Muskiki Cutthroats 2 Old Guys

[Speckle55]

Wow !!

Have to laugh at your self's when you get 100 hits and hook into 20

biggest 16 1/2 and nice fights ..all C&R

coachman and myself had a blast

Oouch .. broke my Sage 9' 6wt rod my fault

back up fly rod will have to do

Osprey and loons where teaching young to hunt

3 loons came in to pose for camera shots..lol

2 Old Guys having fun fun fun

Enjoy

David

[tight line]

Beauty Pics As always!

[Bushrat]

Are there any Brookies left in Muskiki these days?

[Skoaltender]

Love these posts!

[Speckle55]

Yep talked to a Old guy that was there camping and he got 1 that was 2# most Cutthroats though..he was leaving that morning as we unloaded boat

David

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Are there any Brookies left in Muskiki these days?

[Rikkles Fisher]

Originally Posted by Speckle55

Yep talked to a Old guy that was there camping and he got 1 that was 2# most Cutthroats though..he was leaving that morning as we unloaded boat

David

Great pics! But that is no surprise! What kind of hook is that?

[waterninja]

Congrats on another nice day on the water. Very nice pics. Never heard of Muskiki.

[Deep]

Yes, them cutties love the orange color on the lures-both flies and the spinners.

[Fishslayer99]

Some beautiful fish there Speckle, and awesome pictures like usual!

[cowgirl]

Great photos, thanks for posting!

[Speckle55]

Thanks all

the flys we use were

White Woolly Bugger
Babine Special

and the lake location is here

http://www.satelliteview.co/?lid=6084927_CA_HLK_01

David

[schmedlap]

when it was just brookies there, my buds and I had some 40-50 fish days. The biggest ones we ever got were 2-3 lb., but they were the best eating trout I have ever had out of AB waters (we only ever kept a very few) - very orange fleshed and cold water. I did see a 4-5 lb. one that someone else caught one day (and it was unusual to have more than 2-3 boats out there at a time, even on the weekend), and an old timer I met claimed there were some 6 lb + ones in there back when the road access was incredibly difficult (before the 80's). I could get my little old Toyota 4x4 down through the trees, over the stumps, about 100 meters, to the only clear flat spot on the bank, and camp, and back up the very steep incline, but most vehicles just had to stop at the road-out parking spot a ways up the hill. There was no way to get anything other than an inflatable (I had a small Zodiac and electric motor) or small cartopper in there.

I always said that, really, brookies were really not the right fish to have put in there - too cold - it should have been native cuts. And, for once, F&W made a wise decision to switch things up. There is (was?) a great abundance of dace minnows, and they seemed to be the predominant big trout food source. I can imagine that there will be some very big cuts there in a few years - so long as native netting does not get out of hand - the local "off-res" band does, or used to, net there in the winter (still?).

Other things I remember were that we once decided to go there the first week of June, assuming it would be "just after ice out", and it was still frozen solid - ended up going back to Fairfax. Due to the high elevation, the stars at night camping out there were incredible in number and intensity compared to the flatlands - I remember just being awestruck by the night sky. And I remember how the weather could just "jump over the hill" and surprise you - one high summer day, with sunny 25C temperatures and no wind, we got chased back to shore and shelter 3 times by very sudden and violent localized storms that quickly came out of nowhere.

A very special place that I hope does not get more "civilized" than it now is, with the "new" (10-15 years back or so?) road ramp access right down to the shore. I think I will have to try and get back there next summer.

[Tall Texan]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

when it was just brookies there, my buds and I had some 40-50 fish days. The biggest ones we ever got were 2-3 lb., but they were the best eating trout I have ever had out of AB waters (we only ever kept a very few) - very orange fleshed and cold water. I did see a 4-5 lb. one that someone else caught one day (and it was unusual to have more than 2-3 boats out there at a time, even on the weekend), and an old timer I met claimed there were some 6 lb + ones in there back when the road access was incredibly difficult (before the 80's). I could get my little old Toyota 4x4 down through the trees, over the stumps, about 100 meters, to the only clear flat spot on the bank, and camp, and back up the very steep incline, but most vehicles just had to stop at the road-out parking spot a ways up the hill. There was no way to get anything other than an inflatable (I had a small Zodiac and electric motor) or small cartopper in there.

I always said that, really, brookies were really not the right fish to have put in there - too cold - it should have been native cuts. And, for once, F&W made a wise decision to switch things up. There is (was?) a great abundance of dace minnows, and they seemed to be the predominant big trout food source. I can imagine that there will be some very big cuts there in a few years - so long as native netting does not get out of hand - the local "off-res" band does, or used to, net there in the winter (still?).

Other things I remember were that we once decided to go there the first week of June, assuming it would be "just after ice out", and it was still frozen solid - ended up going back to Fairfax. Due to the high elevation, the stars at night camping out there were incredible in number and intensity compared to the flatlands - I remember just being awestruck by the night sky. And I remember how the weather could just "jump over the hill" and surprise you - one high summer day, with sunny 25C temperatures and no wind, we got chased back to shore and shelter 3 times by very sudden and violent localized storms that quickly came out of nowhere.

A very special place that I hope does not get more "civilized" than it now is, with the "new" (10-15 years back or so?) road ramp access right down to the shore. I think I will have to try and get back there next summer.

I never did a six pound brookie but topped out at four. You and snapfisher got your way and can now catch half dead cutthroats that are impossible to eat. Putting cutthroats in Muskiki was the dumbest thing ever done. Please don't take offence, it's just my opinion. Still no size to the cutthroats from what I have seen and heard. Am glad somebody remembers what a fantastic fishery it was.

I hope you get back and try it - best of luck.

[schmedlap]

Originally Posted by Tall Texan

I never did a six pound brookie but topped out at four. You and snapfisher got your way and can now catch half dead cutthroats that are impossible to eat. Putting cutthroats in Muskiki was the dumbest thing ever done. Please don't take offence, it's just my opinion. Still no size to the cutthroats from what I have seen and heard. Am glad somebody remembers what a fantastic fishery it was.

I hope you get back and try it - best of luck.

of course. I'm not a biologist. Why would the cuts be "half dead" or not very edible? My own experience with high elevation cuts, in cold lakes and streams, is very healthy and chunky fish, growing large, and the best eating of all the trout (as opposed to char like brookies, which are generally better eating). Would they not thrive on the same large minnow and insect diet and be better suited for an environment which is not the typical BT one?

[Tall Texan]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

of course. I'm not a biologist. Why would the cuts be "half dead" or not very edible? My own experience with high elevation cuts, in cold lakes and streams, is very healthy and chunky fish, growing large, and the best eating of all the trout (as opposed to char like brookies, which are generally better eating). Would they not thrive on the same large minnow and insect diet and be better suited for an environment which is not the typical BT one?

The "half dead" is an overstatement, but there is some kind of serious problem with releasing them. I've fished it for three summers and found that one third to half of them go belly up. Some of these do start to move and dive and may survive I don't know, but many die. I wish I had taken water temp and oxygen levels but never did. When Blue lake was open four of us fished it for two days and found 53 dead 2-6 pounders at the end of the second day. Several more were seen lying on the bottom but were not counted. I have talked to the fisheries biologists and they didn't have any explanation other than cutthroats are more sensitive than brookies. What is puzzling is that you never seem to have problems in running water, they are strong and seem to recover perfectly so I just don't know.

Between myself and a friend plus wives we have likely killed close to a dozen and have never found a minnow in them, always insects. This doesn't mean they don't eat them at times. Everyone was in agreement they tasted bad as well so for us it's strictly catch and release which isn't all bad, but I do like a trout or walleye once in a while. Those in Blue lake were excellent plus eating but I don't care for those in the Ram drainage either. Brookies are crazy variable when it comes to eating with some so bad they stink up the house to those in Muskiki were the very best trout anywhere. Those down the road at Thunder are very good too, just not as good.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that a friend and I ice fished it on the May long week end about fifteen years ago.

Give it a try and see what you think, it is good fishing.

[Speckle55]

here some nice fish from Muskiki .. this is after the first few years Cutthroat...also I am marking some very nice fish just saying

also on the eating of Cutthroats from Muskiki they are excellent shared one with a fly angler I met there on 5 night camp out

on the Muskiki experience it is Priceless(my truck/ my tent/ Grey Wolf called in)









David

[Tall Texan]

Good photos and fish. I guess there is no accounting for taste unless there is a time of year thing happening.

I am curious how you can tell you are marking big fish. I thought this was impossible because the pixel count varied with the relationship of the object to the cone of signals? I am glad some people are enjoying the lake but for me its a disaster.

[Speckle55]

started with Graft paper 5% cone to the new side views /gps tracking ... so if I go off by a few feet .. lol .. the olds guys are hey stay in the zone.. we even turn off the beep on the fish finder so only the biggest one is on.. lake has a out let creek.. Cutthroat have been in a long time those 19 inch to 21 are bigger now

this is what we are looking for


still Brookies in lake

David

[FlyTheory]

Massive cutties speckle!

[Bushrat]

Is there still brookies in Thunder lake? Do they still stock it?

[Tall Texan]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Is there still brookies in Thunder lake? Do they still stock it?

I haven't been there since the water dropped so don't know it's status. Muskiki lake could be resurrected now with the development of triploid brookies. Idiot biologists wouldn't have an excuse and would have to find something else to waste their time on.

[Deep]

Not why someone would not like the taste of Muskiki trout- I find them very nice, likely due to the cooler water esp. compared to many other Alta trout waters. Its primitive camping area adds to the enjoyment. Grizzlies, wolves, ospreys lots of feral horses.