Chernobyl Trout in Frogwater

[zonker]

While the board is a bit slow I thought I would share some highlights from my most recent tubing trip...

I live in Western Oregon. Today I enjoyed some of the strangest fishing I have ever experienced. I had been told ahead of time what to expect, but when it actually happened, it still felt very weird. It was a rainy day. I was fishing some private ponds that I have access to. This one was especially noted for its... I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll tell you in a minute.




When I arrived a few trout were taking very scattered midges in the surface film. I unloaded my float tube, suited up, grabbed my 5 weight fly rod, and pushed my way out through the weed line, tying on a midge suspender imitation and laying it out in front of the sporadic rises. Nothing.





Then after about 20 minutes I saw them. Cruising just under the surface, a pod of about eight or nine... Goldfish!




At least that's what they looked like. I gently laid my midge pattern right in the middle of them. They would come up and check out the imitation, then turn away at the last second. After a bit of this I switched flies to a #16 soft hackle. The fish did the same thing.[unsure] A couple more fly changes brought more refusals. Time to do something radical.[cool]

I tied on a #8 black Wooly Bugger with a florescent orange bead head and tossed it out. The fish still ignored it... until I moved to pick the fly up. As I pulled it up to make my next cast, causing the fly to speed for the surface, one of the fish broke from the pack and came over and slammed it hard! It was a nice fish... probably weighed about four pounds. Fat!

But the hook came loose.[blush]

Was it a fluke or had I stumbled on the secret method of the day? I cast again in the direction of the pod and started stripping hard. Bam! Another taker, smaller than the first, but still a nice... Golden Rainbow Trout! I referred to it as a Chernobyl Trout because the thing nearly glowed against the drab rainy day background.[]

I don't know about you, but when I hear "Golden Trout" I think of pristine super high elevation places (7,000 feet or higher) where the water is gin clear and insect hatches are sparse. I think of 8-10 inch endangered fish that are some of the prettiest trout anywhere. These "Golden Rainbow Trout" are actually a color variation of regular rainbows (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and not the "Golden Trout" (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) of endangered species fame. According to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Website, they come from a naturally occurring color mutation that popped up in a single rainbow trout in West Virginia in the Fall of 1954. (More than you ever wanted to know about that subject, right?)

Now laying on my modified Tube Dude Stripping Apron in front of me was my very first Golden RainbowTrout. I estimate that it weighted about two pounds.




During the next three hours I managed to bring eight of these strange "glowing" trout to hand. The largest was probably about four pounds. A real pig shaped more like a football than a fish. Since I had forgotten my float tube landing net, which made it hard to land these fish, I finally got out of my tube and stepped out onto one of the casting platforms that are strategically located around the pond. As long as I watched my back cast and threaded it between a couple of fir trees behind me, I managed to keep my fly on. The fish were cruisers. They'd come by, I'd cast to them, then they'd move on. Then another pod would come by - again looking like Goldfish in someone's backyard pond. [sly] As long as I continued to strip like mad so that the fly looked like it was escaping, I had periodic hits.

Anyway, it was a fun day on a private lake - a bit weird, but one I won't soon forget. Here are some more pics.



I think this one was the pig of the day. [shocked]




I finished up about 30 minutes before dark. Here's my red ride and my blue ride. The blue one has the modified stripping apron made from a plastic box lid. (Sorry. I had already removed my rods, side mounted rod rack, and fish finder.)




I like catching steelhead more than any other fish I've ever caught. But when things are slow, I like to return to the fly rod and go chase large trout in stillwaters. On this trip, because of the rain I had the place all to myself for the whole time.

I wonder whether, if these fish ever escaped into the wild, they would become anadromous, go to the ocean, and come back as golden steelhead? That would be a hoot.

zonker
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[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Impact"][#ff4040][size 3]Great report, and nice troutski's. Looks like a great day in the rain. That big boy you had really did look more like a football.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Zonker, good to hear from you. Loved the report and the pics. We have those"goldens" in Utah too. Never heard anyone refer to them as "Chernobyl" trout though. Until I saw the pics I was expecting some humpbacked mutants with three heads or something.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]While living in California I used to pack back in to the Sierras and fish for the REAL golden trout. They are beautiful. No mistaking them for the genetically wierd rainbows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Looks like the food chain is healthy in that lake. The fish "got back"...and front too. It is interesting that they preferred your fast strip technique. But then again, sometimes if the fish are in a neutral or negative mode, you have to do something radical to stimulate a "reaction" bite.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It should be time for some winter steelhead to show up soon. Any reports yet? And, how was the salmon run this fall?[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

Hey guys, I think its fun to make these kinds of photo essays - and read/view them from others, too. (Hint, hint.) Kinda lets us fish vicariously when we can't get out otherwise. I haven't posted any others because much of my fishing has been on foot or out of my regular boat - so not tube related.

This was a fun trip, though quite unique. Those golden boys are still finning their way around that lake as I released them all with plans to try to get back soon to give them some more exercise.

TD, the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and the hatcheries have changed their focus. They're now largely taking their broodstock from wild fish, then spawning them in the hatcheries and raising the progeny to be released back into the rivers. Since wild fish return later, the children of these wild fish also return later. Whereas the unofficial starting time for winter steelhead used to be Thanksgiving, now it is more like New Year's Day. Salmon and steelhead numbers have been down from the record highs of 2001 and 2002 that we had. Probably something natural going on in the ocean - along with a burgeoning protected seal/sea lion population. Lots of different explanations.

That said, those high fish population levels brought a lot of newbies into the sport. There has been an explosion of interest and an infusion of the accompanying cash that runs the surrounding sport fishing industry. The result has been many more guys lining the banks and floating the rivers - a force that sometimes drives me back to tubing the lakes and ponds.[] I tend to try to "fish around" the peak times and the peak locations.

I didn't get to salmon fish this year due to my work schedule. I heard that the returns were down. Last year was nearly a wash on the Columbia. Fall fishing for them this year is still going on, though it is winding down quickly. I live on one of the Columbia tribs (S. Santiam) but we don't have a fall run of salmon coming through our little town.

Good chattin' witcha.

zonker
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Interesting about Oregon's shift in their propagation program. Hope it ultimately works out well for all...except the sea lions. They get more than their share anyway.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was remembering that when I used to fish Oregon a lot that I would start getting into the steelhead on the Alsea anytime after the first of November. September and October were good for silver salmon. They used to stack up in some of the holes waiting for the fall rains and I wore my arm out with a flyrod on those acrobatic babies. Some of them jumped clear up into the blackberries.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I understand the silvers have diminished a lot too. My fishing for them went back to the early 70's. I had some days of over 50 fish hooked...mostly legal.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thanks again for the great report. Don't think that we discriminate against reports on non-tubing trips. Heck, we love 'em all.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

TD,

The Alsea is only about 40 minutes from my home. I fish it often starting in late December through March. The glory days of the silvers are gone. As far as I know there are no hatchery cohos on the Alsea anymore. The last were planted in 1997. The native cohos are listed under the endangered species act, though I heard that may have changed in January of this year. I catch one once in awhile when I fish early, but its primarily an early chinook, late steelhead game.

We do have some summer steelhead in the S. Santiam that fish well from September through late October. There are quite a few like this:



And this:



These fish and a few more like them were caught in September and October of this year. Hard fighters, regenerated by the first fall rains, that usually run 7-10 pounds. I like to chase them with floats and jigs, using hardware and sometimes flies when that doesn't work. Its as addictive as any other kind of fishing.

zonker


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[Bluegillman]

[size 1]"" I was fishing some private ponds that I have access to."" Can I ask how many acre was those ponds? [/size][size 1]That pond is a pretty setting! That was a fine story and photos too. Did u keep a few for dinner or was it all C&R? ""The fish were cruisers."" Were those trout planted? Seems like everything around them is right and they are HUGH![/size]
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[zonker]

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[size 1]"" I was fishing some private ponds that I have access to."" Can I ask how many acre was those ponds? [/size][size 1]That pond is a pretty setting! That was a fine story and photos too. Did u keep a few for dinner or was it all C&R? ""The fish were cruisers."" Were those trout planted? Seems like everything around them is right and they are HUGH![/size] [/reply]



BGMan,

I joined a fishing club three years ago that offers access to private Oregon properties managed by the club. Some are on Northwest rivers that have runs of steelhead and salmon. Others are private lakes and ponds that are stocked regularly and restricted in most cases to catch and release. Food for the fish is augmented during the colder months. Ponds/lakes are more self supporting in the warmer months. Makes for some real piggies. This "contrived" fishing puts some folks off but I find it to be quite satisfying when added to my regular repertoire of fishing public waters. Its especially nice in the winter months when snowy passes and ice on lakes cut back my style. I can fish stillwaters all year if I want to.

This pond and another nearby are about 5-7 acres.

The Golden Rainbows are stocked. I'm not sure they can be found in a "wild" state anywhere. The boys in these pictures are still swimming around as far as I know. I let 'em go. I came home and ate fish from my stash of Kokanee caught on public waters.

Then again I "kept" them, too. With a water resistant digital camera I can catch fish more than once and still have full bragging rights. Best of both worlds.

The Steelhead in the pictures above were caught on the river that runs about 150 yards from my house, the South Santiam. Public water. Public access. I fish it once the crowds thin out.

zonker
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[Fishhound]

Hey Zonker,

Those are some beautiful fish there. Are there any Ospreys in that area ? It seems like they would fall prey to the large predatory birds - like the albino trout in this area.

Also I really like your photo essay approach. Thanx for contributing so I can fish vicariously with you.

BTW - do you mostly fly fish in those private waters or are they open to any type of fishing ? What else is in those ponds besides the colorful trout ? And finally, do they stock those trout in other waters in your area ?
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[zonker]

FH,

Never seen an Osprey around these ponds, though if one ever showed up he'd probably get so fat he couldn't get off the ground.[] I'm sure you're alluding to the ease of spotting these colorful trout. They probably wouldn't last too long in more "natural" settings for that reason.

The photo essay approach does make for some interesting reading. The pictures do most of that. It's the reason that fishing magazines sell so well. If you took the pictures out of them, not many people would buy them. It also makes for a more interesting forum - which, along with his constant stream of fishing wisdom, is why Tubedude keeps this place so fascinating. I just wish more guys who post would add pictures. Digital cameras keep getting cheaper and cheaper. A 2 or 3 megapixel camera is all that's needed to post pics on the web. The bigger megapixel models work well, too. Any takers?

Back to your questions...

The club rules don't restrict us to flyfishing only. In the C&R lakes other methods are allowed as long as you use single barbless hooks with no bait and carefully release your catch. I flyfish them because most are relatively shallow so they are fairly easy to reach with either a floating line or a slow sinker. And I prefer the method whenever there is a fair chance that it will work.

Actually, I have underused my private club membership over the past several years so I'm trying to decide what I'll do about it. It runs out in December unless I renew. The club has around 25 lakes and ponds and 15-17 river locations. A guy could spend all his time on private land if he wanted to. The indecision comes from having too many other good places to fish - and also from my absolute addiction to steelhead - which takes me out of the stillwater category sometimes. Though the club's river locations see many steelhead, it's an issue of proper timing - catching the fish when they come through.

The ponds typically are stocked with standard rainbows. Because its mostly C&R the fish have a much greater opporunity to pack on the pounds, which really keeps me interested. Fish from 2-4 pounds are not uncommon. And they love to eat flies. Fishing from a float tube is perfect for fly fishing. I'd rather catch and release a 4 pound trout than catch and keep a 12 incher any day. That's not to diminish anybody who feels differently. I've had a full life of fishing with lots and lots of 12 inchers.

I guess I sound like some rich country club type dude but actually the club cost is quite reasonable - or I wouldn't be able to afford it. It's within the reach of the average working guy with an understanding wife - especially when you compare it to running all over the country in an automobile at the present gas prices.[] (At least that's what I told Mrs. zonker.)

This ain't a commercial, so I'll shut up. I just didn't want anybody thinkin' I was a gotrocks kind of guy. I'm not.

z~


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[utwalleye]

Nice looking fish, that big one would make a nice looking wall mount, thats a beut. later chuck
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