05-21-2012, 01:03 PM
Technically all of you are right! Henrys is a fantastic lake.
I am not an expert on Henrys...I don't even fish it....but I do read the reports. F&G net THOUSANDS of fish every year from Henrys to study. In those studies they have found that the big fish of Henrys are different from most 20 inch plus trout. In most other situations the large fish will feed almost exclusively on minnows, but at Henrys they don't have to. Fish only make up a small portion of their regular diet.
That doesn't mean they don't ever eat minnows, and it doesn't mean that they only eat minnows. It just means that there is enough insects in there that they don't have to switch to minnows only to grow. They can still grow huge on the bugs.
Fish are opportunistic feeders. If it is an easy meal they will eat it. I am sure there are areas of the lake that the minnows are the meal of the day, and other areas that the fish will bump bugs out of the weeds all day long. Time of day or area may also affect the diet. Is it the type of day that the fish feel safe enough to chase minnows in the shallows? Then they probably will. Are the weeds well grown? Then they may stay in them. There is so much food, they don't have to cruise far to find a meal of either sort.
If you fish a minnow, a streamer, a nymph, a leech, or a snail, you are likely to catch fish. There are a lot of big health fish in there.
Good luck to all of you that are going up to fish the opening week.......whatever bait/fly you choose to use! [cool]
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I am not an expert on Henrys...I don't even fish it....but I do read the reports. F&G net THOUSANDS of fish every year from Henrys to study. In those studies they have found that the big fish of Henrys are different from most 20 inch plus trout. In most other situations the large fish will feed almost exclusively on minnows, but at Henrys they don't have to. Fish only make up a small portion of their regular diet.
That doesn't mean they don't ever eat minnows, and it doesn't mean that they only eat minnows. It just means that there is enough insects in there that they don't have to switch to minnows only to grow. They can still grow huge on the bugs.
Fish are opportunistic feeders. If it is an easy meal they will eat it. I am sure there are areas of the lake that the minnows are the meal of the day, and other areas that the fish will bump bugs out of the weeds all day long. Time of day or area may also affect the diet. Is it the type of day that the fish feel safe enough to chase minnows in the shallows? Then they probably will. Are the weeds well grown? Then they may stay in them. There is so much food, they don't have to cruise far to find a meal of either sort.
If you fish a minnow, a streamer, a nymph, a leech, or a snail, you are likely to catch fish. There are a lot of big health fish in there.
Good luck to all of you that are going up to fish the opening week.......whatever bait/fly you choose to use! [cool]
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