Got up early and drove to Malad. Made it to the lake by 8 and was fishing by 8:30. The first hour was really good with six fish in the net and then it slowed down. Lightning ran me off the lake and towards home by 3. I love that place, but it just isn't like the good old days. Seems like a 17 or 18 inch fish is a good fish today. In a dozen trip this summer, I could count on one hand the number of 20+ inch fish I've caught. Water level is continuing to drop at about a foot and a half each week. Chronimids dangled on the bottom is still catching fish.
Larry
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Could be that all the good places are posted all over the net. It's tough because you like to talk about your trips and give reports but it gets to the point where everyone and there dog is fishing the spot after to long.
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Internet and reports like this are probably a factor. I'm not sure how busy Daniels is on the weekend, but I counted only four other fisherman yesterday. Personally, I think ice fishing has been a much bigger factor. Not sure when it changed, but it used to be closed in the winter.
Larry
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The fish certainly aren't as healthy as they have been in previous years. How Idaho has handled their SE Lakes this year and last- and I know due to money , has concentrated a lot of anglers in fewer places. Not sure how they weighed their actions but I am pretty sure it will come back to bite their budget even worse. Most guys I know that live and die at Henrys will be at Hebgen now and next year.
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Here's my take on the 20+" trout.
Daniels is very capable of producing larger fish but unfortunately we have a bunch of dedicated anglers that must have broken their tape measure then tried to glue it back together without reinserting the two or three inches that were broken loose.
I have seen this over on the Green River. When we started fishing there we would regularly catch fish over 20"(at least a half a dozen each trip). As more fisherman entered the picture the size began to drop. Many were so happy to get a fish about 20"that 19 1/2" was good, then 19". My last trip I really had to scratch to get 18". Maybe that has changed now, I don't know.
When fishing through the ice at Daniels one season we walked back to the ramp to be surprised to find the F&G set up in a tent. They were using a spotting scope to watch for angler success. Needless to say they literally searched through every fold in our pop-ups. Talking with them, we learned they had been giving tickets to anglers with fish less than legal length and over limits.
Point is there are many anglers willing to break the law for what they know is not a legal fish. If a trout is living in water with special regulations they haven't got a chance.
RJ
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