Brook trout, which commonly inhabit the beaver ponds my fishing partner Paul and I like to frequent are not big fish. They average about eight inches and a 10-inch brook trout is a good brookie.

If dinner is going to be fish, then an eight-incher is just right for a frying pan. Two or three brookies about that size, with some potatoes and onions, all sizzling together in a frying pan over the hot coals of an open fire beside a beaver pond is my personal mantra.

Beaver ponds and the brook trout in them are not for everyone. A few trout fishermen don't think the little brook trout are worth the effort. That's their loss. Beaver pond brookie anglers are aware of the life in, and around, a good beaver pond. That doesn't make them better fisherman, or more feeling fishermen, but just fisherman who enjoy catching brook trout that live in beaver ponds.

I do get a primal thrill whenever I catch a beaver-pond brookie. Maybe it is an understanding that pond brookies are truly wild things, not planted or cultured or fed by hand, but truly wild. They eat insects on the surface. They snatch up the pupa and other emerging life from the bottom. They don't eat canned salmon eggs, cheese, corn, and other things grown or made by men who think they know what fish should be eating. Brook trout don't listen to experts. I like that in a fish. It gives me a feeling some things are still right in the world.

A Forgiving Fish

Another thing I like about brook trout and beaver ponds: the fish are forgiving. You don't have to lay out a perfect cast with the line settling onto the water without a ripple. It's a pleasure to do that, but it isn't necessary on a beaver pond full of brookies. A reasonable cast can catch a "nice" brookie.

There is an interesting phenomenon about pond brookies compared to their stream-dwelling brethren. The stream brookies will gobble up any worm, hardware, or fly as soon as it gets in front of them. I think it is because most of their food is whipped past them by the current and competition is so desperate they have to make an immediate decision to grab it or go hungry. That gets them hooked.

The brookies in the beaver ponds can take a more leisurely look at their prospective meal before grabbing it. The pond-wide competition for food is what drives them, not currents that might sweep the morsel away if they hesitate. The pond brookies take what looks good, or when feeding on a hatch, what all the other fish are eating. This does not mean they will eat whatever falls their way. When they get persnickety they are maddening.

A Fine Fish

Brook trout are true Americans. Their original range was the cold and pure waters from northern Georgia to the Arctic Circle. Man improved their distribution and today they roam suitable waters throughout the continent, plus South America and Europe. The artificial migration of brook trout has not diminished their popularity because their preference for clear, cold, healthy streams, and their proclivity to shyness while still being fairly easy to catch, has made them an endearing fish among serious trout anglers.

Throughout the East Coast, in its original range, the brook trout are carefully managed as a native under serious angling pressure. In the western states, brook trout are so prolific some states have set generous creel limits to thin their populations.

The eastern "home" waters of the brookies seem to be more susceptible to human encroachment and the brookies have been replaced by browns and rainbows that are more tolerant of human disturbance. Brookies cannot tolerate water that gets too warm (over 70 degrees F) or when the oxygen level drops rapidly, conditions commonly associated with modern development.

Losing any brookie population is a sad commentary on civilization because brookies are "aristocratic fish" (Trout Fishing and Flies, Jim Quick, Countryman Press, 1957), whose last two centuries of history are closely entwined with American fly fishing traditions. Novice fly fishermen often count a brookie as their first fish taken on a fly. Brookies remain a favored fish because the better brook trout fisheries are found in the more remote areas, giving the entire experience a "wilder" setting.

Brookies can also get big. Under ideal conditions with ample forage (insects, small crustaceans) and a good predator to control the brookie population, five-, six-, or even seven-pound brookies are possible. When there is no predator control, as in most western waters, the prolific brookies can over populate a water, which accounts for the generous creel limits.

A Pond Fish

Most beaver-pond brook trout populations have occurred naturally as a result of the beaver's damming projects. The return of beaver populations in the West created thousands of new small pond fisheries that did not exist during the beaver's lean years. Resident stream populations, a result of earlier brook trout stocking programs, become the pond's brookie population, expanding the fishing opportunities.

I have found that beaver ponds are best fished with the lightest rod, the lightest leader, and by wading. The flies range from size 12 down to 16, whether dry or wet. I always keep a few size 18 and 20 flies in my box--just in case.

The most productive patterns are the traditional flies of the fisherman's arsenal. My favorite "starter" is a #14 Coachmen. I'll start fishing it dry, casting it towards the beaver dam by wading into the pond above the dam. If I don't get a strike, I pop the fly under the surface and fish it wet, making long, slow, seductive retrieves to cover the water. When I pick up the line I false cast it once or twice to shake the water so I can start the next cast with it dry, then pull it under. The technique works. My whipping motion to dry the fly is hard on it, no matter how well tied the fly is. I tie my own flies and I've learned to lay in a good supply of each pattern in various sizes before Paul and I leave for the mountains.

My fly box will always include a few Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ears, Light Cahills, and some caddis fly nymphs. My dries will include various duns and parachute hackle flies that can do a reasonable job of imitating mountain insects blown into the water by the afternoon winds. I have never had any luck with ants or moth flies and only limited success with hoppers, and then with the smaller versions.

I also like to experiment with new patterns that I've tied at home, so I prowl books on flies and fly tying looking for different patterns. Two books that have given me a succession of new variations are: The Flytier's Manual ($16.95) and The Flytier's Companion ($19.95). Both books are by Mike Dawes and are published by Stoeger Publishing, Co., 55 Ruta Court, South Hackensack, NJ. I've discovered that beaver pond brookies are the ideal test fish for new patterns. If brookies won't take it, chances are other local fish won't either.

While dry flies and wet flies are always productive for me I don't overlook streamers. To get the most success with these flies I prefer to cast streamers in a fan pattern starting along the fact of the dam.

Before starting my fishing I look for a shallow that I can wade as close to the face of the dam as I can get so I can stay off the actual dam to avoid damaging it.

My first cast is up the face of the dam, very similar to how a buzz bait would be cast for a bass. I pull the streamer back in smooth pulls of several feet with each pull. The small amount of current present gives the streamer a good side-to-side darting effect.

After the retrieve I make another cast, moving the line a few feet further out from the dam. Each successive cast is farther out, to form a fan shape similar to that used by a spinner fishermen. Oddly enough, while the casting techniques are similar, I have never had any real success using hardware in beaver ponds. I don't know whether it is my temperament or the way I hold my tongue while casting. Other people seem to do fine with spoons, spinners, and the like in beaver ponds. For me, they are a fly fishing place only.

Today, the beaver ponds are important to the nation's wildlife. The beaver aren't always welcome, but I've found beaver ponds in Oklahoma and the Rockies. The little engineers have made remarkable comebacks. Not everyone is happy about that, but that's their problem. I like beaver ponds and catching brook trout in beaver ponds. It is simple fishing. It is truthful fishing because the canned salmon eggs and marshmallows aren't welcome.