E-lake 3-9 Again

[fuzzyfisher]

we lift our gear up on the lake over night in the ice hut.. made for a great walk down in the morning.. all i had to carey was my lunch..

fishing was great first thing in the morning! we got there aroud 9:00 and the fish were right there on it from the start.. shiners were the only thing we could get them to hit tiped on a white or smoke 1 1/2" tube.. they seamed to like a whole minnow over cut bait..
i cought around 25 fish right up tell 12:30 my buddy was doing better than the day before.. he had around 9 on the ice.. after 12:30 the fish just vanished. nothing on the finder, aqua-vu,or poles.. was that way tell 2:30 when we packed up all the stuff and headed home.. i did get 1 rainbow this trip 16" and looking good. most the fish we have cought up there this year are looking better than years passed.. still there is no size to them at all 16" was the biggest we got in 2 day of fishing.. most are from 12" to 16"..
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Good reports, Bro. Any personal theories on what effect the higher water of the last couple of years has done for (or against) the fishery?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, have you heard that they are going to remove the closure on fishing the inlet streams during the cutt spawn?[/#0000ff]
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[fuzzyfisher]

well the best effect the higher water has done for the lake is get the boat ramp in the water again so a bigger boat can be put on it with out have to have 2 4x4 there to get it in and out.. lol. and the walk down the dam is now a 120 feet less.. witch means about 300 yards less ground to cover to get to the ice.. that's nice!

now on the flip side. the fish are more scatered out and harder to find. i guess 130 feet of water can do that huh?

i dont think more water will help the yellowstone Cutt's a whole lot. they seam to like shalow water a lot more than deep water.. even in the heat of summer most are found in 5 to 15 feet of water right up in the heads of the springs and off the points.. last year we did good, down rigging for them in deep water but still did not see any fish under 40 feet.. for a lake that is 220 feet there is a lot of wasted water there for yellowstone's.. and the shiners got a big shot in the arm with all the new cover all around the lake. (like they need a shot in the arm lol ) we should see sworms all over the lake this year.. they were thick up there all last year. i got all the minnows i fished with all this ice season in one trip last year.. around 25 lbs of minnows.. (just used my last bag yesterday [unsure] ) so as far as a minnow factrey go's it well be the place to be again this year for stocking up on shiner minnows..

yes i have heard about the removing the closure's on the inlet's.. i'm thinking i might have to dust off my old fly rod and give some of my old favrite holes a try again..[sly] bummed me out when they closed all them streams up there..

i think the best news for E-lake is the 20,000 tiger trout going in this year. i still think thats not near the alount that should be going in. but hey it's at lest a start.. with all the minnows in that lake with tigers to munch on them we should be seeing tigers looking like them bow's over at yuba 2 years ago.. the big diffrence with E-lake over yuba is E-lake can keep the trout alive and thriveing for years to come..

that my take on E-lake..
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000bf]I agree all the way down the line. Cutts have proven to be mostly a fish of the upper levels of the water column...like in Yellowstone Lake. You get most of them in shallower waters.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]I also noticed the swarms of shiners the last two years and agree that the tigers should find plenty of groceries to fatten up on. Let's let DWR do the biology and add to the numbers of tigers once they prove to be a viable species. That should happen quickly. [/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Part of the whole thing right now is that DWR no longer looks at E-Lake as a hatchery for the Yellowstone strain of cutts. They are focusing on restoring or maintaining the Bonneville cutt, rather than a non-native strain. So, the are opening the spawning streams to fishing and adding more competition to the food chain. Right on![/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]I still have a grundle of shiners from last year...lots of little ones as well as some of the bigger ones. I got a small mesh net for my last haul. Let me know if you need some before they swarm the shallows again. I plan to introduce a few of them to Huntington as soon as the ice comes off.[/#0000bf]
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[fuzzyfisher]

thanks for the offer on the shiners TD i might just have to take you up on that.. it is getting close to the best trout fishing time of the year! without shiners it might not be as good.. but egg sacks and pom-pom's are my bait of choice at ice out.. well except at huntington! them tigers sure do like them shinners. and where tigers dont spown in the spring egg's are not what they are looking for.

i agree with ya, let the DWR do the biology on E-lake.. i'm sure in 2 to 3 years we will be looking at a blue ribbin still water tiger fishery in E-lake! maybe even a state record class fish in 5 to 6 years..
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[Theekillerbee]

Sounds like another great trip Ron. Did the miners end up sealing that leak? Nice to see the water level so high before any runoff gets into the lake.
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[fuzzyfisher]

well you know the sealing of the hole is in qustion.. last year i got a E-mail from a DWR guy sorry i cant rember his name.. but he said the hole was not fixed and that just a new spring was found and diverted to make up for the water lecking out..

but then again i have a buddy that works at the mine and he said

"we just dumped 300,000 ton's grout into the same shaft the water was leaking out of" to stop the leak.

so for what ever reason the lake is back up to normal levels.. and thats a good thing..
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