North Country Angling: In search of squaretails

One of my earliest memories of big brook trout fishing was on the East Branch of the Saco River. I was bushwacking through the forest with Gordan Mann to reach a hard-to-find section of the river. I used a yellow hornberg and caught 14-to-16-inch brook trout one right after another. Clearly, a memorable moment.

During that fishing trip, the talk was about how big the brook trout tails were. Unlike lake trout, who have forked tails, these brook trout had square tails. It was an adaptation to allow for quick acceleration to either chase down prey or avoid being prey. The fish also used their tails to navigate the varying currents in the river.