Trapline Fishing Adventures

I hopped rock-to-rock, crossing the creek, trying to get to the west bank, where I had three marten trap cubby boxes placed in the adjoining timber.

- Brad Welch

Most years I can count on catching a few martens in this area before the snow gets too deep. That season, since the early winter snowstorms hadn't arrived, I tried to make the most of my time.

Each time I landed on a new icefree rock, several fish darted out of the watery shadows under it. The creek was the outlet of a mountain lake and the fish appeared to be brook trout. Since it was mid-October, I was certain they were staging in the creek, part of their fall spawning run.

I didn't have any fishing tackle with me then, but remember thinking it would be fun to try and fish the creek when fish moved into the outlet looking for small gravel spawning grounds. However, October was also the best time to trap marten. The access road to the lake was normally snowed shut by early November, and I wanted to maximize my trapping while the area was accessible. The fishing would have to wait for summer.

When I returned that summer, I caught a few brookies in the stream and adjoining lake. But the stream was too easy to access, and pressure from campers and other fisherman caused fish to be very spooky. I kept thinking fall would be a better time to fish - little pressure, the trout more likely to bite.

The fall fishing idea stayed tucked away in my mind for several years. The conflict with trapping, and trying to stay one step ahead of the weather, kept me from trying it.