Just a follow up on December fishing at Bethany Lake.... decided to test out my new Lamiglas 9'6" rod and Shimano reel that I got from Santa... designed for Winter Steelhead ... running 12# Braid on it.
Tied on a short leader of 6# Fluorocarbon and a #4 Black Panther Martin, just to test the accuracy and see how the feel was... and to my rather pleasant surprise on the 1st cast, I hooked into a fabulous 'Native' Cutthroat Trout. This bad boy must have been a hold over from years gone by or swam in from Rock Creek during the high water, but non the less, he measured out at 16 1/2"... pure muscle and a fighter unlike I was used to catching from a pond.
Needless to say, that got my blood pumping... another 30 to 40 cast and did C&R on three more 10 - 12" holdover Rainbow plants... they fought like the normal Hatchery fish... minimal. But now knowing that there are some Native fish still present sure made my Christmas for 2016 :thumb:
Again, at Bethany Pond, I would not recommend keeping any of the fish myself, so I treat it as a 'Catch-n-Release' Fishery. And please...please...please... clean up after yourselves. I filled two trash bags with 'Fisherman' garbage... discarded line, lure packaging, bait containers, Soda Cans and more. Remember that this is the legacy we are leaving for our children, and a Garbage Dump just does not impress me. :sad: