I Do Catch Fish

In brine now. will rotate every 12 of 48 hrs and then rinse and smoke and freeze.This lake is only 60 acres and is one of very few glacial lakes in PA. Being very deep it holds cold water species as well as Bass. For many years it had nice salmon but they're all but gone now.

By the way Sandy I got allot of compliments on the quickly built Bufflo. People love it. Today some people complemented it and asked about plans. So you might hear from them sometime.

It was 26 degrees and windy. the line kept freezing in the eyelet but a quick swirl in the drink took care of that. While anchored I was getting twisted all over but someday soon I'll get a second anchor and that will solve that to some degree. The buffalo is comfy and stable to sit in. In cold weather I wouldn't wan lower sides. I'm a big guys and I wouldn't want any less protection. I'm 280 with winter clothing and the geat and anchor is 20 and then there is the 70lb McNab Dog who is indeed my best fishing friend.
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I rarely fish Lakes, mostly just rivers and streams. Yesterday I limited out again so that makes 6 wonderful trout in the freezer. I don't have a depth/fishfinder hooked up yet so I flit around, drop anchor here and there, and take what I get. Then a couple of old guys, that would make the grumpy old Sandy look like a teenager, showed me where to find an underwater ledge where the depth goes from 8' to 25' all at once and then gradually on down to 75'. I limited out in one hour along that ledge as opposed to 4 hrs the previous day. It is amazing how a little sage advice and local knowledge can make all the difference.
These trout are dividend trout. My way of getting my money back. They were stocked one month ago and we have to catch them off in order to get to the smarter holdover trout down below. Still they're 12"-16" and taste great.

Nice fish. Our reservoirs have 50' feet or more of ice at the edges now, so bank fishing is over for the year. The open water in the middle will be gone soon. If not already.

The fall and spring are both good bank fishing times. Trout spend the summer in the middle of the lake in deep water. At season change times they cruise the edges. Who knows why but they do. Here one minute and gone the next. At Canyon Ferry the rainbows you catch are seldom less than 20" inches long. Often as much as 24" inches. Seldom if ever bigger than that. They are (mostly) stocked fish.

Are they actually stocking rainbows that large or are they the hold-overs from last year. Around here 10-14 is about it for stocking though there are some exceptionstions here and there. I'm am a trout eater and so I'd rather not eat recently stocked trout. But then again they do taste great....fish veal!

Heres a question: The naturalist for the state that monitors this lake was reportedly heard to say that even though it is a natural glacial lake still there is probably no oxygen below 13'. That being said wouldn't that un-oxygenated deeper water get mixed and oxygenated when the lake turns over in fall winds and temperature changes?

Good oxygen questions. Me no know.

Yes the 20" inch fish in Montana Reservoirs are mostly 3rd year stockers. In Canyon Ferry there are (I think) a mixture of Arlee strain rainbows and DeSmet rainbows (originally from lake DeSmet in Wyoming). The DeSmets live longer and get bigger. There are some wild fish too, although not many. There are a few feeder streams that provide some natural spawning at Canyon Ferry (which is one of two or three nearby in the Bozeman MT area).

We have a bass lake near us that used to be very oxygen deprived due to efluent from urban sewage and agricultural run-off. As the years went by and the cities upgraded their sewers and farming practices improved the lake improved measurably. As I understand it one can fish pretty much the entire water profile these days. Miracle.

We had an Ice storm overnite and I couldn't get the Buffalo back to the stable. Today it cleaned up well.