[dogkatcher]

what a beautiful day ... sunny all day. the wind was off & on .. was very cold early

fished about 7am-2pm.  Caught many rainbows early 15-20 fow (usual size stockers 10-15")

Went lookin for macks, Found some about 10:30-11, in 55-60 fow - screen was loaded with fish ... as we were looking for the lakers across the lake from our site,  noticed the wind blew the Ice Cube away ... ooops, didnt use anchors because there was little or no wind when we set it up

iced 2 macks & lost about 3 or 4, I lost a nice sized one too... ouch .... i was using chartreuse swedish pimple with sucker meat.  After we finally moved over to the deeper area, we had way less marks on the screen ... did the snowmobiles or auger make them run?  Im guessing those fish are very mobile & cruise the bottom all day, alot of schools went by too. the big one was hooked bouncing the bottom

then at noon everything went quiet as usual. Hooked one more right before we left about 1:30pm, but spit the hook at the hole ... oh well.
We finally found a good spot for macks.  Cant wait to hit them again, they are very colorful up there

I only took pics of the macks .. didnt have time to grab camera with the bow frenzy going on  :-X

 

[dogkatcher]

macks were released - i would have kept that big one if it didnt get away, was probably 18" ... he went sideways at the hole entrance & skunked me

the two in pics were a little small for my preference & I was hoping to catch some larger ones after those two . but the witching hour came & was too late

We did have a nice garlic pan fry with some stockers ... yummmy

 

[dogkatcher]

you think like me, easier to clean & I hate pickin bones. I didnt measure those 2 either, took quick photos & let them go.

my bow size limit is usually 14+ .... We caught some 15-17 inch macks there last fall, but they were all kind of skinny so we released em, they were as colorful too. that same day i caught a fat 14" rainbow, he was yummy.

i cant wait for the huge lurker to pop out of there

 

[dogkatcher]

I haven't ever seen a mack that colorful could that be a splake?

you're probably right, considering what i just read from dow website ... or they're a close hybrid, as they say can be difficult to distinguish
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/SpeciesID/

"Splake are a hybrid species of lake and brook trout with the best features of both fish. They can be difficult to distinguish as they hold characteristics from both parents. Splake have tri-colored pelvic fins like brook trout and their tails are slightly forked. Splake are found in high mountains lakes and have been used since the 1980s to thin out stunted brook trout populations. "

Those fish do have spots kinda like a brookie, & the tricoler fins are somewhat visible (red,orange,white) .... what gets me is the vertical stripes ... almost looks like a golden trout cousin

 

[dogkatcher]

& another thing is their size ... the 2 fish in the photos were probably (and maybe) 13-15" and really skinny. The 15-16" lakers i caught at grn mtn were WAY fatter, i just thought jefferson fish run a little smaller due to a lighter diet.

 

[dogkatcher]

The easiest way to tell, in my opinion, is to look at the dark areas on their back and head.  If it is wormy looking - its a splake. 

what do you mean by "wormy" ?