Planting Silver Fork?

[Scott V]

Does anyone know why and what they are planting in the Silver Fork. The Silver Fork is my favorite creek water due to the fact of the wild trout. Now they are planting it? This kind of pisses me off. Any idea of what type of trout they are planting and the size.

[Mike O]

They always used to plant bows.

[TaylerW]

First riffle up from hell I caught a big fat ugly planter bow. I killed it and ate it with no remorse

[Scott V]

They always used to plant bows.

For the last 5 years I have never seen Silver Fork being planted. Either on the DFG website or from the fish that I have caught. And I fish the Silver Fork a lot.

[Jed Peters]

Scott:

Two wednesdays ago they planted a bunch of rainbows at the two campgrounds.

The largest one we caught was 14", I don't know if they went any bigger than that.

EDIT: I know they have planted at the campgrounds the last 2 years out of my own experience in seeing them do it as well. Before that, I dunno.

[Scott V]

Thanks for the info Jed, I have never caught a planter on the Silver Fork. Probably because I fish above the campgrounds most of the time.

[neil]

I was also surprised to see Silver Fork on the list. Typical MO for DFG is to plant at campgrounds and day-use areas, so that's probably what they are doing. No planters last night upstream of mile 3.

[TaylerW]

upstream of mile 3 found multiple planters. typical rounded mangled tails. as of today they no longer taint the water up there. native fish have been displaced by the planters. no browns in normal brown haunts. im going to go up the ladder and express what i need to. anyone who wants to help me can send emails with opinions to my email: taylergofish@gmail.com

i have some closeish ties with some folks at dfg, one being that my father was raised with one of the top guys currently in the agency. i plan now on doing my senior thesis on the affects of planting fish in the silver fork and streams similar.

from now on anyone who fishes the silver fork, please measure the fish suspected of being planters, photograph the specimen, and if possible retain it in an alcohol solution. for further details you can email me at the previously stated email, or call me.

pm if interested in helping

tayler

[OceanSunfish]

I was also surprised to see Silver Fork on the list. Typical MO for DFG is to plant at campgrounds and day-use areas, so that's probably what they are doing. No planters last night upstream of mile 3.

As much as I like there to be many 'created' recreational trout waterways,especially those convenient for families and parents interested in taking kids fishing, DFG could have dropped the fish slated for Silver Fork somewhere else...... Plenty of waterways known for being great holiday recreational trout fisheries have gotten zilch fish this year so far......

Look at Nevada and Placer County this year compared to Mono, Alpine, Calaveras, and Toulumne Counties.... Stoooopid.

[RaffiB]

I believe that planting stopped at Silver Fork due to the statewide lawsuit and when they stopped stocking most sierra rivers and lakes.

I believe the fall out from that lawsuit was that DFG had to stop stocking and was required to do a pre-stocking evaluation before starting to stock that water body. I think they have been doing those evaluations over the past 4 years and adding waters back to their stocking inventory.

So, it appears that Silver Fork was just recently evaluated and approved for stocking

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/Evaluation.asp

I know from personal experience, Silver Fork used to be heavily stocked by the campgrounds when I first started fishing it 6 or 7 years ago. When the stocking stopped, I noticed a huge decline in the number of people who camped there and it has been much quieter at the campsites. It used to be that you had to go up on a Wednesday or Thursday to grab a spot at the campsite. So, I guess that will be the case again

Rafdawg_34

Anyway, just wanted to pass on what I knew

[OceanSunfish]

I believe that planting stopped at Silver Fork due to the statewide lawsuit and when they stopped stocking most sierra rivers and lakes.

I believe the fall out from that lawsuit was that DFG had to stop stocking and was required to do a pre-stocking evaluation before starting to stock that water body. I think they have been doing those evaluations over the past 4 years and adding waters back to their stocking inventory.

So, it appears that Silver Fork was just recently evaluated and approved for stocking

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/Evaluation.asp

I know from personal experience, Silver Fork used to be heavily stocked by the campgrounds when I first started fishing it 6 or 7 years ago. When the stocking stopped, I noticed a huge decline in the number of people who camped there and it has been much quieter at the campsites. It used to be that you had to go up on a Wednesday or Thursday to grab a spot at the campsite. So, I guess that will be the case again

Rafdawg_34

Anyway, just wanted to pass on what I knew

Good point and information.

Lost in all this is the fact that many of these areas/counties rely heavily on tourism as their economy. The planted trout do provide fishing opportunities for the campers who will fish nearest the campground.

The 4th of July Holiday is the heaviest populated time in the greater Tahoe region. If you're a 'local' or a commuter fisherman from the Sacto area, relax, and enjoy the fact that you can enjoy this fishing locations during times when 'summer' vacation is over..... and, most, if not all, the planted trout have been fished out anyways.

[Mike O]

Good. Somewhere I can take my kids fishing again. Hope Putah gets back on that list too.

[Jed Peters]

Good. Somewhere I can take my kids fishing again. Hope Putah gets back on that list too.

I don't know about Putah, but I know this--it is a tremendous resource for getting our young ones on fish.

Yesterday, I had the chance to put my 3 year old daughter on a bunch of fish at silver fork....which is really cool.

Hopefully she remembers this day for the rest of her life, getting to "play" and reel in numerous fish.

Pretty cool.

[robdog]

sorry to be late on this thread. I only took interest after fishing the Silver Fork yesterday. I have noticed there were more fish to be had from previous encounters, but after 4 hours fishing I caught one nice 12 inch Wild Bow. I could tell it was wild from the girth & the pink on the side of this bow. It was worth the trip. Curious I noticed the rocks really polished. Could flows push the fish further downstream? Also I have noticed less Browns as well, but that could be my faulty technique ;)