Today I caught a beautiful wild brook trout today in Westchester County, just five miles from my house. I’d heard whispers that this small stream contained brook trout, and I was delighted to catch one on my first outing there.

I’ve caught brook trout in Cross River, but since so much stocking goes in there, it is hard to tell whether they are wild or holdovers.

But in today’s stream, which I’m not going to name here, I am pretty certain this brook trout is wild, as there are no stocking records I can find for this stream.

New technique: Sticking your iPhone down in the water while running a video to film the fish swimming away.

A beauty!

I caught it in classic brookie territory: Around the deadfalls.

The stream also has some nice macroinvertebrate life, including some giant stoneflies and some free floating caddis, both of which are indicator species of clean water, which was running at 54F today.

This stream is a wonder. Small, but full of life. I also saw a turtle trying to disguise itself as a rock:

This small stream is a gem hidden away in Westchester. Who would have thought we have wild brook trout here? We do. Let’s conserve them.