# otter creek gillnetting



## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfishi ... t.html.csp

I am surprised this hasn't been talked about a bit!


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3 (Jan 12, 2011)

That’s a nice sized trout!


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## mjschijf (Oct 1, 2007)

What a hog of a brown! I have heard that there are some nice ones in there. Those lake browns seem pretty elusive, especially in a place like Otter Creek with abundant rainbows.

Good to know that there are fish like that lurking next time I'm there. Thanks for sharing.


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## Flyfish4thrills (Jan 2, 2008)

That is one awesome fish! Those are the type of monsters that we have been spoiled with seeing in the past. Sadly, the rest of the article only confirms _nearly exactly_ what I had posted in my report 2 weeks earlier viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41821 , that most fish are 10-12 inches or 16-18 inches. However, they don't offer up the exact population statistics like Colorado does (see this great example): http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCollect ... 011%20.pdf I would bet the numbers fall in line with what I found of about 15% being the 16-18 inch class and 85% being the 10-12 inch class. Is it still worth fishing? I guess. I just can't wait until next year.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

flyfish4thrills -- you realize that the size mesh gill nets that they use are not conducive for catching larger fish (over 20"), don't you? Sure, occasionally a larger fish (like the one in the article) will get caught by its teeth, but many large fish simply bump into the net, then back off and swim the other direction.

As for the numbers, give the bio's a chance to process the data, and then ask them for it. They'll have all of it available for you given some time. You have to realize that they are out netting nearly every day right now. They can't net and process data at the same time!


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

Those little fish must not like flies, because I rarely catch anything under 15 down there. Or maybe they prefer waters with a higher powerbait saturation :mrgreen: 

I'm sure there are more monsters in there than you'd think, but nobody ever fishes for them. A brown like that isn't going to take a size 6 woolly bugger or a chunk of drifting cheese.


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## Flyfish4thrills (Jan 2, 2008)

So big fish say to themselves, hmmmm, look at that piece of cheese. How unsportsmanlike! A size 6 woolly bugger? How bourgeois! I think I'll only bite on a #22 dry fly that is elaborately tied and with a fancy name, as that is "what's in" with fisherman these days. lol. My grandfather caught his 35", 29lb brown on a simple, small, black fly with a white wing, which was around a size 8 that he tied himself. see the post here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41971#p429250 A couple of weeks ago, based on the limitations of our company (older gentleman that was unable to cast), we were trolling with large hardware....lucky crafts, large kastmasters, curly tail grubs, and large spinners and still picked up mostly the little guys. My preference is to use flies (see my handle) but I am not above fishing any style. Based on the stomach contents we found, it would be wise to target them with a crayfish pattern.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Flyfish4thrills said:


> Based on the stomach contents we found, it would be wise to target them with a crayfish pattern.


So, say, a #6 wooly bugger?


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

No silly,
wooly buggers don't catch big fish!


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## 1BandMan (Nov 2, 2007)

Flyfish4thrills said:


> That is one awesome fish! Those are the type of monsters that we have been spoiled with seeing in the past. Sadly, the rest of the article only confirms _nearly exactly_ what I had posted in my report 2 weeks earlier viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41821 , that most fish are 10-12 inches or 16-18 inches. However, they don't offer up the exact population statistics like Colorado does (see this great example): http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCollect ... 011%20.pdf I would bet the numbers fall in line with what I found of about 15% being the 16-18 inch class and 85% being the 10-12 inch class. Is it still worth fishing? I guess. I just can't wait until next year.


Agreed. That's what I've heard as well. Many 10-12 inch planters and a few larger fish being caught. Depending on what day, fishing can be good to terribly slow, but hey, you might just catch an 11lb. Brown. Folks say there's one in there.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

The thing about a place like Otter Creek Reservoir is that harvest is always high...so, the number of little fish will always be higher than the number of big fish. I would suspect that next year the gill netting will not look much different than this year with lots of small fish and fewer big fish...


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

W2U brings up a point about Otter Creek: fish in this lake are always in the zone of maximum growth rate.

(I know he didn't say that, but he eluded to it).

Because of the high harvest at O.C., the population is always at a level where fish grow FAST. What does this mean? It means that the potential for large trout is always there. Historically, O.C. has always had those "rare" trout (rainbows, browns, cutts) over 10lbs. Obviously, they are not the norm -- but they are there.


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## hardwaterjake (Jan 19, 2008)

Nice fish


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