This past season a new friend of mine and an artist, Derek DeYoung, traveled to Labrador to study Minipi Brook Trout. Derek’s goal was to study true native Labrador Brook Trout in other words, Minipi Brook Trout in their many color variations. The result is a breathtaking composite portrait of the Minipi Brook Trout. And those traveling to the new Anne Marie Lake Lodge this upcoming summer will see this spectacular portrait. Four separate canvases each one portraying a unique part (head, tail, midsection) of a unique the brook trout. When all four canvases are viewed together the true essence of a Brookie is revealed, as if you are remembering it in a dream. Derek calls this impressive portrait a 4 in 1 fish.

Derek also does some pretty …

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The first week of the season is now under our belt, and what a crazy week it was. Camp start-up is always hectic and last week’s unseasonablely hot weather coupled with the rash of forest fires threw a wrench into the gears of our logistics machine. As some of you may already know, a forest fire seriously threatened Minonipi Lake Lodge, but I am happy to let you know that all is well, and the fire is now fully extinguished.

Then we had nearly a whole week of bright sunshine and scorching temperatures reaching into the high 90’s. This dropped the water on average 9 inches a day and slowed the action. We had 4 anglers at Anne Marie Lake Lodge, and the insects were hatching everywhere, but few brookies were moving until yesterday when Richard Schriber booked a 5 3/4#, a 5 1/2# female, and a 5 …

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This ad from the people at Newfoundland/Labrador tourism appeared in the March 2007 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. And to quote them, “that’s why many anglers call it [fishing in Newfoundland/Labrador] the best brook trout fishing on the planet.” And, of course, you guessed right—that’s a Minipi brookie.

The other day I was reading the January 2007 issue of Fur-Fish-Game, a venerable old magazine that’s been published since 1925. It calls itself “The Magazine for Practical Outdoorsmen,” but is primarily a trappers’ magazine. In fact it contains a Fur Market Report, which lists the current skin prices (wild minks, for example, fetch $15 to $20). The News & Notes section of this issue contains pictures of a brook trout caught by Tim Matheson in Manitoba’s Barbe Lake. Rob Cann of the provincial Water Stewardship Fisheries Branch says, ”Based on the measurements of the fish and the pictures I’ve seen, I’d estimate Matheson’s trout to be between 15 and 17 pounds.”

Since the all-tackle world record brook trout, caught in July,1916 in the Nipigon River, Ontario, Canada, by W.J. Cook weighed 14 lbs. 8 oz.; Mr. Matheson is holding the new world record. Holding, not keeping. He …

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