Another Brook Trout guy!! My man! Welcome, I think it's you, me and maybe one other Brook Trout guy on here!

IMO, you need a little more data to make your decisions. It would be really nice to know what the DO levels of the lake are during the middle and end of winter.

I have not had much luck with the brook trout you can buy from the hatchery. They are over-domesticated and have lost a lot in that process. Kind of like the domesticated pheasants they release on farms for pheasant hunts these days. Sure, they grow fast, BUT they don't normally live much past three years and they die very easy. Wild Brook Trout are MUCH hardier. Also, I have had Splake (a brook tout x lake trout cross) survive in my lake when the brook trout died. I am fairly certain the hybrid trout are more hardy than all the other pure trout. So, without knowing anything about the conditions of your water under the ice, and ASSuming maybe low DO took out your brookies, I would say you would probably have a higher chance of survival by stocking some tiger trout and splake.

I would also get someone working on trapping those otters. Seems like I read somewhere that Canadians are already excellent trappers the day they are BORN !

Last edited by wbuffetjr; 05/28/20 02:38 PM.

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