# Two Hearted Brown



## rocknut (Jun 23, 2008)

Been up at the Two Hearted for the past week and a half--and I'd still be there now if my husband hadn't dragged me kicking and screaming back home ! Did some fishing (not nearly as much as I'd have liked--I had my 5 year old with me who was more interested in swimming, playing on beaches, and the bears at Oswalds.).
Hubby and my older son met us out there on Friday. Saturday I did a bit of fishing, caught two nice eaters (10 and 11 inch brookies) put a couple more back, and lost a gorgeous one (i swear it was at least 15 inches!)--but of course, that will ever remain a fish story.

Sunday my husband decided he wants to fish a bit. This surprised me, as he hasn't fished the 2H in years, preferring to let me do the fishing (well, I say _preferring_, but really mean that I just happen to have a much more severe fishing problem than he does).
We get down to the river, I hand him my ultralight rod, and he takes the first cast. It's quite tight, with a fair amount of snags (I've lost my fair share of tackle to those blasted tag alders!) but he lobs it into the current lets it sit for a second and WHAM! gets a nice hit! I'm watching and we both realize that this isn't an 8 inch fish--the drag is screaming, rod bent in half and I'm sweating, thinking of the 4 lb test, and all of the snags (I've lost a fish or two that wrapped itself around the underwater branches)...Hubby expertly fought that fish, and we were finally able to get a glimpse of it, we thought it was a nice steelie. He worked it out of two snags and finally tired it enough to bring it in towards me kneeling on the bank. From that day on, I will never again fail to bring a landing net.

After one hair raising miss, I managed to grab the fish and bring it up on shore. It was a gorgeous Brown! I was a little surprised, as I have yet to pull a brown out of the river (all I've ever gotten were brookies, the occasional rainbow, and lots of snags!).

24 inches, and the pic doesn't do justice to the colouring. Bright red spots with bright blue halos....Almost as pretty as a brook trout.

Go figure, first time he fishes there in three years, and he pulls in this beauty! Second question EVERYONE asks after "Where'd you get it?" is "Was she really mad"? LOL! I had as much adrenaline pumping through me watching him, as if I were the one fighting the fish.


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## neazor91 (Aug 4, 2008)

That's quite a fish! I didn't know there were any browns in the two hearted. I've only caught brookies and rainbows. Good Job!


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

That is an awesome brown!


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## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

Nice work, beautiful fish.


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

Good job on that monster! Beautiful fish!


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

That's a great fish and thanks for the story. Have a brown on the wall from the Manistee North Branch taken years ago with my ex after spending a week in the UP that's a spitting image of yours. Your story brought back a good memory.


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## rocknut (Jun 23, 2008)

neazor91 said:


> I didn't know there were any browns in the two hearted. I've only caught brookies and rainbows.


Me too, anyone know how common it is to catch Browns in the Two Hearted?

Hubby told me he will probably never fish from that spot again--choosing not to so he can tell people that "he _only_ catches the big trout..." 

He's going to gloat over that fish for the rest of his life, unless I manage to upstage it with a 24 inch brookie! One can only dream...


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## brookies101 (Jun 23, 2008)

That is an awesome trout!!! Sounds like my wife and i, i take her to my fav. spots, let her use my best gear and favorite lures, what happens next, she proceeds to catch some of the biggest fish (for that given species) that i have ever seen. She usually only catches one, but trust me, its a hog. I think it was Larry Dahlburg that said something like if you take a newbie fishing their odds of catching bigger, more fish are inversely proportional to what one might expect (obviously not a direct quote, but you get the point). Never fails......

Thank you for sharing the pics and story, it always boggles my mind watching my wife fight these bigguns but i believe that my adrenaline rush trumps hers every time . Never gets old.... Thanks again


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## pikedevil (Feb 11, 2003)

Many of the larger tributaries to lake superior have developed small populations of naturally producing brown trout. For the most part the fish are migratory and move in and out of the lake, but with less rhyme or reason than the steelhead. I've seen and caught them up to 32 inches and 12 pounds or so. I would guess that fish had spent a good portion of it's life in the lake and thats why it was soo large.


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## BeWild (Mar 19, 2007)

Beautiful fish! I would also wager it spent some portion of time in the big pond. I normally get one brown in a Superior trib every spring that is 20+ inches while steelhead fishing. They aren't common, but they sure are gorgeous.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Beautiful fish. Thanks for sharing.


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## Michfisherman (Sep 23, 2009)

What a beautiful fish! I would love to live in the UP and be able to fish all the great lakes and streams it has. Thanks for the pic.


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## jrv (Nov 11, 2008)

That's an awesome brown! Looks little it spent some time in the big lake.


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## Nork (Apr 29, 2009)

All I can say is "WOW". I've never caught a brown in the 2H. Like the previous posts, most likely came from the big lake. Congrats!


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## rocknut (Jun 23, 2008)

That fish had to swim a fair stretch from the big lake to get to where he caught it! 

Neatest thing was what we found in its stomach (like most of you I suspect, I always check out what a fish has been eating):
A half digested MOUSE! No kidding! The hindquarters (legs, feet and tail) were still intact. One of the coolest things I've ever viewed after cutting open a fish's stomach!


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## foxfire69 (Sep 10, 2006)

Great story, Thanks!! I can relate to catching a large Brown trout..."resident" that is!! Go catch a comparative "Brookie"!!


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## kurtlind (Apr 28, 2010)

wow - nice fish!


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## IncredibleHook (Jan 16, 2005)

wow very nice! The biggest browns I have ever caught were on mouse imitating flies


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## Wellston (Dec 28, 2000)

rocknut said:


> He's going to gloat over that fish for the rest of his life, unless I manage to upstage it with a 24 inch brookie! One can only dream...


Good luck with that! Tell your husband congrats on the nice brown.
Jim


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## muskySlayer (Aug 4, 2008)

i bet that was exciting  good fishing story for sure..i'd try some larger rodent flies after that ..kudos


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## Whit1 (Apr 27, 2001)

While I haven't fished the Two-Hearted R. regularly in years from 1958 until 1976 I fished it every May for steelheads. In all that time our group (three excellent trout anglers early on and then three others as us youngsters developed our...fins) caught one brown trout and that was a fish of about 10".

As for a mouse in your brown you won't find them often, but browns do eat mice and any other animal, fish or otherwise, they can gulp down. An after dark brown trout tactic is to fish an artificial mouse right next to shore or in-water timber. If you decide to give it a go be prepared for a vicious strike by the fish and develop patience in setting the hook. A "rapid response" hook-set usually comes up empty.

Like others have said I would suspect the brown was a lake run that liked what it found and decided to stick around.


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## 1styearff (Mar 3, 2010)

Beautiful brown and a great story. I'd gloat over that hog for quite a while myself, but I'm with you - I'm chasing the brookies


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## UPJerry (Dec 14, 2006)

Great fish, thanks for the pics and story!


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