Grouse Ridge Lakes

[Jeff F]

According to the DFW planting info (https://map.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/), aerial planting was conducted at specific lakes in the Grouse Ridge area last year. I'm not big on pellet-eaters, but these fish do hold over in these lakes and make viable fisheries. Some in the past were planted with Kamloops and were epic until they were wiped out by bait guys.

Anyway.....the point of my post is.......we fished Sawmill Lake a month ago. This lake was listed as being planted in 2017 with rainbows. So we expected to catch a few small rainbows along with the resident brown trout. We fished all day, and all we caught were brown trout. No signs of any rainbows at all, which I found strange.

I'm not a conspiracy guy, but I am very skeptical when it comes to the CA DFW.

Has anyone been into any of the lakes in the area and noticed any new fish??? Most of the lakes in that area have had very few fish the last few years. So it should be evident if any fish have been planted in the lakes the DFW claims to have planted.

Not asking for specific lakes, but would just like to know if DFW is telling the truth.

Thanks all,

~Jeff

[JasonB]

According to the DFW planting info (https://map.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/), aerial planting was conducted at specific lakes in the Grouse Ridge area last year. I'm not big on pellet-eaters, but these fish do hold over in these lakes and make viable fisheries. Some in the past were planted with Kamloops and were epic until they were wiped out by bait guys.

Anyway.....the point of my post is.......we fished Sawmill Lake a month ago. This lake was listed as being planted in 2017 with rainbows. So we expected to catch a few small rainbows along with the resident brown trout. We fished all day, and all we caught were brown trout. No signs of any rainbows at all, which I found strange.

I'm not a conspiracy guy, but I am very skeptical when it comes to the CA DFW.

Has anyone been into any of the lakes in the area and noticed any new fish??? Most of the lakes in that area have had very few fish the last few years. So it should be evident if any fish have been planted in the lakes the DFW claims to have planted.

Not asking for specific lakes, but would just like to know if DFW is telling the truth.

Thanks all,

~Jeff

Maybe the browns ate a bunch of the planters?

[RSK]

picked up a few nice rainbows in glacier last year. Were not new planters though and the bite was not on fire.

Russell

[EricO]

So Jeff,

Judging from the responses, either very few people are fishing the Grouse Ridge area
cuz there's no fish (and DFG didn't really plant like they said, and has diverted the funds
to another department - that would be the conspiracy theory). :)

Or it's fishing well, and people are tight lipped.

Thinking the former. I know the Lindsey lakes get hammered...if nobody is
catching fish there, then they obviously didn't plant. It's on the list as being
planted last year though for both upper and lower with rainbows.

Wish a fisheries biologist with knowledge of the area would chime in.

Eric

[Jeff F]

So Jeff,

Judging from the responses, either very few people are fishing the Grouse Ridge area
cuz there's no fish (and DFG didn't really plant like they said, and has diverted the funds
to another department - that would be the conspiracy theory). :)

Or it's fishing well, and people are tight lipped.

Thinking the former. I know the Lindsey lakes get hammered...if nobody is
catching fish there, then they obviously didn't plant. It's on the list as being
planted last year though for both upper and lower with rainbows.

Wish a fisheries biologist with knowledge of the area would chime in.

Eric

Well, I wouldn't expect those lakes to be fishing well if they planted them last year. The fish would still be relatively small due to them being fingerlings when planted.

I don't think anyone is fishing there, since most of those lakes have become basically fishless over the last few years. I guess only time will tell.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if DFW lied about planting those lakes and diverted funds to something else. I guess the only way to find out is to hit a few lakes they say they planted and see what happens. Which is what I'm gonna do. It's not like you can get any information from DFW to verify planting. They treat this shit like they're the freaking CIA.

Most of those lakes have good calibeatis populations and damsels too. So if fish were planted, they will holdover and become quality fish, like in years past.

Lindsey Lakes could actually be planted with a truck, so that's probably not a good indicator. We need to know the status of the hike-to lakes which would receive aerial plants.