Mid to Upper Laak below the Restricted Area

[Bill Babler]

Man has the fishing picked up this week. Roger and JD Crawford down for the annual trek from Iowa were the benifactors of just one of those days on Friday.

MDC must have really outdone thereselves last week, as from Fall Creek thru Monkey, there are thousands and thousands of fish.

Boat traffic and fishing activity was extremely heavy yesterday, but it didn't seem to matter as the fish bit all day.

Started with Pink 1/2 micro jigs and probably caught way to big a number to print. Fish went off the jig about 11 am and we switched to a size 12 red humpy with a 14 midge dropped about 3 ft. under it. They just couldn't leave the midge alone and also had several fish on the dry.

The boys got tired of waving the flyrods around and the same result came on the spinning rod.

Lots of nice chunky 13 to 15 inchers with many fish in the 6 to 9 inch mixed in. I measured at least 20 fish under 6 inches, and thats just not right.

You could see schools of these fish in the shallows on the flats and in several schools there were big browns swimming with the small trout. Thats what I call staying with your food.

I sight fished these schools all day. All sizes of trout were mixed in.

Hopefully some will wonder up the creek to the restricted area and repopulate

that area.

Good options out of the restricted area were midges, and jigs on the flyrod.

Spoons and spinners on the spincast, and I'm sure they would just love any birght color powerbait.

[Danoinark]

Thanks for the report Bill. Now I am curious though. Does MDC stock fish under six inches or is there some kind of natural reproduction going on? Dano

[Kicknbass]

You could see schools of these fish in the shallows on the flats and in several schools there were big browns swimming with the small trout. Thats what I call staying with your food.

Thanks for the report Bill,

I wonder what the MDC is thinking by stocking these small rainbows. It seams that their just feeding the brown trout. Good for the Browns, but it doesn't bode well for the mortality of the "bows".

[Bill Babler]

I simply think that the growth rate in the ponds is very uneven. I have no data to back this up. I am just using my experence as a former livestock producer, where it is impossible to have the same weight gains on a pen of hogs or cattle. Some will always be faster growers and you will have some poor preformers. Weights will fluctuate.

This seems to really be a problem for the past year, since MDC said they were going to reduce stocking, but stock a smaller number of larger fish.

As we all know, this has not came to frution. We have possibly had the worst stocking and the smallest fish in the history of the program.

If the reason is drought, work or the hatchery or the sale of fish, it really dosen't matter. What does matter is they have lost a base of fish and have to rebuild.

The schools of fish that were running the flats in the Cooper Creek area, were very uneven in size, with some in the 15 inch class, and some 4 to 5 inches. This is probably just to wide a gap to assume that the growing pond preformed poorly. Guess we'll see.

What's your thoughts?

[twosets]

Hey Bill

Thanks for the report.

What color midges were you using ?

Have you seen a couple of old folks running around the lake? Hope to make it down there later in the week or early next.

Our tigers gave one away yesterday, no national champs this year.

George

[Phil Lilley]

When you say 'ponds' you mean the raceways at the hatchery- right? Not sure if this is true at Shepherd- it's a good question to ask James.

Don't you think it's a food-base problem, as well as a stocking issue? I know there's very few if any scuds in the Cooper area- they're food base has to be forage fish and midges... midges primarily.

Low Flow = Low Food Base

This seems to be the case.

[Danoinark]

I was wondering the same thing. If maybe those 5 and 6 inchers are just not getting enough food.

I sure would like to hear a discussion or maybe someone from the hatchery explain the sizes they stock, numbers of rainbows vs. browns, etc. I know this summer I caught a small 8 or so inch brown that I thought unsusual. I had never caught one that small on Taney before...Dano

[denjac]

Is it possiable that the 6 inch fish are a result of a natural hatch in the lake? I would like to think so, but not sure.

[Bill Babler]

George, I was using that ole standby Babler Midge, size 14 copper tungsten head with a black body and red copper wrap.

I agree with Phil in the aspect that the forage base is very limited in the Cooper Creek area, other than midges. I think this would relate in thinner trout. This is not the case. Some of those little rascals are as plump as I am.

None of the fish seem to be in poor shape, condition, or health. They are just LITTLE.

If you were fishing out west in the mountains and caught these fish on a 3 or 4 wt. you would be having a ball, as the little critters are full of energy and jump and covort about like a race horse.

Slap them on a 9ft. 6 wt. and its a different story.

Another thing that I am having a hard time understanding is lots of these fish are not recient stockers. Some are that dark purple chunky that just came off the truck, but some are as vibrently colored as any I have ever caught in the restricted area.

Even some of the little guys have a fantastic pink stripe.

Water was pretty cool down there yesterday, 49. We caught at least a dozen perch in the last couple of days in that area. I usually don't catch over one a year. Some of the other guides are catching quite a few bass at cooper. Lots of dingy things going on.