Stocked Brookies don't survive the winter?

[Bluegill]

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Edited November 6, 2014 by Bluegill

[BillM]

They don't die off, you've just gotta find them

[GoneFishin]

If the lake is small/shallow and doesn't have moving water running through it then the oxygen levels might get depleted over the ice season causing a majority of the fish to die off..

[Joeytier]

Clearly there are more factors at play. I have fished many lakes in northeastern Ontario that have been stocked quite heavily (relative to their size) with brook trout and have almost always blanked in both spring and winter. Even though these lakes are drive-to, they really don't receive much pressure at all (certainly not enough to drain a lake in one year). Most of these lakes are deep, clear oligotrophic lakes without much winterkill. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I don't think I'm that inept at catching brookies.

[irishfield]

If you don't stay on site long enough for them to circle the entire shoreline.. you may always think the lake is empty. We've been into the same stocked Brookie lake... Winter and Fall.. many times and only had two occasions where they were "on". They're still there even though we caught squat!

[Gregoire]

Are the brookies that you catch all of the same year class? The reason I ask is because I fished a stocked trout in Nova Scotia with me uncle once, and he talked about how the newly stocked fish were very active, especially soon after they were stocked. However, the older fish that had been in the lake for a while were much rarer to catch. If the lake is very deep and there are some smelt, or other deepwater prey species and the lake does not have a natural deep water predator, maybe the brookies that are larger fill that void, and act more like lake trout than brook trout.

Edited May 7, 2012 by fishgreg

[Bluegill]

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Edited November 6, 2014 by Bluegill

[BillM]

I really don't think there is an issue, you aren't going to slam them every single time you go out.. Same thing happened this weekend to me and a few buddies. Great weather, perfect conditions, great water temp, 1 fish between 3 guys... Nothing you can do about it.

[danc]

I found that ice fishing for stocked Brookies got worse and worse as winter progressed. I too believed in the oxygen depletion theory. I think that the fish just become lethargic. But as soon as the ice was out, you couldn't keep them off your hook.

[Bluegill]

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Edited November 6, 2014 by Bluegill

[BillM]

Well, one of those lakes were checked with a net and they didn't catch a single brookie the year after stocking.

 

So switch lakes? Even the MNR can get skunked!

[SirCranksalot]

As I understand it, stocking lakes is a trial and error process. .i.e. the MNR, or counterpart in other jurisdictions, assess the lakes characteristics and decide if the lake is suitable for whatever fish they are considering stocking, but they do make mistakes and sometimes they don't 'take'. Why not call the MNR and find out what they know?

 

[Leecher]

I've been fishing specks in stock lakes over here for a while now and I can tell you from first hand experience that it's a hit & miss when it comes to catching them

 

Hardwater or softwater doesn't matter, it's a cycle... there either on or off... it basically comes down to being there at the right time... weather, moon phase plays a factor in their feeding behavior.

 

I find by switching presentations when their finicky will somehow trigger them in committing... if that doesn't work... time to move on

[carll2]

I've been fishing specks in stock lakes over here for a while now and I can tell you from first hand experience that it's a hit & miss when it comes to catching them

 

Hardwater or softwater doesn't matter, it's a cycle... there either on or off... it basically comes down to being there at the right time... weather, moon phase plays a factor in their feeding behavior.

 

I find by switching presentations when their finicky will somehow trigger them in committing... if that doesn't work... time to move on

 

 

et voila you hit it right on the head, i fished the same lake as we fished on friday 5 days before you got there and picked up 1 trout and the day before that 8 trout...some days its hot and some days its not