Manzanita still frozen over?

[Mike O]

According to the Fly Shop website, no go on Manzanita.

Anyone ever fished ice out up there?

I am heading up there the second weekend of June...wonder if ice out will happen then or later?

[1flyfisher]

NO it is NOT Frozen.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/1flyfisher/005-4.jpg
Manzanita 5/29/11
It Iced out several weeks ago.

[Mike O]

Thank you for the better info. how did it fish?

[1flyfisher]

I was there last weekend. It was slow, but you could catch a few fish here and there.



Thank you for the better info. how did it fish?

[1flyfisher]

I am not the sort of individual that gets preachy about how others fish and I am not a barbless hook nazi but If anyone reading this goes to manzanita please make sure you fish completely barbless hooks for several reasons. Mainly for the numerous tiny wild fish. Either tie your flies on manufacturer barbless hooks or completely FILE off the barb. Just pressing down the barb is insufficient and will get you a ticket. There can be NO BARB on the hook.

Main reason to use barbless or completely FILED OFF barbs is there is natural wild reproduction of browns and rainbows in this lake any many many small tiny fish. You will catch numerous tiny rainbows and browns 6" or even less that will grab a midge or callibaetis or even bigger wooly buggers on big hooks. Trying to get a barbed hook out of these tiny fish really mangles and rips their jaws(even worse if they swallow it deep) and destroys their jaws when you put the death grip on them and twist and try to pull that barbed hook out. Even A #16 is a big hook for these tiny fish.

Second reason is the ranger is checking barbs.....My buddy fishes the lake constantly and he has been repeatedly checked by the ranger. The ranger takes a cotton ball out of his pocket and runs it over the barb of the hook. If any cotton snags on the pushed down barb you get a ticket,,,Not that I give a damn if you get a ticket if you are too lazy to file off a barb (I only care about the fish). So use manufactured barbless hooks or completely file off the barb. You should have hook file and filing off a barb is easily accomplished.

Good Luck. ....it has been pretty slow, at least when I was there.

[neil]

Quick question: is this the Manzanita that is in Lassen NP? I'm guessing so, given the info on barbless fishing.

I'll be up there for 5 days in late July/early August, and was planning on bringing my canoe. What's the word on fishing the lake?

Cheers,

Neil

[1flyfisher]

Yes Lassen NP
Yes bring your canoe. A tube, pontoon, canoe, kayak is needed. Not a lake you can walk the shoreline.
Midges, Callibaetis, Ants, damsels, motor boat caddis, Woolly buggers,......


Quick question: is this the Manzanita that is in Lassen NP?

I'll be up there for 5 days in late July/early August, and was planning on bringing my canoe. What's the word on fishing the lake?

Cheers,

Neil

[pgw]

Second reason is the ranger is checking barbs.....My buddy fishes the lake constantly and he has been repeatedly checked by the ranger. The ranger takes a cotton ball out of his pocket and runs it over the barb of the hook. If any cotton snags on the pushed down barb you get a ticket,,,.

Everybody has a "buddy" who got the cottonball or linen hankie test yet, I have yet to meet anyone who has been checked this way (all the buddies of everybody are persons of great character and would never lie...after all they are fishermen and Ed Zern said, "All fishermen are born honest but they grow out of it.")...all the real fish cops I have contacted laugh at this urban myth...all the WARDENS (yeah I know they're rangers in the NP) who have checked me and my flies have only eyeballed the hooks to see if the barbs are down. I will stop laughing at this myth if and when some Warden (or ranger) uses anything other than his/her eyes to check my hooks.

I agree with barbless fishing and barbless means barbless regardless of the manner in which the hook is examined.

I'll be at Manzanita this weekend...if any Rangers are out there (Sgt Diaz excepted) come check my flies!

Paul

[1flyfisher]

LOL Let me understand this....So since you have only been checked visually for barbs it is inconceivable that a particular individual ranger or warden might check barbs in some other manner perhaps with their thumb nail or finger or a cotton ball?

Or is this all some vast ongoing conspiracy perpetuated by elderly fly fisherman such as my friend jim trying to perpetuate a hoax and "urban myth" in an attempt to dupe flyfisherman such as yourself and others all around the world into believing that a warden or ranger could use a cotton ball to check for barbs? :paranoid::paranoid::paranoid::paranoid:
Maybe you can crack this whole conspiracy theory?
Sounds like you're on to something....with the "Urban Myth" angle.


I don't know what kind of friends you have, maybe your friends are all liars and lie to you regularly but My friend Jim Anderson doesn't lie and has no reason to lie or fabricate the fact that the ranger happened to use a cotton ball to check his barb. Maybe it's just me but I don't see why anyone would. For what purpose.... to what end?

My friend fishes the lake regularly and on our recent trip he told me he was checked this way several times at manzanita lake last summer by the ranger.

He said the ranger didn't check for a fishing license but checked his barbs with a cotton ball.

I have never heard of this prior to my friend telling me this so I am unaware of this as you call it a common "Urban Myth".

You said you have never met anyone who has been "checked this way" ,,, Well now you can meet someone who has,,,Here's a pic of him and his boat. He's up there regularly and if you fish the lake more than occasionally you will surely run into him,,,,you can discuss this with him if you have some sort of problem with what he claims and that the ranger happened to use a cotton ball to check his barbs.

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/1flyfisher/014-1.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/1flyfisher/008-3.jpg

[DFrink]

Urban myth or not, the whole idea sounds pretty silly to me. I mean really, a cotton ball?

[1flyfisher]

sssssssh! it's all really part of the great cotton ball hoax.....a plot to manipulate cotton futures.
SELL Mortimer! SELL!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VlmHNP9So5Y/SbZxlhVqJcI/AAAAAAAABAE/6ioKA-wkmns/s400/TradingPlaces_4.jpg

[Woodman]

The wardens must be a lot tougher in Montana. I had one check my barbless hooks by jamming the hook into his finger. If it didn't pull out easily and he had to push it through and cut it off, you got a ticket.

http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i343/jwoodling/M3300838-Hook_in_finger-SPL.jpg

[pgw]

This past weekend, inspite of heavy overcast and rain showers, a few Browns came to the boat on the usual flies for this time of year...had all my barbs down and off...didn't see one fisherman being cottonballed.

Back for more next weekend...looking forward to warmer weather this week that may stir up the hatch of the usual mayfly.

Paul

[pgw]

No ties or socks for me, my present is permission to go back to Manzanita, loaded with Callibaetis patterns (and a few other things) for the weekend...camping and cottonball free fishing.

I'll post another first person (not hearsay) report on Monday.

Paul

[bigfly]

Since it's pricey to pay for a ticket, I dedicate a spot on my pack for my "hook test".
If it comes out, 2-3 times without a hitch, I'm good to go.
And this is after tying the fly, and pinching it first in the vice.
Besides, they come out of your skin much easier, as well..
If your barb breaks off, better have a file.

Jim

[pgw]

Set up camp at Manzanita early Friday afternoon... fished the lake until 6 PM and managed to get 3 Browns (1 on a Callibaetis Cripple and 2 on the Callibaetis nymph suspended below the cripple)...largest was 14 inches...missed a few too.

Back Saturday AM and landed this one almost immediately on a Callibaetis Spinner...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/pgwulf/Jun2011ManzanitaBrn.jpg
(the bow on the net is 20 inches from end to end)

By the time lunch happened, 3 more Browns came to the boat and I lost a few after the hook-up. After lunch, I landed 2 more Browns...missed a couple on the spinner and had one tie me up in the weeds after taking the nymph (nothing worked, I fed slack, I tried moving the boat, but the fish remained hung in the weeds)...Lesson: Don't spend too much time getting a fish on the reel, strip line in to get the fish above the weeds before putting it on the reel!

Fun couple of days and even though the Ranger (the one with the red lights on the top of his rig) stopped in the launch area and talked to me once on Friday and a twice on Saturday, he never got out of his vehicle or displayed a cottonball...I guess I don't look or behave like a violator ANY MORE.

Paul