Photo by BOB SATTERWHITE Landing a brook trout is a rare treat for an angler because it means he’s worked hard for a rare, beautiful fish.

When it comes to beauty, few fish match the beauty of a brook trout.

They have pale yellow and red dots on their sides from head to tail with the red dots surrounded by delicate blue halos. Their bellies are cream colored, and the tips of their dark lower (pectoral, ventral and anal) fins are tipped with white. The white-tipped fins are a sure way of identifying a brook trout; it’s a unique feature.

Old-time trout fishers called brook trout “specks” because of the fish’s unusual markings. Many mountain fishers still call them speckled trout. Some even refer to speckled trout as a whole different species, and, indeed, when compared to a hatchery-raised brook to a stream-raised brook, there’s no comparison. One exception is hatchery brooks also have white-tipped fins.

Wavy markings on the brook trout’s olive-green back are another unusual physical characteristic. These markings are similar to the pattern light makes on a rocky stream bed when the sun is filtered through rippled water.

Since most brook trout streams are shallow, the markings, or vermiculations, provide the trout with a natural camouflage, making it difficult for predators such as herons and kingfishers to spot them.

Brook trout actually aren’t trout; they are members of the char family, which includes Dolly Varden, Arctic char, true lake trout and the rare blueback trout. Before the late 1800s, brook trout were the only salmonid found in southern Appalachian mountain streams. Then came the loggers, who wiped out much of their habitat. After that came the introduction of exotic fishes — rainbow trout from the West and later brown trout from Europe.

Being more aggressive than brook trout, the exotics hogged limited food resources, pushing the brooks farther and farther upstream. Rarely do wild brook trout inhabit the same waters with wild rainbow and brown trout.

Despite the intrusions, brook trout endured, albeit in fewer numbers. They survived because they could live in places that neither loggers nor other trout could reach.

Brook trout spawn from late October into November. The male’s lower flanks turn bright orange-red, and a hook often develops in the lower jaw. Females construct redds (nests) in stream gravel and lay their eggs, which are fertilized by the males.

Depending on the temperature of the water, the eggs will hatch in January or February. Tiny fry stay buried in the stream gravel, subsisting on nutrients in the yolk sac until they’re able to forage on their own.

For several years, fishery biologists from Western Carolina University and the University of Tennessee surveyed wild trout streams in the western mountains, identifying approximately 350 brook trout streams. Some of these streams contained pure strains of southern Appalachian brook trout, survivors of glaciers that cut off much of the southern Appalachians more than a thousand years ago.

The difference between wild northern brook and wild southern Appalachian brook trout is apparent only in their DNA. Although some veteran brook trout anglers insist they can tell the difference, biologists have said there are no discernible physical differences between the two types of brook trout.

When hooked, brook trout do not make long, tail-dancing runs similar to rainbow or brown trout. Instead, they dive, tug and twist, only occasionally popping to the surface.

They’re fairly easy to catch, much easier than a wild rainbow or brown trout.

Place a fly in a riffle or at the edge of a pool, and you’ll immediately get a strike. Don’t expect a large fish because brook trout just don’t live long or grow large. Average life span for a wild brook trout is 3 to 5 years, and average size is between 6 and 8 inches.

A day’s fishing trip will produce more fish in the 4- to 6-inch range, though, than in the 6- to 8-inch range. Occasionally, if you find a nice, deep pool, you may hook a 10- or 11-inch brookie.

Savor the moment, for it’s a rarity.

Some of the mountain area’s biggest brook trout are in the headwaters of the Tuckasegee River at the Panthertown section of the Nantahala National Forest in Jackson County. Greenland Creek and Panthertown Creek consistently produce brook trout 11 inches and larger.

Greenland and Panthertown creeks are managed by the Wildlife Resources Commission under catch-and-release, artificial lures only regulations.

Three other brook trout streams also are managed under these regulations — Flat Creek in the Roy Taylor Forest in Jackson County and Lower and Upper creeks, tributaries of the South Toe River in Yancey County.

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, brook trout streams were opened to fishing last year after biologists determined fishing pressure had little or no effect on populations. A few wild brook trout streams are still off limits to fishing, part of the National Park Service’s efforts to restore certain streams.

Another excellent wild brook trout fishery is the headwaters of Big Snowbird Creek in Graham County. From the parking lot at the end of Big Snowbird Road, it’s about a 5-mile walk to Middle Falls, where the brook trout section begins. A good trail follows the stream. Brook trout in the 10- to 11-inch range are fairly common in this section.

Before fishing regulations were imposed, mountain fishers often caught brook trout by the sackful because they were considered prime table fare. Brookies still are considered a better “eating” fish than a brown or rainbow, and, as a result, are widely poached.

Locating native brook trout streams isn’t difficult. The difficult part is getting to them.

Find a map that shows a watershed and look for feeder streams or the headwaters of a primary stream in the watershed. Then start walking.

More than likely, you’ll find a streamside trail to take you part of the distance. If you’re really lucky, you’ll have to bushwhack through briars and thick tangles of rhododendron.

You’ll suffer scratches and bruises, but one thing is certain — the rougher the terrain, the fewer the fishers who’ve gone before you.

Keep climbing until you find a waterfall or a series of waterfalls. Above the waterfalls is where you’ll find brook trout, places where rainbow and browns can’t reach.

You’ll wonder if all the effort is worth it until you find a pool surrounded by sheer rock cliffs where water cascades over a ledge of mossy rocks. Cast a parachute Adams or a Quill Gordon into the waterspill, and before the fly floats more than few inches, you'll see a splash, feel a hard tug on the line, and when you land your catch and hold it in your hands, it’ll take your breath away.

Enjoy its beauty and think about how much this creature has endured and survived.

And let it swim away.