thanks theo, ewest, george, mr. mcbutterpants, and anybody else i forgot to mention here, to provide some detailed convention reporting, descriptions of forum members, etc.......i know i missed a good time.
i went out to pond this evening with my wife in an attempt to "sample" the species distribution, and size of my fish.....as my sampling rig i used my small (backpack) fly rod with about a #14 size fly (crimped barb), and small worm chunk(s) pinned to the end of the hook and doused with a little "kokanee gel" [anise].....wow, did it ever work!!
based on the catch, here are the following observations:
last years stocking of lunker GSF (July 06) has resulted in a large crop of YOY GSF reaching 4.5 to 5.0 inches!!!!!!!!! with beautiful body condition (small eyes relative to body size) and fat stomachs. most averaged 3.75 to 4.0 inches and i'm thinking some of the big ones that measured between 4.5 and 5 inches will spawn this year......i think this is amazing.
the BG are growing nicely, most caught were 4.5 to 5.5 inches. the BG have split into two major schools in the upper portions of the pond, one on the east side, the other on the west side. no BG were caught around the shorelines of deeper water by the dam, everybody is hanging out in the shallower upper end of pond. i've been feeding the west side, and indeed, they averaged about 0.5" larger than those caught on the east side.
NO RES takers by fly, i am not surprised, although i did see a couple larger ones (~7 inches) cruising the flats by the sediment dam.
yesterday my wife and i used our aqua vu camera for the first time. we inspected the aeration diffusers, saw a vast forest of aquatic weeds, saw some of the BG stockers near the boat (which was really cool to be in the middle of the school), saw mats of FA growing on bottom not yet detached......saw no lunker adult GSF stockers from last year. i am impressed with the camera, but its tough if wind blows and you cant sit still.
well, this evening while sampling with my fly rig, i caught a 9.75-inch GSF, that boga'd just a hair under 1 pound.........one of the original stockers that probably lost a little weight and is certainly gaining it back.....it had a beautiful body condition and could have knocked jeff's greenie of cecil's list.......but hey, i'm a nice honest guy right? who didnt raise this fish from a baby, didnt have a camera, and will wait patiently for the next time
i dont know or really care if anybody is following this stuff, but its nice to have a place to document it. watch yer back jeff
