. It was above a few falls, and I don't think there was any access for stockers, so it did sound reasonable, except for the guy who got fighting mad when I was explaining what I saw..... Wonder if he thought I had stumbled on his secret spot....
I feel more confident in the place now!

I do have a follow-up question. What do you guys do to sneak up on them? Camo? I noticed as soon as I broke the horizon, the ones I found scattered!

 

[ripplerider]

Camo helps but moving very slowly while crouched down is more important to me. Generally you always want to approach from downstream though there are a few situations that call for a careful upstream approach. If there's a tree in the right place you can hide behind it as much as you can and still cast. Your first cast is generally your best shot at fooling a fish so try to make it a good one. I'm good at blowing that first chance particularly if I think or know there's a good fish in there. I have got basically buck fever a few times when I knew a big brown was in a certain spot. Gotta go. Well, not yet. I'd like to amend my above post about stream origin elevation. While that is generally true my favorite speck stream in Ga. doesnt rise from a particularly high group of peaks it may have more to do with how heavily the area was logged in the past. It's in a pretty darn rugged area. Now I'm headed out the door.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I guess I know at least one place I will be hitting in November! I am dead set on finding a speck or two! I hope they are still in the area. It was above a few falls, and I don't think there was any access for stockers, so it did sound reasonable, except for the guy who got fighting mad when I was explaining what I saw..... Wonder if he thought I had stumbled on his secret spot....
I feel more confident in the place now!

I do have a follow-up question. What do you guys do to sneak up on them? Camo? I noticed as soon as I broke the horizon, the ones I found scattered!

No light-colored clothes, and don't skylight/silhouette yourself. Always fish upstream, stay low, move slowly, and use natural cover. All this false-casting stuff doesn't work well, either. Specks in a clear creek will often run under rocks if they see a fly line move overhead. Start at the very tail of the pool or run, and work your way up so that the fish aren't seeing your line.

 

[WMA Man]

Earth tone clothes, watch your shadow, move slow, stay low, don’t ripple the pool if it’s real slow water. I catch the vast majority of fish in small creeks while crouched. And you get about 3’ extra clearance over head when crouched.