03-06-2004, 04:52 PM
I have been going to Lake Catherine for about 25 years. It is an awesome lake if you don't mind smaller fish. There are a few places in the lake that are shallow but there are also a lot of pretty deep spots. So yes, it does winter-kill sometimes. But they do stock it every year anyway. When they stock the fingerlings it takes a while to get big, and sometimes they don't survive long enough to get to a bigger size. One day I was there when the plane flew over and dropped the fish in. It was pretty cool to see first hand.
The biggest fish I've ever taken out of Catherine was about 12 inches. That is very rare. Most fish are between 7 and 8 inches. They are the BEST eating trout you will ever find. Their meat is pinker than the pinkest salmon. I don't mind keeping fish from there because of the winter kill issue and how it is stocked so often.
Over the years I have caught literally hundreds and hundreds of fish at Lake Catherine. I have had many 40-fish evenings. Flies in the evening are the ticket.(fly and bubble set-up) A renegade seems to be best even though almost anything will catch fish. If you use worms you will catch fish all day long.
The scenery is awesome there. Once in a while you see deer and the occasional moose.(HUGE moose).
Anyway, I prefer Lake Catherine over Lake Mary. I've caught fish at Lake Mary but, as was mentioned, the fishing is tougher and I've never got a full limit(8 in the good old days) there either. I usaully only go to Mary when Catherine is still iced in and I want to fish close to home.
m
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The biggest fish I've ever taken out of Catherine was about 12 inches. That is very rare. Most fish are between 7 and 8 inches. They are the BEST eating trout you will ever find. Their meat is pinker than the pinkest salmon. I don't mind keeping fish from there because of the winter kill issue and how it is stocked so often.
Over the years I have caught literally hundreds and hundreds of fish at Lake Catherine. I have had many 40-fish evenings. Flies in the evening are the ticket.(fly and bubble set-up) A renegade seems to be best even though almost anything will catch fish. If you use worms you will catch fish all day long.
The scenery is awesome there. Once in a while you see deer and the occasional moose.(HUGE moose).
Anyway, I prefer Lake Catherine over Lake Mary. I've caught fish at Lake Mary but, as was mentioned, the fishing is tougher and I've never got a full limit(8 in the good old days) there either. I usaully only go to Mary when Catherine is still iced in and I want to fish close to home.
m
[signature]