busybeaver
Offline
sockeye
Profile Status:
Reged: 03/31/01
Posts: 91
Loc: Western Washington
|
|
A interesting factoid from the freshly planted trout in a lake. This is from the wdfw website on trout tactics.
As you read through the stocking tables, please note that many lakes are open year-round or open on March 1, and are stocked as early as February. While it may be too late this year to take advantage of this knowledge, stocking schedules are fairly consistent from year-to-year, so you may be able to get in some good early season fishing next year.
Studies have shown that trout tend to stay in the top three to five feet of water for the first week or so after stocking. This makes them easy prey for cormorants and other avian predators, which take a significant bite out of our stocking efforts each year. Your best chance for success may come within the first couple of weeks after fish are stocked. Lots of anglers on the water tends to disrupt feeding birds and thus may improve fishing later in the season. Because trout tend to remain shallow for a while after stocking, fishing on the bottom may not be as productive in the early season as it will be later. Try shallow trolling with small lures, flies or spinner-and-bait combinations. The newer "light" trolling lures allow you to fish with spinner- and-bait rigs without the heavy pull you had to put up with in the past. When fishing from the shore, use a float to keep your bait up in the feeding zone. Trout tend to go deeper as the lake surface warms in the late spring and summer. This is the time to try fishing on or just off the bottom, using floating paste-type baits or other buoyant baits. Trout have also been feeding more on natural food, so artificial baits may lose some of their attraction. When this happens, try natural baits such as worms, eggs, or flies and lures that imitate natural trout forage. This would also be the case in lakes managed primarily with fry plants where the fish have been feeding on natural forage since at least last fall.
--------------------
Marty
Welcome to my home ...
|
Maltby
Offline
Native Slab
Profile Status:
Reged: 12/17/00
Posts: 1183
Loc: Woodinville, WA, USA
|
|
I've found this to hold true in the lakes that I fish, Marty, but not for just for the first few weeks. In my experience it seems to be the case for spring and early summer too. But as the season passes into June and July and the fish are moving down I just stay with them with my own version of electric motor mooching that moves my lure up and down the depth column until I'm into the fish.I didn'r realize that the dept. encouraged early season fishing in part to disrupt feeding birds but I think that is a good idea. I they plant more triploids on the west side like they have been doing I'll bet the birds will really get interrupted.
|
plugger
Offline
steelie
Profile Status:
Reged: 02/15/01
Posts: 240
Loc: moses lake wa usa
|
|
I've found that trout like shallow water in winter and spring also. I start fishing in late Jan. I would have to say that 80% of them that I catch are in less than 15' of water.Weather they live deep and feed shallow I don't Know, but I will fish deep on occasion and almost never get bit.
Marty you say the planted fish stay shallow, Does that mean they stay in the top of the water table in deep water or do they stay in shallow water.If they stay in say, 8-10' of water a 2' leader with a floating bait would put your bait in mid water.
|
busybeaver
Offline
sockeye
Profile Status:
Reged: 03/31/01
Posts: 91
Loc: Western Washington
|
|
Plug I don't have any personal science data I just used the tip from the wdfw. I have seen the schools of trout swimmming near the surface in sutherland after the plant. We had a double double when the school swam by. Two trout per rod on a double hook setup pretty cool even if they were the roundtails.Maltby it would be funny to see that. Big bass like the baby ducks why not our genetically altered trout. Wonder how big a three year hold over triploid would be. [This message has been edited by Marty (edited April 04, 2001).]
--------------------
Marty
Welcome to my home ...
|
lazydrifter
Offline
dual red striper
Profile Status:
Reged: 12/05/00
Posts: 361
Loc: Port Angeles, Wa
|
|
When you get in on a fresh plant especially in a small lake or pond and you are fishing bait just take a big handful of small gravel and throw it across the surface around your bobber or vicinity of your bait. This is what triggers hatchery fish to feed in the hatchery when they throw the feed and it splatters the surface. This will carry over for a while and it will trigger them to start feeding.
|
Maltby
Offline
Native Slab
Profile Status:
Reged: 12/17/00
Posts: 1183
Loc: Woodinville, WA, USA
|
|
I imagine a little duck would be Peking duck to a three year old holdover. I know that in my pond the late, great Hugo scored a duckling. Incidentally, I have a good picture of dead Hugo but I don't know how to post it on the board. Do I have to use a link?LD... interesting tip on the gravel throwing. I can see how that would work because those fish are so trained for feeding time. When I walk up to my pond the fish gather near me (or my dogs who like to think they could catch a fish)waiting for me to throw pellets or worms and they still do it even if they haven't been fed for awhile.
|
busybeaver
Offline
sockeye
Profile Status:
Reged: 03/31/01
Posts: 91
Loc: Western Washington
|
|
Maltby two ways to get a picture on here.
1) email me the pic and I will post it or
2)To be able to use the url of a pic it needs to be on a web page already. Then you include it in between image tags. the image tags [img ]http:image address from the picture properties (right click on picture and select properties) [/img ] Picture hosting sites like picturetrail.com allow you to easily email the picture and it goes into your account. Then just find picture or give us the url and we can click on it. Its harder to explain than actually do.
--------------------
Marty
Welcome to my home ...
|
GutZ
Offline
Native Slab
Profile Status:
Reged: 01/25/01
Posts: 1537
Loc: Ballard, Ya Sure Ya Betcha
|
|
Maltby;
Wasn't Hugo the only fatality in the Earthquake?BTW I have had a lot of success fishing trout on floats year round. We fish a slip float from 6' to 16' feet deep, with about 1/2 ounce of lead and a niteccrawler with a #2 or #4 gamagatsu. This has been very successful over there where Plugger hails from for many years. Have they released those pen raised guys yet? GutZ
--------------------
It's good to have friends.
It's better to have friends with boats!
**GutZ**
|
Maltby
Offline
Native Slab
Profile Status:
Reged: 12/17/00
Posts: 1183
Loc: Woodinville, WA, USA
|
|
Marty... I will email you that picture over the weekend. Thanks.Fishguts...I think so..I can't for the life of me understand why it was never mentioned in the papers or why I can't get federal emergency relief. BTW he won't be the last fatality...I watched an osprey survey my pond last evening from a nearby snag. Uh oh.
|
plugger
Offline
steelie
Profile Status:
Reged: 02/15/01
Posts: 240
Loc: moses lake wa usa
|
|
They released 60,000 at mardones on the 5th, they will probably release the rest this weekend. They released the moses fish last year by the middle of the month. Mardon offers free fishing on there docks on release weekends. It drives me nutts to see all those people fishing for those little ones. They are in the 16" range by feb. They slotter them in Nov at medicare beech, they run about 14'. There will be 40 or so people there every day.
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
