crookednose Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Howdy folks, I was fortunate enough to get out for an hour on Saturday afternoon within the city limits. I was oddly suprised when I just about stepped upon what looked to be a dead brown trout. It was not moving at all and laying on the river bottom in about knee deep water. It was still facing into the current, but it's tail was contorted in every which direction - it definetely didn't look natural. I walked all around it (stepping within inches) and didn't get a reaction at all. I then decided to give it a little "nudge" to see if it was infact alive ... and sure enough, it was startled and then swam away. Looking around some more, I saw close to ten fish all in a similar "dead-like" state. Most were off on their own, but I saw one HUGE fish with three other fish huddled around so close they were touching. It was something I've never seen before. Any explanation to this sort of behaviour? PS ... didn't catch anything ... forgot my wieghts at home and had a tough time breaking throught the semi-slush that was floating by. Quote
Weedy1 Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 More than likely living around the fish creek(Hullswood) area and been caught every day for there whole lives...Keep takin pictures boys... Nice cast Fishhead. What do you think you'll land today? Quote
toolman Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 CN, There are many reasons why the fish may have been holding tight to the bank and sort of in a state of diapause and I too have seen this many times before. Water temps and sunshine rule a trouts metabolism, as they are cold blooded creatures. You mention the ice slush making fishing difficult for you. The water temps may have dropped quickly and the trout were seeking refuge in a warmer, shallower part of the river. During the colder winter months, when you see them just lying there sort of sleeping, it's usually a symptom of low body temps. Quote
SanJuanWorm Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 They were all in the shallows discussing how the hell they'd stay away from that maxwell fella. Quote
maxwell Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 lmao!!! dave i wish...the brown could either be recouping from the spawn wishing it was spring so he can thicken up like most of em or trying too warm up in the shallows and bring up his/hers metabolism too go feed cuz he was frozen..or digesting after the morning feed..or there was a long fight and the lactic acid is still fresh.. there could be a number of reasons why the fish are dormant...overfishing and stress could be one or it could be that it was chinookin and they were gorged and now kickin with there holmies with full bellies waiting for the next chinook...ive seen fish like 365 all over the freakin place...trout, char, suckers, whitties....the days when you dotn see them and dont catch jack..what do u think there doin...deep shallow or anywere in between....... Quote
reevesr1 Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 I have seen many fish over theyears , exhibiting similar behavior and they have all been stressed, either by envirnmental conditions,over fishing, lack of oxygen, inability to spawn etc. More than likely living around the fish creek(Hullswood) area and been caught every day for there whole lives...Keep takin pictures boys... I'll start simple: Whatever dude. Edit: Weedy, He landed one older balding cracka fish apparently... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.