Blake Jones Fishing.....

[Sierra_Smitty]

I didn't fish it but word around town is that the fishing was pretty good with lots of 3 to 5lb fish showing. Someone also landed a whopping 14lber supposidly....only a handful of fish that big show in the sierra each year, should bode well for the upcoming season to see one that size come out in March.

Anyone fish the derby and able to offer a first hand report?

There was a pretty big fire yesterday here in Bishop that caused the evacuation of both PVR and Pit campground.....thank God it was Sunday instead of Derby day, that would have been devastating.

-Smitty

[baadfish69]

I fished the Owens during the derby, and like you mentioned 3-5 lb trout were plentiful. I didnt make it up to the weigh in, but my bro-in-law did, and he got a pic of the 14 lb trout on his cell phone. It was a monster of a fish, and was caught on ant eggs.


BaadFish69

[Granny Fish]

I wish I could have made it up to the Sierras this past weekend.

One of these days I might make it out there again.

[retired/lasd]

Did the fire burn any of the vegetation along the river in the wild trout area?

[big_mike_70]

cant wait to get up there in April...ooo weee...im gonna get me a DD this year...

[YAHOO!]

is the fire under control?????

[Sierra_Smitty]

is the fire under control?????

The fire is out now thank goodness. Haven't heard much about the damage aside from the fact that the campgrounds were spared.

[TroutOnly]

HEY SMITTY I BET BET THAT BIG ONE WAS A BROWN IF IT WAS CAUGHT ON THE ANT EGGS,ONE OF MY INDIAN FRIENDS IS SHOWING ME HOW TO DO THAT DEAL,ITS PRETTY COOL YOU CAN STORE THE EGGS IN THE FREEZER THEN BREAK THEM OUT FOR A SOUTH LAKE TRIP,,,,t/o

[Devious 1]

HEY SMITTY I BET BET THAT BIG ONE WAS A BROWN IF IT WAS CAUGHT ON THE ANT EGGS,ONE OF MY INDIAN FRIENDS IS SHOWING ME HOW TO DO THAT DEAL,ITS PRETTY COOL YOU CAN STORE THE EGGS IN THE FREEZER THEN BREAK THEM OUT FOR A SOUTH LAKE TRIP,,,,t/o

Nope, not a brown. A GIANT RAINBOW. I was there when he showed up to weigh it in and you should of seen the crowd part like the red sea with a chorus of Oooohhhs and awwwws, etc. It was quite a fish to behold. I have a couple of buddies who live up there who have devised a "bite free" method of obtaining ant eggs but say that it is too cold right now and that come the warmer months, they will have plenty...I can't wait for the season to start!!!

[chris]

it's a lumker it's in this week's western outdoor news along with some other nice bows up to 9 lbs. The article also showed lots of limits of brown trout. i think it says 50 percent of the weigh in were browns

[Sierra_Smitty]

The article also showed lots of limits of brown trout. i think it says 50 percent of the weigh in were browns

Thats a bummer.....there are so many rainbows in there right now I can't see why someone would keep any brown that wasn't a trophy.

[chris]

i'm sorry smitty i misquoted the paper. it read that browns made up at least half the total catch and the picture shows two guys with limits of browns 1 or 2 being trophy size. I've never caught a brown bigger than 6" doubt i'd keep any that i could release.

[Devious 1]

Thats a bummer.....there are so many rainbows in there right now I can't see why someone would keep any brown that wasn't a trophy.

With the blind bogey weights usually coming in under 1lb. (last three years' weights were 8oz., 11oz., and 14oz.), you will find that people will weigh in every fish they catch irregardless of type.

[Badfish2]

No browns should be kept at all, trophy size or not, That's why we have digital cameras and scales.

[asmacsbob]

there are two different ways to that...if people started to keep a few browns, perhaps you wouldnt catch only 6" fish....the river is not kept at a high enough level to maintain a large ammount of larger fish....unless u know where to fish and how to fish that river thats all you are going to catch....but there are much larger browns there....they are very skittish

[Badfish2]

Fish are not going to grow to monster sized fish just because nobody catches them. Their size is regulated by the habitat they live in. If the food supply isn't there, they simply won't grow. Case in point, the Golden Trout of the Cottonwood Lakes.They can't get past a pound because of the food supplies, yet it's a set of lakes that's hardly fished at all. I'm not saying that people should NEVER keep a brown, but with the DFG stocking so many rainbows it just sounds irresponsible to keep a brown,golden,cutt etc. I know the DFG does encourage some fish to be taken at some lakes because in the past they overstocked some lakes with fingerlings causing an man made food source shortage, but all in all browns are hard to come by at most lakes and should not be harvested by the masses. In general fisherman should not take the "catch your limit" attitude to the sierras. Catch and Release is a sure way to allow others to enjoy fishing the same spot as you did.

[asmacsbob]

i dont keep anything...always fish barbless...even w/bait