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Tombraider
Guest
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Tombraider
Guest
dflett68
Steelhead
@Tim Lockhart @Ceviche , is it just me? - the spotting on this one seems cutty-esque. not a clear pic, and i don't see slashes, but those aren't always there. i've never seen one of the cutts from martha except in a pic from tim years ago... based on the stocking reports since 2016 6/10 fish there should be a cutts....
I'm going to agree that it is a Cutt. Yes, they are there, but they're really, really hard to find. Given that Martha has Cutts, Browns, and Rainbows, a trifecta is possible--something I've done (maybe two or three times?) a long time ago in the past. The cutts were rather small those times, though. Kudos to @Tombraider for his catch. Maybe he'll tell us the size. The best I've ever brought to hand was a 16" on a very small #14 or #16 Hungarian Partridge and Peacock herl fly. You just have to target likely habitat.
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Tombraider
Guest
I'm really disappointed in The size of the fish. All of the illegal fishing has taken its toll on that lake. Fish caught were 10-14".
dflett68
Steelhead
that could be the cause - and undoubtedly people are fishing illegally. but i think it is more likely that the thousands of legal sized (10-14), less cautious fish stocked in early may are getting to your flies before the better fish can.
I doubt that even with a decent amount of illegal fishing, a lake that is nearly 60 acres, 70' deep and had 12,000 bows planted in it over the past four years will have all the large fish get fished out. There will always be some carryovers. You just haven't found them yet.
SF
SF
I would agree with this
Me too. I think all lake with plants do. Mike got a 4#'er this morning, must of been in here a while. He seems to get more than the rest of us.
It is interesting how they plant some of the lakes. If I'm reading the 2022 planting document correctly, they planted 3,000 catchable bows plus 3,500 fry / fingerling browns and 10,000 fry / fingerling cutthroat in Martha. That is a lot of fish regardless of whether they are catchables or not, especially if you do that year over year.
I do agree with @Tombraider that it is nice to have quality fish. Many of the quality or selective lakes really aren't that great with non selective, put and take lakes providing better fishing in my opinion. Here is a link if anyone is interested in seeing the stockings for a particular lake.
SF
dflett68
Steelhead
they are in there. in march and april my average size was more like 15" and up. i was catching a lot less, but i expect that with the temps back then, and with fish that have grown up in the wild or have had at least 1 year to become feral.
early may everything changed with the introduction of the 3,000 catchables all podded up near the launch like they'd just been dumped into a different tank. they've spread out now but it does't feel to me like a ton of them have been removed by the baitfishers and ospreys.
The majority of the trout I’ve caught so far this year have been over 14”. They’re there, but you have to figure out what they want.
What I’ve seen of the recent planters is that they have spread out a bit by now. The last time I went out, I found a tight collection of them in a shaded spot along the southeast shoreline. The spot looked fishy, so I had to see what might be hiding there. Dinkerville.
What I’ve seen of the recent planters is that they have spread out a bit by now. The last time I went out, I found a tight collection of them in a shaded spot along the southeast shoreline. The spot looked fishy, so I had to see what might be hiding there. Dinkerville.
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Tombraider
Guest
That looks fun
I'm not familiar with Martha but assume it's a natural lake. That being said, with the stocking of various sizes and varieties of trout along with the presence of warmwater species, the principles of reservoir biology apply. Back during my working days, we managed (or attempted to manage) trophy fisheries in reservoirs on state wildlife areas in northern California. In one case on a newly acquired wildlife area, we had a 200 surface acre reservoir that had an existing largemouth bass and bluegill population along with native rainbow trout (steelhead fingerlings). The rainbows accessed the lake via an unscreened diversion from a stream in the Upper Klamath River Watershed. After initial electrofishing surveys, the diversion was screened and we switched to an annual planting of 10"-12" Eagle Lake strain rainbow trout. These fish were planted in the fall (after the lake had closed to fishing) and allowed to grow through the winter months until the spring trout opener.
I had about 28 years of involvement in this program and can say there's a lot of variability in the food chain from year to year with booms and busts of various fish and prey species populations. Given the intensity of stocking as stated in Brian's post, I would expect the same sort of variability in Martha. Warmwater species compete with trout for prey as well, as that giant black crappie will attest. I would expect that some years (or a series of years) will be more favorable for rapid growth than others.
I had about 28 years of involvement in this program and can say there's a lot of variability in the food chain from year to year with booms and busts of various fish and prey species populations. Given the intensity of stocking as stated in Brian's post, I would expect the same sort of variability in Martha. Warmwater species compete with trout for prey as well, as that giant black crappie will attest. I would expect that some years (or a series of years) will be more favorable for rapid growth than others.
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dflett68
Steelhead
legals back to 1995:
fry/fingerling same time frame:
i'm curious how you and other pros interpret this data together with reports here. my observations just as a consumer are:
1. i've never caught or seen any trout in this lake under 10 inches - and those 10-11' fish were all bows and clearly fish that were stocked only days prior.
2. haven't seen a single brown this year. haven't heard a reliable report of any either.
3. that was a BIG crappie and i've heard other reports of big ones. i got a pretty hefty perch that night as well.
3. cutthroat: what the hell? 64% of the fish stocked in the last six years and they are nowhere to be found.
when i look at these numbers as a lay person, together with my catch experiences, i see a picture of a lake ruled by piscavors where baby cutts are for some reason more vulnerable than baby browns, and can't get a foothold. i also wonder if 2018-2019 was too harsh of a dip in stocking for the browns to maintain their rank in the foodchain.
Uptonogood
PNW raised
Those rainbow trout are an ideal forage fish for LMB. Conversations with biologists stocking 8” rainbows in Southern California lakes who laughed at the feeding frenzy when stocking trucks unloaded their contents at boat launches. Of course, my memory is going back to grad school in 1977! If a trout made it to 12” it was probably safe.
Ideal forage for LMB? 8”-10”, cylindrical body, no spines in fins, stupid and schooling like they’re still in Their rearing ponds.
Ideal forage for LMB? 8”-10”, cylindrical body, no spines in fins, stupid and schooling like they’re still in Their rearing ponds.
