Sat 12/22

[Brent]

Maybe if I could chuck swimbaits all day I’d have done better, but only scratched two small ones on dropshot. Talked to a few others and it was tough. They chucked swimbaits all day only for a few followers. Did see about an 8-10 largie swimming on the ramp going out and a good 40” long striper swimming on the ramp on the way in. Must have been waiting on the two Orange Lightning Trout swimming in 6” of water. I thought they were koi at first😁

[pastorsheldon]

Maybe if I could chuck swimbaits all day I’d have done better, but only scratched two small ones on dropshot. Talked to a few others and it was tough. They chucked swimbaits all day only for a few followers. Did see about an 8-10 largie swimming on the ramp going out and a good 40” long striper swimming on the ramp on the way in. Must have been waiting on the two Orange Lightning Trout swimming in 6” of water. I thought they were koi at first😁

I fishing Diamond Valley Thursday for nothing and spent most of the day searching for the trout they stocked.

[etucker1959]

I fishing Diamond Valley Thursday for nothing and spent most of the day searching for the trout they stocked.

We were there Thursday also. After we gave up on fishing, we walked on top of the trail to the left of the boat ramp looking to spot fish. We walked all the way down to where the trail wraps around the point. We saw a fair amount of Bass against the shore but only a few trout. I did talk to someone who fished on Wed on another fishing website. He said 200 people showed up on Wed and some people did pretty good. They caught 8 Lighting trout between the 2 of them. (I saw the pictures they were pretty nice) But he said a lot of rude people on Wed and a lot of snaggers. So take it for what it's worth!

[DarkShadow]

Brent,

How long were u out there? Sucks to hear because the Diamond used to be a good winter fishery, and I've seen it becoming less and less of one as the years progress.

Fishing deep was usually the name of the game, but I've been watching a lot of tournament results and finding it to see that even those who are dialed down on bites and baits are struggling there.


Must have been waiting on the two Orange Lightning Trout swimming in 6” of water.

Lightning Trout?! :LOL: That's like putting flashing Xmas lights on a 10 point buck, and sending him out into the woods during hunting season opener.

That largie and that striper were probably looking at each other, asking the trout if they lost a bet or something.

"Who painted y'all orange?"

[Brent]

Brent,

How long were u out there? Sucks to hear because the Diamond used to be a good winter fishery, and I've seen it becoming less and less of one as the years progress.

Fishing deep was usually the name of the game, but I've been watching a lot of tournament results and finding it to see that even those who are dialed down on bites and baits are struggling there.



Lightning Trout?! :LOL: That's like putting flashing Xmas lights on a 10 point buck, and sending him out into the woods during hunting season opener.

That largie and that striper were probably looking at each other, asking the trout if they lost a bet or something.

"Who painted y'all orange?"

Lmao
I was thinking the same thing. Those bright orange suckers don’t have a chance other than they were fairly big. 18” or so, but the striper I saw was over 40” and waiting about 30’ away. I see a new swimbait coming in bright orange.
We used to catch fish all year, but we didn’t even mark hardly anything from 5’ - 75’. Fished Rawsons hard, SE corner and NE corner back to the marina. Got one 15” SE corner and one 10” first stairway SE corner and that was it.

[kwin]

Brent,

How long were u out there? Sucks to hear because the Diamond used to be a good winter fishery, and I've seen it becoming less and less of one as the years progress.

Fishing deep was usually the name of the game, but I've been watching a lot of tournament results and finding it to see that even those who are dialed down on bites and baits are struggling there.



Lightning Trout?! :LOL: That's like putting flashing Xmas lights on a 10 point buck, and sending him out into the woods during hunting season opener.

That largie and that striper were probably looking at each other, asking the trout if they lost a bet or something.

"Who painted y'all orange?"

The fishery is just fine. The latest fall electrofishing survey resulted in the most fish ever collected in any fall survey in the 15 years I have been here. An obscene number of those were snack size 2-4" bluegill.....this is after a prolonged drought when over half of the water was removed resulting in very poor recruitment....of fish that would be 3-4 years old and of tournament legal size now.....so that might have something to do with the poor angling results.

[Natural Lefty]

I suppose some people think that Lightning Trout are the official California state fish. i.e., they mistake them for Golden Trout.


Thank you, Kwin. It's good to know that there are a lot of young fish in Diamond Valley now with the increased water levels. I think the same is happening at Perris as it is being refilled.

[srsnow]

The fishery is just fine. The latest fall electrofishing survey resulted in the most fish ever collected in any fall survey in the 15 years I have been here. An obscene number of those were snack size 2-4" bluegill.....this is after a prolonged drought when over half of the water was removed resulting in very poor recruitment....of fish that would be 3-4 years old and of tournament legal size now.....so that might have something to do with the poor angling results.

Do you guys still look for volunteers when you go out to do that? I volunteered for a fall survey at DVL several years ago and it was a very interesting night. I would be interested in doing it again if it is still something that you guys do.

[kwin]

Do you guys still look for volunteers when you go out to do that? I volunteered for a fall survey at DVL several years ago and it was a very interesting night. I would be interested in doing it again if it is still something that you guys do.

Not so much. I’m fortunate to have funding for 4 scientific aides that help me out and gain experience to further their careers, so I haven’t had to utilize volunteers much lately.

[srsnow]

Not so much. I’m fortunate to have funding for 4 scientific aides that help me out and gain experience to further their careers, so I haven’t had to utilize volunteers much lately.

Glad you got funding, sad you don't need volunteers any more, it was a really cool experience.