Trout Fishing
Here you will find everything about Trout Fishing at Meadowbrook. Along with pictures we will have a log of all Brown Trout over 16 inches, Rainbow Trout over 14 inches, and Brook Trout over 12 inches caught on Meadowbrook property. Please let us know of any large trout caught and we will include them in our log. If you have a picture of the fish and or the fisherman we will take that too. We have long encoraged catch and release here at Meadowbrook and well over 90% of all fish caught here are released.
Meadowbrook Trout Catch Log
Fishing News
Meadowbrook on the Pine Opening Weekend Hall of Fame Established
After 76 Opening Weekends and 64 that included an Opening Weekend largest trout trophy we have established an Opening Weekend Hall of Fame. To qualify you must have won the Trophy at least four times. Anyone who is in the Hall of Fame can no longer compete for the traditional Opening Weekend Trophy and resultant fame. The first four members inducted in the order they won for the fourth time are Fred Schwarze Jr., Ed Mowinski, Dave Bowyer, and Brent Mowinski. A new display with plaques for each Hall of Fame member now hangs in the dining room. There are two current attendees with two trophy wins and one current attendee with three wins. Will one of these contenders join the Hall next or will some dark horse be the next inductee? The competition has changed with a little more incentive for some. The traditions just seem to start themselves here at Meadowbrook on the Pine.
Reduced Trout Numbers?
Many Meadowbrook fisherman as well as fisherman up and down the river have reported catching fewer fish than usual this year (2014). A talk with the local DNR biologist, who is also an avid Pine River angler, confirmed there was indeed a reduced trout population. The biologist attributed it to two factors. The first being two 100 year floods in the past 5 years which changed much of the habitat as well as washing smaller fish and insects downstream. In addition we had a much colder than normal winter last year. The good news is he is sure the trout population will recover in two or three years. The better news is the Pine River is still a beautiful and productive natural river.
Update (September 2015)
No hard scientific evidence involved but the general consensus of our trout fisherman is that the fishing and fish numbers are improving.
Update (September 2016)
This year showed continued improvement in fish numbers, especially 10-14 inch rainbows. We are even seeing an increase in the numbers of brook trout being caught. If BOPRTA YEW is any indication than the trout population may be most or all of the way back. The Mowinski crew caught 60 to 70 trout with Brent catching 20 of those Sunday morning alone. He claims he caught 12 in a one hour period on a spinner and I am afraid I believe him.
Final Update (September 2019)
The Mowinskis report that their group of pretty good trout fisherman caught over 200 trout this BOPRTA YEW. All three species in the expected ratios were caught. I believe we can say the trout population is fully recovered.
September 27, 2015 - BOPRTA YEW
The tradition of a closing weekend of trout fishing has been firmly established by the Mowinski clan and friends. Started in 1983 by a few diehards it has fittingly become a family tradition of the premiere fishing family of Meadowbrook, them darn Mowinskis. Brent Mowinski was the winner this year with a total of 49 7/8 inches of trout. You can enter one fish of each species and one kicker of any species. Because of the large number of suckers and the inability of Jordan Brooks to catch any trout the Whistling Trout (Sucker) award was added in 2014. This years proud winner was Steve McCoy with a 19 3/4 incher. Note that Brent is holding the Opening Weekend Trophy because for the second consecutive year the previous year's winner forgot to bring their trophy. No big deal as Eddie forgot to bring his fishing rods.
Boprta Yew Winners
April 26, 2015 - The 71st Annual Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
And the tradition continues as the usual suspects gathered for a family tradition like no other. The weather and fishing were just OK but the gathering of the Meadowbrook family was as always just spectacular. Mike Bowyer not only won the trophy but announced he had just landed his dream job as an engineer for Hoyt Archery. That was the good news. The bad news was that the new job was in Utah. The new wiring was tested for the first time and everything worked. See you at the 72nd.
September 28, 2014 - BOPRTA YEW
Another trout season At Meadowbrook on the Pine has come to a close. The relatively new tradition (30 years) of Boprta Yew has seen another Mowinski win the traveling trophy. Of course most of the people attending are named Mowinski. This year a new award, The Whistling Trout Award, was won by Bryce Mowinski with a 19 1/4" sucker. This win follows his first Opening Weekend win earlier in the year. The real winner was Ryan Mowinski with a total of 40 3/4".
April 27, 2014 - 70th Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
Bryce Mowinski got his first win at Opening Weekend this year. He still has a way to go to match his brother's nine wins or his dad's eight wins. Fishing was rather slow this year as only 15 or so trout were caught all weekend. Cold water temperatures and last week's high water were widely believed to be the reasons for the relative limited number of fish caught. The Mowinksi's did have a little trouble getting started Saturday because it seemed that sometime during the night before all of the handles on all of their rods had mysteriously been flipped to the opposite side.
April 28, 2013 - 69th Annual Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
The 2013 Opening Weekend brought us great weather, good fishing, and an incredible ending. Michael Bowyer was the early leader with a nice 18 1/4" Brown caught in First Hole on Saturday morning. It looked like Mike would be the winner right up until 11:40 Sunday morning when Lisa Bowyer came up from the lower lawn with a 21 1/4" Brown caught in Stump Hole. A fish that still had the hook and a length of monofilament in it's lip from Chris who had lost the fish minutes before Lisa landed it. It was the third largest Opening Weekend winner in history. On a side note that means that Lisa and her spouse have caught two out of three of the biggest Opening Weekend trophy winners. I'm just saying.
August 6, 2012 - Michael Bowyer Has This Spot
Michael Bowyer has a special spot somewhere on the property where he claims he almost always catches a nice fish. Of course none of us really believed him as we all had fished the same spot with little or no success. The author of this post hasn't caught one fish in this spot in the past 40 years. Michael's response to this skepticism is to catch at least one fish there every time he is at Meadowbrook. This week however he out did even his highest expectations. On a sunny Sunday afternoon he called the cast before he made it and caught a 17 1/4" brown. OK, so he was a little lucky on that one. Just to prove his point he returned on Monday, another sunny midday fishing trip and caught a 19:" Brown. I don't know about the rest of you but I am becoming a reluctant believer. The fish are now mounted on a section of the old bridge and hang in the summer house living room.
April 29, 2012 - 68th Annual Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
Fishing was tough as the water was quite low and clear. Brent Mowinski was the winner with a 14 1/2" Brown.
May 1, 2011 - 67th Annual Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
Brent Mowinski was the winner for the second straight year. His 19" brown is the 6th largest fish to win the Opening Weekend contest. Although the river was too high for wading many nice fish were landed from the bank. There were in fact 22 trout 16" or larger caught during the weekend. Cara Jellison caught a 16 1/2" brown on Sunday morning. Eddie Mowinski, whom you will recall was skunked last year, caught 6 trout over 16 " from Old Maid's Hole before 10:00 am Saturday morning. I think he felt he had something to prove.
September 26, 2010 - Boprta-Yew (Brotherhood of Pine River Trout Anglers Year End Winner)
Some time in the early 1980's a small group of hardcore Meadowbrook Fisherman began a closing weekend of trout season contest. The name , coined by Jerry Horan, consists of the letters in Pat Bowyer who had recently passed away. The original members were Jerry Horan, Dave Bowyer, Ed Mowinski, Mark Dennis, Steve Bowyer, Chris Halatek, and Timmy Burke. Over the years it has evolved into a Mowinski family and friend contest and what could be more fitting for a serious fisherman's weekend. The contest winner is determined by the total length of four fish - one brown, one rainbow, one brook, and one kicker of any species. This is a great time of year to fish as the fish usually cooperate and you have the river pretty much to yourself. Although Brent Mowinski won the contest this year with a catch of 55 7/8 total inches the picture of Ed was included to make up for his Opening Weekend performance. Also it is a pretty nice fish.
April 26, 2010 - 66th Annual Opening Weekend at Meadowbrook on the Pine
Brent Mowinski was the Opening Weekend trophy winner with a 17 3/4" brown caught Sunday morning, edging out Michael Bowyer and Rob Jellison who had both landed 16 1/2" browns on Saturday. Even more notable is the fact that Ed Mowinski was skunked this year for the first time anyone including Ed can remember. We all feel bad. A nice hatch of Hendrickson's was seen on Sunday and a number of fish were actively feeding on the surface. The river was low and fairly clear especially for the Opener.
