Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kevgor]

I was fishing in a local lake yesterday, and was lucky to get a few of the remaining stocked trout.  I said to myself "Hmmm wonder what these guys eat this time of year"? So I split open their stomachs while cleaning and what I found was two major components  1) Yellow and Pink Powerbait, & 2) loads of tiny pink clams 3-5mm across.

Okay the Powerbait was my fault, too cold to get out the bellyboat and try a chironomid pattern. But the clams were a surprise. Freshwater lake - freshwater clams. Has anyone seen this on local lakes? What other strange food will trout resort to at this time of year? Not alot of insect hatching right now - lol.

[BC Fishing]

I have also witnessed cutthroat and stocked trout eating tiny tan colored clams in Brohm lake. So I guess this means we need to tie a bunch of clam patterns, cast them out on full sinking lines and.. wait?  Maybe will discover it to be even deadlier than chironomids turned out to be 

[pwn50m3 f15h3r]

I'm pretty sure a lot of these trout eat small aquatic snails too; I've caught many trout stuffed with snails.

[RalphH]

trout commonly eat fresh water snails - I've caught them so full of snails that when you rub their bellies it feels like it is full of gravel - so why not clams. Fresh water clams are very common in lakes and rivers -they reach a considerable size - small clams would make a high protein energy rich food source.

Chironomids will hatch throughout the cools seasons and trout can be taken on them on mild winter days. Small baetis type mayflies are also a possible hatch in lakes since I catch trout during such hatches in the Fraser Watershed. Small minnows like sculpins are also probable winter forage.

[clarkii]

Not to mention other forms of aquatic life like damsels and dragons.

[RalphH]

While patterns to imitate them may work, neither is as abundant in the LM  as in the interior and I don't know how active they are in winter. They definitely do not hatch. So you don't go there we also don't have scuds in the lakes here but some lakes have daphnia. Again I don't know how active or abundant they are in winter

[KarateKick]

I noticed Rice lake has Leeches and Salamanders in the lake.. Not sure about during winter but I am sure they eat em'!

Salamanders? Wow. My kids would sure love to catch some. It's probably more exciting to them than catching trout.

[Rodney]

When we fished at Rice Lake 15 or 16 years ago, there were lots of salamanders and occasionally one would accidentally be hooked too. Not sure about now. I didn't notice that many when I was there a few years ago.

There isn't a whole lot of groceries in Lower Mainland lakes in general, that's why all the fish stocked are at catchable size. Overwintering fish don't eat a whole lot, they eat whatever they can find, even twigs and leaves. In bigger lakes like Hicks, Fraser Valleys that manage to survive a couple of winters will start preying on sculpins and other smaller fish. We caught some last February and they were pretty healthy looking.

[Damien]

The salamanders are specifically rough skinned newts.  I too remember great numbers of them in Rice years ago. 

[TimL]

I noticed Rice lake has Leeches and Salamanders in the lake.. Not sure about during winter but I am sure they eat em'!

probably not the adult newts..they're toxic and advertise this really well to potential predators with their bright colors. The tadpoles and eggs may be fair game however...provided they are not toxic.

[RalphH]

Hicks, Deer, Grace, Kawkawa, Wolf, Mill and Buntzen had been known to produce trout to 3 to 4 lbs given they get the time to grow to that size. I've taken a few out of Mill, Wolf and Buntzen in years long past.

Hicks produced rainbows to 16lbs before the road was cut in there. Some claimed they were 'land locked' steelhead. I wonder how old those fish were when they were bonked.

Some people may not be aware of it but the large lakes around Powell River have a winter chironomid fishery for cutthroat that can weigh double digits. It's fished with hi density lines at depths up to 70 feet.