Hit Martha again bloom in full swing, it was moving around ? Is it turning, not heard of this till this spring. Anyway I went 2 for 3 on my cronimids. Happy times, 14" on the nose.
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@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....Had to fish, hit it about 1:00. Wind took me to other end fast. Lots of players on that wooly. Tried cronies a few places, not a take.
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.@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....
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'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".
I would agree with thisI 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
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.I would agree with this
i wish they'd do away with the legal sized plants. i don't claim to know how the whole stocking plan works together, but what's the point of these fish in a selective fishery that already has plenty of fish that have grown from fingerling stage?
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.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
legals back to 1995: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.