Went to the E. Carson thanksgiving morning for a couple hours. It was cold & the fishing was really slow. I didn't take a temp reading, but the water was much colder than even just a couple weeks ago. I started with a few holes and riffles that I always seem to catch fish in. This time I only managed one 10"er out of all three. Decided to try something different so I looked for the biggest slowest water I could find. Found about a 150' strecth that seemed to have pretty good depth and flowed ever so slowly. It was a little windy so I couldn't spot any fish, but at least they couldn't spot me i thought. Started my drift at the top. About fifty feet downstream after what seemed like a few minutes, I was thinking damn this is boring I'm done for the day when all of a sudden I saw a huge flash and my indicator dove down. Set the hook and my reel started screaming. Long story short ended up getting my butt kicked by this fish for a little while, before I was able to finally land it. I didn't have a net so I was freaked out the entire time. I marked it on my rod, took a couple pics, and sent it on its way. Figured it was between 25.5"-26.5".
That probably wasn't even the craziest part. I start walking up the hole again and the wind dies down a bit. Look into the water and holy crap...this must be one of the biggest spawning grounds on the east carson. I stopped fishing and just started walking up and down the hole. I counted about 20 fish and not one was less than 18". I saw 3 or 4 fish that were about the same size as the one I had just caught, and one that was noticeably bigger. Ended up calling it a day after that and went home. Pretty crazy day, I had never seen anything like that outside of Putah.
they must have just planted the big boys up there recently. they do one last big planting of donaldson and eagle lake trout that are the size of steelhead towards the end of the yr before the big freeze. and by the looks of that fish thats what it is. beautiful fish, and they put up a great fight. i have landed a few of those on a 5wt and they are a crap load of fun. right now is a great time to fish the carson below hangmans bridge to the border (above hangmans is close). the fish are in pre spawn if not spawning mode. just watch out for the redds and dont fish them. awsome job jmo32. way to land that pig.
I LOVE THAT RIVER.
wish it wasnt so far away.
__________________
Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Think it's a planter huh? I wasn't sure so I took the pic into the fly shop up there. The guy in the shop told me he was pretty sure it was native, or at least had been in the system for a year or two. He said because of where on the river I caught it, the lack of disfigure in the face (snout?), and the full tail (I have a better pic that shows it spread out) that he thought it was not a donaldsen. He was even showing me pics of some donaldsens that he had caught recently compared to some other fish, and some of the same fish that he had caught earlier and later in the year to show some of the difference. I'm not sure, but it was definitely fun to catch and those other spawners were just amazing to watch. What does everyone else think?
here is the pic of my donaldson bow that i caught up there. but i agree with matt r beautiful pic either way.
-- Edited by brian clemens at 10:50, 2008-12-02
__________________
Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
ya the one that i caught was a fresh planter, but i am thinking that a holdover, i have seen a few of those and they are beautiful.
__________________
Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
Alpine county planted the e carson several times with big fish after Labor Day weekend. The ones that do not get caught make it down into the C and R section below Hangmans. After a year they look like the natives. The full spotted body is the Eagle Lake/Donalson trout.
nice fish
