alhuger Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I am not a huge fan of winter fishing for trout. I find the fight sluggish and pretty unrewarding. Of course, I still do it because I cannot help myself but I tend to do it less because of the lethargic fight. However, I find that smaller, younger fish (especially bows) seem to have *a lot* more fight in them than their larger counterparts. Anyone know why that is? Is it because they have less mass and are more aggressive in order to see it through the winter months? al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ÜberFly Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hmmm... Not sure I agree with you Al!! The 22" Rainbow I landed on Monday was full of "piss and vinegar" (with 2 huge jumps), as was the 20" one, as well as the 18" one!! LoL P I am not a huge fan of winter fishing for trout. I find the fight sluggish and pretty unrewarding. Of course, I still do it because I cannot help myself but I tend to do it less because of the lethargic fight. However, I find that smaller, younger fish (especially bows) seem to have *a lot* more fight in them than their larger counterparts. Anyone know why that is? Is it because they have less mass and are more aggressive in order to see it through the winter months? al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proflytyer Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hmmm... Not sure I agree with you Al!! The 22" Rainbow I landed on Monday was full of "piss and vinegar" (with 2 huge jumps), as was the 20" one, as well as the 18" one!! LoL P I'm no expert but it maybe that the smaller fish are more aggresive because they want to put as much weight as possible to help them survive. As the bigger fish have already put on the weight and are not as ready to eat anything in sight. Don't agree with this idea because many big fish of mine fight alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhuger Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 Hmmm... Not sure I agree with you Al!! The 22" Rainbow I landed on Monday was full of "piss and vinegar" (with 2 huge jumps), as was the 20" one, as well as the 18" one!! LoL P I suppose it could be subjective but I think in general winter trout need to conserve energy to live through a time of abbreviated food access. Hence less fight as their metabolism drops off in order to get through winter. Or I think anyhow. Could be I just get into the lame fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishpro Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 It might be a bit early still, but it could be that this time of year the larger rainbows are using up a lot of energy preparing to spawn, therefore have less fight in them. The smaller fish aren't using any energy to prepare, therefore have a lot more energy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastBoyScout Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 May be for the same reason most teenagers have more energy than me, maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 "Small rainbows" (those that are under 2 years old) maintain a much higher metabolism in cold water than more mature bows. It's nature's escape mechanism for the young fish. Higher metabolism, higher energy, higher feed intake, higher volumes of oxygen used, compared to more mature 'bows. This is the same reason that fish under 2 years old do not survive partial winterkill conditions in stillwaters. When a stillwater has a "partial kill" it is the larger fish that survive because in the cold water their metabolism has dropped significantly and they use and require less oxygen than the little guys. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headscan Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Jack, that makes plenty of sense. I find even in the summer most of those 2 year old 18" rainbows put up a more spectacular fight than the big lunkers who might make one or two runs before giving up. Gord Kennedy told me once he'd take 18" rainbows all day over anything bigger for that exact reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Well, I was very surprised when I was told this by a certain noted fisheries biologist from Kamloops a number of years ago, when discussing stillwater winterkill. I had assumed that larger fish use more oxygen and therefore would be the first to die off during a winterkill. "Not So !" sayeth he. It also explained why, in both wild trout lakes and stocked lakes that are subject to occasional partial winterkills, there is a population of "huge trophy" fish. The new generations of either wild or stocked fish are killed off, leaving excess feed for the already larger fish. j Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhuger Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 "Small rainbows" (those that are under 2 years old) maintain a much higher metabolism in cold water than more mature bows. It's nature's escape mechanism for the young fish. Higher metabolism, higher energy, higher feed intake, higher volumes of oxygen used, compared to more mature 'bows. This is the same reason that fish under 2 years old do not survive partial winterkill conditions in stillwaters. When a stillwater has a "partial kill" it is the larger fish that survive because in the cold water their metabolism has dropped significantly and they use and require less oxygen than the little guys. j Thanks Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatsleapfishrepeat Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 i dont know but i had 2 fish over 20" peel line today and 2 smaller 15-18" fish came to hand really easily. I didnt horse in the small ones either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadensis Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Gord Kennedy told me once he'd take 18" rainbows all day over anything bigger for that exact reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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