Great Weekend For Stocked Trout

[Frank_NK28]

Had a great weekend fishing with my wife. Action wasn't fast and furious but it was steady and we managed to bring 17 Brookies and Bows to the ice and kept a few of the nicer sized fish for the smoker. My wife caught her PB Brookie today just minutes before packing up and calling it a weekend, a real beauty football shaped male that measured 16.5"x13.5" that pulled the lip grip scale to 3lb-8oz.

[58thecat]

Wow those are slabs, well done!

[AlbertanGP]

Nice fish! I had similarly good luck this weekend, fishing from around 8am to 12:30 on Saturday. I caught 12-15 rainbows with four or five in the 4 to 5 pound range. I wasn't even really fishing per se. It was a last minute decision to go Friday night so I packed two jaw jackers and a lawn chair. Those things usually out fish me anyways, but did miss more fish than they caught Saturday.

Fishing sure has been weird up here this season. usually I wouldn't even bother on the stocked trout lakes at this time of year they are so slow. But fishing has been so bad on my home walleye/pike/perch lake that I decided to fish for trout instead and had one of my best outings of the season.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

Nice fish! I had similarly good luck this weekend, fishing from around 8am to 12:30 on Saturday. I caught 12-15 rainbows with four or five in the 4 to 5 pound range. I wasn't even really fishing per se. It was a last minute decision to go Friday night so I packed two jaw jackers and a lawn chair. Those things usually out fish me anyways, but did miss more fish than they caught Saturday.

Fishing sure has been weird up here this season. usually I wouldn't even bother on the stocked trout lakes at this time of year they are so slow. But fishing has been so bad on my home walleye/pike/perch lake that I decided to fish for trout instead and had one of my best outings of the season.

Definitely strange this weekend. Moon phase maybe? We had more missed strikes on the jawjackers this weekend than the previous two seasons combined and the fish we did get most were not hooked deeply. Friday was a different story as they were aggressive. Watched them come in on the aqua-view and just smash into the baits. Yesterday it was missed strikes more than hooked. I was wondering if it was the new 28" MH rods I was running but after reading your post I am thinking not. I was thinking maybe the 28's didn't have enough snap but now I am rethinking that?

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Frank_NK28

Definitely strange this weekend. Moon phase maybe? We had more missed strikes on the jawjackers this weekend than the previous two seasons combined and the fish we did get most were not hooked deeply. Friday was a different story as they were aggressive. Watched them come in on the aqua-view and just smash into the baits. Yesterday it was missed strikes more than hooked. I was wondering if it was the new 28" MH rods I was running but after reading your post I am thinking not. I was thinking maybe the 28's didn't have enough snap but now I am rethinking that?

If you have a camera I'm sure you've seen them come up and push baits with their noses. My guess is they were either doing that and setting them off, or just being really good bait thieves. I've never seen the JJ miss like that either...they probably missed two fish for every one they caught. Nothing was deep. I only had to grab the hemostats once. And the 30" M rods I use are usually money, so I don't think it's that.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

If you have a camera I'm sure you've seen them come up and push baits with their noses. My guess is they were either doing that and setting them off, or just being really good bait thieves. I've never seen the JJ miss like that either...they probably missed two fish for every one they caught. Nothing was deep. I only had to grab the hemostats once. And the 30" M rods I use are usually money, so I don't think it's that.

What settings are you running your 30" rods at in the JJ's. I usually run the #2 hole on the front end and middle hole on the rod handle end when dead sticking the 28" rods. I run the #3 hole and middle hole when using the jigging base with the 28". When I run my 36" rods I run the back hole on the rod holder and #7 hole on the front end. I run Quantum Pulse combos with the solid carbon rods and baitcast reels with 15# braid with a 36"-42" 6# mono leader for stocked trout.

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Frank_NK28

What settings are you running your 30" rods at in the JJ's. I usually run the #2 hole on the front end and middle hole on the rod handle end when dead sticking the 28" rods. I run the #3 hole and middle hole when using the jigging base with the 28". When I run my 36" rods I run the back hole on the rod holder and #7 hole on the front end. I run Quantum Pulse combos with the solid carbon rods and baitcast reels with 15# braid with a 36"-42" 6# mono leader for stocked trout.

Middle hole at the back, #4 at the front...whether they are used alone or on the jigging base. I can't remember if I have 6 or 8lb fluoro spooled up right now.

[tirebob]

Wow! Looks like a fun time! Serious question though... What is with all the trout species looking like mutants? I grew up fishing all these species and until the last years I have never seen a trout look so deformed and football'ish?

[Frank_NK28]

It is very common with stocked rainbows as they are genetically modified to be sterile so as to grow fast and be a good catchable size in a shorter span of time since they are stocked based on put and take. The Brookies that is very common as they mature the males form that humpbacked shape and bold colouration since they are a member of the Char family. Also in waters with plenty of high protein feed available like scuds and other invertebrates they put the weight on fast as they are pretty much eating machines.

[HL_transplant]

Nice brookies for sure. I could be wrong about the lake but if these are from the Sask side they are definitely not genetically modified. Sask stocked trout regardless of species are all diploid.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by HL_transplant

Nice brookies for sure. I could be wrong about the lake but if these are from the Sask side they are definitely not genetically modified. Sask stocked trout regardless of species are all diploid.

I would assume the Brookies are not but not certain about the Bows?

[HL_transplant]

Sask is all duploid when stocked by the Ft. Quapelle hatchery. The only exception is the fish farm escapees at Dief which accounts for the world records etc.

[pinelakeperch]

It doesn't get more beautiful than a brookie. Thanks for sharing!

[Frank_NK28]

Arrived at the lake around noon. Went to my little honey hole that has been producing consistently, punched open all the holes, set a rod in one in 11' as it's been a good producer this year and the other in the ice tent in 9'. They have been the two top producing holes on the little weed lined sloping bank then grabbed my lunch after turning on the Aquaview and sat back to see what today would bring. Ten minutes passed and a rainbow about 20" long came by and took two looks at my offering and continued on. A few minute later a small Brookie about 10" long raced in from off screen and hammered the little shiner bouncing up and down under the jigging Jawjacker and the rod snapped into action. I lifted the fish clear of the water, unhooked it and set it free telling it to come back in a couple years when it had some girth and shoulders. About 45 mins passed and I was outside clearing ice from the outside hole once again when the rod snapped up. I thought I tripped the trigger myself and was cursing under my breath when the rod suddenly bent over and a fish peeled about 25 feet of line in one run. I grabbed the rod and the fight was on. A few runs and some good headshakes and a few minutes later I had my first kype jawed male rainbow of the season. A nice girthy 53.5cm s fish(tail pinched as per regulations) that tipped the lip grip at 4lbs-2oz. A dead sticked clown coloured Slushbug jig tipped with a half of a mealworm in the Jawjacker was it's undoing.
About an hour passed and a few fish passed by on the Aquaview screen but overall it was pretty quiet when I heard the outside rod fire once again. I stepped outside to see the rod tip pointing skyward and thought it was a missed strike but then the tip of the rod moved slightly. I walked over, grabbed the rod and brought up a small Brookie of about 12". I looked at the fish and said "Go join your pal and come back in a year or two" and set it free down the hole.
After rebaiting the Slushbug jig with a half of a mealworm once again I settled back into the tent. It started to rain off and on and I thought about packing it up as I figured the roads would be getting bad enough to battle in daylight never mind waiting until dark. Well I pondered packing up another 15 minutes or so and finally decided to pull the pin. I gathered a handful of stuff to take to the truck to start the packing process. I opened the tent door and as I stepped through the outside rod once again fired and this time the fish was on instantly. The rod started bending downward as I reached for it and oh man what a fight was underway. The fish took about a 40' run. I would gain 10' and lose 10'. Finally after a good fight of about 5 minutes or so I saw a flash at the bottom of the hole as the fish turned on it's side to head to bottom again and I thought wow that's a beauty! It sure looked girthy!
Another few pumps and turns of the reel handle and the head came into the hole and I slipped my fingers under the gills and lifted it clear. Another kype-jawed male. It was only 1.5 cm longer than the first Bow I'd iced, measuring 55cm(tail pinched) but it was a full 1lb-5oz heavier than the first. By this time it had been raining pretty hard, my reel froze up with freezing rain caked on it a few times during the fight and I had already decided to pack it in before the fish hit. As much as I wanted to stay and try for another I thought it best to get heading home before dark but it had been another great day on the ice so I bid farewell to the fish and headed home.

[fish99]

nice haul