Fish-Hawk.Net

I'm looking for anyone who's fished Rockingham Creek or the Creek in Quadeville that crosses through town, and up the road a bit before you get to Quadeville. They look like they are worth fishing but I can't really tell. If anyone has fished them can you shoot me a PM ? Thanks so much.

There are tiny spring fed streams scattered around parts of Eastern Ontario that have or had brookies that are not on stocking lists. Unfortunately some don't anymore. I know of a few that no longer support trout and what is amazing it has only been in the past dozen or so years that this has happened. I know one that was ruined by township road construction. Another one a farmer drained and tiled. Then another where someone went hog wild with a bulldozer and made a huge mess.

It's a shame that the streams that once held beautiful Brookies seem to be dissapearing more and more as the years go on. About 20 years ago you could drive an hour outside of Ottawa and there were dozens of little streams that had natural brookies in them. Now some of these same creeks and rivers are stocked and it's still very difficult to catch anything in them. I wish we could stock some more hardy Brook Trout in these streams and get them to spawn easily and bring the populations back by planting trees to add more forest cover, clean up some of the streams that have garbage in them. I know dozens of little streams, creeks and a bunch of rivers within 3 hours of Ottawa that contain Brookies, which are natural, not stocked, and I hope they don't dissapear as well because I'd really like the future generations of young people to be able to experience the joy many of us have while fishing for Brookies and other natural species that are struggling for various reasons.

Haven't been on this site for months. I frequent a western website more suited to trout people such as myself. Rockingham Creek does have trout in it, perhaps because of a private club lake further upstream. The reason for the closure on brookies in the fall is because there is some natural reproduction in the northern regions. Warming water is the main cause of the decline. A few years ago, my sources in MNR told me that the entire recruitment of brook trout was lost due to drought that year. Good luck. Give it a try. I talked recently to a guide who insists they are still around.

I would say that that most creeks in that Combermere, Maynooth and Bancroft area have Brook trout. The issue is how much has been degraded, how much is on private land and are they fly fishable? It takes youth, patience and perseverance to fish small creeks. I'm passed the point of bushwacking thru an overgrown creek valley.

ganman wrote:I would say that that most creeks in that Combermere, Maynooth and Bancroft area have Brook trout. The issue is how much has been degraded, how much is on private land and are they fly fishable? It takes youth, patience and perseverance to fish small creeks. I'm passed the point of bushwacking thru an overgrown creek valley.

This reply got me thinking about an article I read in Field and stream many years ago. It was about a fisherman who was telling his friends about when he was young, his dad would take him out for the day, and they would stop on the shore for lunch and cook some of the fish they caught. Well he decided to take his son and friends out for a day of fishing. So a few days latter off they went by boat. They caught a few for lunch, and when it was time, they pulled up to the shore, and decided to cook and clean what they had. He made a small fire, and set up for lunch. Well as they were cooking, they got a visitor or 2, The land owner called the police because someone was trespassing, and called the fire department because he seen smoke. Well he they got a warning about trespassing on private land. and had to pack up and move on without lunch. The fire was put out, and the owner was very upset, because he claimed they damaged his land.

The moral of the story, is before you head out to any of these remote spots, check with the land owner first. May save you headaches in the end.

I have fished some remote areas in that area, but 20/30 years ago was a lot different than today. And yes, I know it comes down a lot to do with liability. Hell I remember fishing with my Grandfather, and he would take us down some drive along the river, then he would park in or next to someones cornfield. Before long the owner would come along, and they would start up a conversation. He knew them or knew someone who worked at the mill with him. Times were different than.