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Thread: Martis Lake Stories

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Guerneville
    Posts
    290

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    Ive fished it 3-4 times without luck, mostly from hearing stories from my dad about what it was like back in the day. Have heard of and seen pictures of very nice browns caught within the last 5 years which intrigues me but have only hooked little pan fish there. Reminds me of that lake in the bridgeport area that has huge brookies and lahontans, ive hiked in there probably 7 times only to get skunked everytime

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Yuba City
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    135

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    I've had some recent success on Martis but I feel like the window is definitely small like from opener to probably the end May or mid June. I wish I could get up there more often. It's not the prettiest lake but I've pulled some nice fish out of there. I feel like almost all of the places I've fished were much better before I was born. Quite the bummer.
    Keep Calm and Fly Fish
    https://keepcalmandflyfish.com/

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    the Lost Sierra
    Posts
    750

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    I started fishing Martis in the early to mid 70's. It had fantastic Callibaetis, Hexagenia, and blood midge hatches and VERY nice rainbows and browns. A true blue ribbon fishery. The lake was poisoned by DFG to kill competing fish and planted with Lahontan cutthroat that never amounted to much. The Hexs never came back and the Callibaetis were a fraction of what they were. In exchange damselflies seemed to thrive. The poisoning didn't kill the browns who were up the creek spawning and they became the dominant fish in the lake. This is one example when fishery "enhancement" really screwed things up. The local sportsman's group didn't like catch and release regs and the owner of a downtown Truckee bait shop (we'll call him Bud) took great pride in dumping a garbage can full of sunfish into the lake. The sunfish became fodder for the browns that grew very well (my buddy Phil caught, weighed and released a 15 pounder. It was a massive fish). The sunfish hammered the aquatic insects except for the blood midges which lived most of their lives protected in the mud.

    Martis had an algae bloom for about a week in late August (I think 87). Lahontan Water Quality Control District reps were on it in a flash. They were worried about the bloom and figured it was likely the result of golf course fertilizer and massive disturbance of soil for the upstream Lahontan housing development that released nutrients into the lake. One golf course followed another as did rapid development of Martis Camp and Northstar. Algae blooms became annual events that last throughout the summer. Fishing went down the tubes. Milfoil was introduced into the lake as well as parrot's feather and other exotic aquarium plants. We also documented an invasion of tennis ball sized snails plus a multitude of aquarium and "trash" fish which were likely brought in for bait. The milfoil took over the lake making it impractical to fish for most of the season as well as contributed to a further decline in water quality. There is the sordid Martis story in a nutshell.
    Last edited by Ralph; 06-23-2020 at 03:20 PM.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    23,837

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    Thanks Ralph,

    I was going to contact you for the real story.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    El Sobrante
    Posts
    45

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    They say that timing is everything and my experience with Martis proves it. I hit the lake in the late 70's 3 or 4 times and did pretty well on the cutthroats. There seemed to be two sizes of fish, 16-17 inchers and 20 inchers. I didn't catch lots of fish but on one of my trips I caught 3 16-17 inchers and 3 20 inchers. Since i was a relatively new fly fisher at the time, I was elated with the results. My brother caught a 20 incher on a dry fly so he was happy as well. I can remember first walking down to the lake and you could see the dark silhouettes of the fish cruising around. Pretty "eye-opening" for a new fly fisher.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Placer County
    Posts
    1,135

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph View Post
    I started fishing Martis in the early to mid 70's. It had fantastic Callibaetis, Hexagenia, and blood midge hatches and VERY nice rainbows and browns. A true blue ribbon fishery. The lake was poisoned by DFG to kill competing fish and planted with Lahontan cutthroat that never amounted to much. The Hexs never came back and the Callibaetis were a fraction of what they were. In exchange damselflies seemed to thrive. The poisoning didn't kill the browns who were up the creek spawning and they became the dominant fish in the lake. This is one example when fishery "enhancement" really screwed things up. The local sportsman's group didn't like catch and release regs and the owner of a downtown Truckee bait shop (we'll call him Bud) took great pride in dumping a garbage can full of sunfish into the lake. The sunfish became fodder for the browns that grew very well (my buddy Phil caught, weighed and released a 15 pounder. It was a massive fish). The sunfish hammered the aquatic insects except for the blood midges which lived most of their lives protected in the mud.

    Martis had an algae bloom for about a week in late August (I think 87). Lahontan Water Quality Control District reps were on it in a flash. They were worried about the bloom and figured it was likely the result of golf course fertilizer and massive disturbance of soil for the upstream Lahontan housing development that released nutrients into the lake. One golf course followed another as did rapid development of Martis Camp and Northstar. Algae blooms became annual events that last throughout the summer. Fishing went down the tubes. Milfoil was introduced into the lake as well as parrot's feather and other exotic aquarium plants. We also documented an invasion of tennis ball sized snails plus a multitude of aquarium and "trash" fish which were likely brought in for bait. The milfoil took over the lake making it impractical to fish for most of the season as well as contributed to a further decline in water quality. There is the sordid Martis story in a nutshell.
    Thanks for the summary. I think these sort of details need to be retold every now and then, even as painful as they can be.

    I guess it boils down to quite the same thing as what happened all over Northern CA; is a fly fishing lake a top priority in the scheme of all that Truckee has become.

    Ralph maybe the most qualified to speak of this: Is is even feasible to think that IF the dam were repaired and there was careful consideration for the runoff to the lake, in conjunction with a drying of the lake bottom to kill off exotic plants, etc. could there be a Blue Ribbon Fishery at some point?

    I would think there are less "Buds" and more "Orvis" in the area now?

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    23,837

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    We have huge water quality problems in Florida's back country and inshore fisheries.

    We have tons of golf courses draining fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides into our water ways.

    We have huge agricultural runoffs too. Big Sugar, Big Citrus and Bid Dairies.

    Most of Florida's business and residents are on septic tanks which is a huge problem.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    the Lost Sierra
    Posts
    750

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    Quote Originally Posted by OceanSunfish View Post
    Is is even feasible to think that IF the dam were repaired and there was careful consideration for the runoff to the lake, in conjunction with a drying of the lake bottom to kill off exotic plants, etc. could there be a Blue Ribbon Fishery at some point?
    Fly fishers are a tiny, tiny, tiny constituency compared with the billion dollar real estate, recreation, and hospitality juggernauts that would have to open their wallets to reclaim the Martis Lake fishery. In 2020, non point source pollution from a vast array of sources drowns the identifiable sources of the 80's. Simply washing one's car is a source of pollution that seems innocuous enough, but with the many hundreds of cars being washed upstream of Martis, it becomes an issue. This is one very small example. The meadow above Martis has become a dog walker's mecca and the shit piles are uncountable. We could go on. I think reclaiming Martis is technically feasible, but not economically viable. . . especially with the very real possibility that the dam will be breached by Army Corp.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Placer County
    Posts
    1,135

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph View Post
    Fly fishers are a tiny, tiny, tiny constituency compared with the billion dollar real estate, recreation, and hospitality juggernauts that would have to open their wallets to reclaim the Martis Lake fishery. In 2020, non point source pollution from a vast array of sources drowns the identifiable sources of the 80's. Simply washing one's car is a source of pollution that seems innocuous enough, but with the many hundreds of cars being washed upstream of Martis, it becomes an issue. This is one very small example. The meadow above Martis has become a dog walker's mecca and the shit piles are uncountable. We could go on. I think reclaiming Martis is technically feasible, but not economically viable. . . especially with the very real possibility that the dam will be breached by Army Corp.
    Good to know that there are probably ways to make Martis into something close to its potential again. Totally understand the viable part along with the marginalization of fishing in general. As for the dog poop..... it was quite noticeable on the dry lake bottom at "uncountable" levels that it made me think that there would be need for mitigation should the lake fill again!

    Thanks for dialogue. I know there is disappointment abound. I didn't want this to be negative thread but rather sharing the past and talking about a possible comeback.

    Economic viability may be achieved if a Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, or the Alphabet "found" fly fishing

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Truckee
    Posts
    835

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    I work in conservation and restoration in the Truckee region and we do a lot of work in Martis Valley. There is a fair bit of restoration going on in the Martis tribs. East Martis creek is in decent shape, lack of development wise than the other tribs. The main stem has some restoration underway that will get rid (hopefully) of the physical and thermal barriers to fish passage. The valley is Truckee’s primary aquifer. The dam is a flood control dam and the usage is looking at both safety and need. I believe the fault that runs beneath it is quite active and is called the Polaris fault. The land trust I work for owns the land south of the dam.

    The property has these areas that look like old fire roads that sit in cuts, which are Polaris fault lines-kinda cool. Another interesting thing to me-all of these mountain valleys now covered with reservoirs and sage-the historic seed stock is grass. That is, prior to modifications by people they were not sagebrush seas, they were grasslands/meadows all the way up into the woods. Operation of the plumbed systems and watercourse modifications to convey the water to the reservoirs lowers the water table and dries out the meadow. Also makes the spawning tribs less accessible to the fish. Sorry for rambling.

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