GraphiteZen

I have posted in another thread about the little pond that is just packed full of cutthroat. I have caught a pretty good number of small to medium fish but have never landed anything over 13''. I claimed before that there may not be any large fish there, but obviously that is just impossible, or is it?. I do know that there is a problem with parasites for last year I caught fish that obviously had bugs in them, one fish I caught actually had moving worms hanging out of bloody sores on it's side when I caught it... very disturbing. A fish I caught today had worms in the poor things mouth... What are these things, and is it really possible that a pond with this many fish in it could produce the numbers it does yet be so infested with parasites that none of them reach a large size? I doubt it, but who knows. I have never seen trout with worms like that... Very odd.. Comments?

If there really are large fish in there somewhere, what would they feed on? I have never seen crayfish, and have never seen a large fish rise for anything. Special tips anyone? They would have to be pretty busy feeding on nymphs. Must be minnows then I guess...

*edited*

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When I die, screw some hooks into my spine and head for the deep water.

Troutski

Good questions all of them, I don't have the answers but I do know some one that does. If you would like I can forward your post to them and get some answers for you ...

Chuck

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Practice C.P.R. (Catch Photograph and Release)

chris61182

I imagine Troutski is going to forward this to a fish biologist so hopefully you'll get a more scientific and complete answer at some point. But in short a lake has a carrying capacity; ie. it only produces so much food. Now I'm not sure of the reasons why ponds end up with all small fish to begin with, but once it happens there just isn't enough food to allow a few to grow bigger. That's why slot limits and actually retaining fish normally C&R exclusively can be a good thing, it helps restore a food/predator balance we anglers find favorable (no idea if it's natural, maybe small and stunted is actually natural).

For finding the bigger fish, if there are any. Well you say you don't see them rising for insects, and you say you catch lots and lots of small fish right? crankbait, stickbait perhaps.

bake7829

If the lake is full of stockies (stocked trout) there should be some old, larger fish but probably not many. They tend not to be as hardy as wild fish. What to catch em with? Bigger fish tend to feed at the start and the end of the day when food is more plentiful and predators less prevalent. They got bigger because they are smarter than the average fish. They can eat the same stuff as smaller fish, but they can also eat other fish so small trout shaped or colored lures and plugs can work. Try lots of different things at peak times for best luck

cavdad45

I know of a couple small likaes in the Mt-Hood/Mt. Jefferson areas that are teaming with cutthroats. Unfortunately they are all stunted to about 6 or 7 inches and eventhough you can limit out in 30 minutes it's not much fun. The problem I suspect has to do more so with a lack of food rather than an infestation of parasites. More fish than food, and not enough predators to keep the population in check. Therefor, no large or acceptable fish.

GraphiteZen

That seems to be the case. They are all cutthroat but small. However, I have seen some pretty large bass in the shallows so who knows. Troutski did send the post so I imagine will get a pretty good answer to my question.

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When I die, screw some hooks into my spine and head for the deep water.

cavdad45

Let us know what you find out.

Hawk

I don't know what the cause is...of the parasites & worms in the fish..............

someone could start a crawdad & frog population in the pond i suppose..................

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Hawk

Possibly the Bass, predator birds, snappin' turtles, coons, etc could be eating the trout....................

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on a mountain west of Wolf Creek...

Hawk

Summer Fish Kills in Farm Ponds



I've seen this happen in a few ponds.........Thankfully part of the fish survived.........


I can't get the link to work.................

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on a mountain west of Wolf Creek...