The Black Hills is an island of mountains surrounded by prairie. Home to cold trout streams fed by spring flows.
The Black Hills provide ideal conditions for trout. The majority of streams contain self-sustaining wild populations of brown and brook trout.
Brown trout management in the Black Hills focuses on development of wild fisheries. However, catchable brown trout are stocked in stream reaches where pressure is high as it is in Spring Creek.
Brook trout are primarily found in small streams and beaver ponds at higher elevations. All the brook trout in the Black Hills are wild.
My Son Frank Fly Fishing.
Spring Creek is the most accessible stream in the Black Hills.
I see cruising Brown Trout in the pools but have no success in getting them to strike on my offerings.
My son Joe, uses a spinning outfit to try to coax a brown to bite.
It is a sunny, warm day and I try a smaller tippet and continue to try different patters but to no avail.
Most years there is sufficient water to allow put-and-take management, but during dry years this section may dry up or become too warm to support trout.
Finally I try a small hex pattern and cast into a rapids and a nice brown hits it immediately.
After releasing the first fish I cast to the same location and hook up with another Brown Trout about 15 inches.
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