Taking stocked fish

In the winter do a lot of you fish stocked lakes or ponds, and if so do you keep them. For me its been awhile since I ice fished for trout, as its usually been, pickerel, pike or perch. I fish for trout in a stocked pond by my place in the summer/fall, but I don't keep them anymore.

Do you think there is a flavor difference in stockers during the winter than in the summer/fall, or do you take them no matter what time of year?


Jason

[Brian]

Hey Jason......
Trout, like most other fish seem to taste a lot better when they come out of cold water as compared to those that are taken out of warmer water such as is common in stocked reservoirs in the summer. I seldom keep trout (at any time of year) as I'm not real fond of them as compared to the white fleshed fresh water fish. However, because stocked ponds & reseveroirs are basically put and take fisheries (they usually aren't successful spawners in these waters), I sure don't object to others taking them for a meal. Especially great to see a young angler catch and eat his/her very own fish. Of course, releasing fish is great too.....once they have experienced the pride of having their own catch for supper. I'm sure you know all this as well as the rest of us, but my advice would be to try a few & see how you enjoy them. You can go on for there. One thing that tends to bother me a bit however, is when groups of people visit any fishing spot & bring a large number of individuals (often children that never get to actually catch a fish, or are too young to even hold a fishing rod with help), yet end up going home with a limit of all sized fish for every individual present. It seems more like abuse of the resource more than a family having a fun time enjoying the outdoors and actually appreciating what it has to offer. Just my thoughts.

If you have children and live in the Calgary area, Chain Lakes south of Longview is a terrific place to take them. The trout are mostly small but are usually eager to bite & are great at holding kids attentions with small bobbers & fishing near the bottom. Avoid using worms though as there are lots of suckers that seem to really home in on that bait. Cheese (velveeta), power bait & fresh shrimp pieces (not canned) are very effective for trout, as are all sorts of other things that I'm sure others will mention. Have a great time!

Thanks for the info, if only it would warm up to go out onto the lake.

[Rumtan]

Depth makes all the difference in stocked fish taste. We stocked 800 last year and they have been phenomenally good tasting fish. The deeper they can go the less likely to have that muddy taste, we also put in some grass carp to keep the weeds down and a few brookies to add to the mix

[lambski]

When trout are going through the spawning motions rainbows in the spring brookies in the fall they are soft. However I have smoked brookies that were caught in the spawn and they were excellent, they are a little more oily(char) then rainbow which makes them great for smoking. In the lakes I fish I dont keep anything between the end of June and freeze up. When they are firm they are better. I also take the belly fat off when I clean them, from the bottom of the ribs down for the length of the fish. If you are fishing in a lake with tons of shrimp and happen to land some in the two pound range take the belly fat off and fillet them, beatifull bright orange fillets. Filleting trout is a little different then perch or walleye but if you get it down it is worth it.

[johann_seb]

Well, aside from limiting out every time they visit the lake, there's something else that happens on the ice that makes me irate. Or maybe two things.

One - don't let your dogs eat the fish. He/She/It didn't buy the license.

Two - If it clears the ice, the fish is dead. Their eyes freeze, and I don't know too many trout that can live without sight. If its tiny, unhook before it freezes (apparently less than 5 sec. out of water will do it if its -10C). If it comes through the ice, you may as well keep it.

Every year at Swan in the spring (By Crooked Creek), there's so-called "winterkill" in the thousands. Having been out there during the fishing orgies, I propose its folks throwing back non-keepers that are already done fer.

All the info on here is excellent.

Once it warms up I want to venture out. I have fished East Dollar Lake in the summer and have caught HUGE fish in that little mudhole, only been to Swan once, but didn't really do any fishing.