Opening Day Trout

[Billfish715]

I didn't take any pictures today but I did get out to look at a few spots that were iced in or snow covered a few weeks ago.

First: The rivers are low for this time of the year. They should fish great on opening day if we don't get any flooding rains. Unless the trout have lockjaw, the pickings should be pretty easy. Unless the volunteers really have time to spread them out, the trout will be in the likely spots especially in the deeper pools and runs. The fish will seek out the deeper areas and the lower stream levels will force the trout out of the shallows and spread them out until they find a suitable depth and cover. Unfortunately, some of those places are close to where they were put in.

Second: The road through the KLG is a sheet of ice. Stocking there will be treacherous if not downright impossible except at the top and bottom of the gorge.

Third: Round Valley is iced in......still! Spruce Run has open water along the shorelines especially at the stream and brook inlets. The rest of the reservoir has ice and it is still lower than it should be in the spring.

Fourth: Rainbow trout love power bait, worms and salmon eggs early in the season when the streams are cold.

[AndyS]

Thanx for the update. Hatchery fish tend to gravitate to the slower water since they have been in race ways since birth. Not a big fan of Power Cheese as it tends to not break down in the water. Rainbows love color, spinners work well.

[Billfish715]

You are correct about the spinners and even small twitch baits like the pin minnows and small rapalas. They may work even better this year since the rivers will be a bit lower. As for the power bait, it does catch fish!