04-23-2012, 03:44 PM
Thanks all for the welcome!
@ Kodiak1 -- The fishery in Paddock rebounded in a great way from the 2001-05 drought. DF&G planted back to crappie and bass. They also played around a bit with some trout plantings and had a collection box there for the heads that had tags in the nose. In 07 you couldn't keep the 8 inch bass off your lure. In 08 they were about 10-11 inches by end of summer with a few larger once in awhile. In 2009 you could expect to boat 30-40 bass with a couple of lines in the water -- maybe more on a good day (we catch and release everything). Some nice 14-16 inch fish were fairly common. Then it just seemed to me to crash with two trips in and not a strike. The last time we spent some time wandering around and it looked like someone had cleaned a mess of crappie early in the year, but again, we couldn't get a nibble on anything
Yes, the road is requires a slow, careful crawl in some spots. I've got a fairly light aluminum we take in but the road still can jiggle the fillings out of your teeth. As to the ranchers, in some ways I don't blame them as many folks dumped trash and weren't very good stewards of the shoreline. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the owners one day -- her largest concern was fire. They own the lands surrounding the reservoir -- not the stuff irrigated by the water.
There is an agreement with the irrigators and the DF&G I believe to leave a "conservation pool" at the damn. But the water gets so algae filled and hot I think the oxygen levels crash and kill everything.
We used to make a half dozen trips in a year cause it was so great. On a hot July night the top water action could be fantastic about sun down. I miss that.
Thanks again the the welcome and update.
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@ Kodiak1 -- The fishery in Paddock rebounded in a great way from the 2001-05 drought. DF&G planted back to crappie and bass. They also played around a bit with some trout plantings and had a collection box there for the heads that had tags in the nose. In 07 you couldn't keep the 8 inch bass off your lure. In 08 they were about 10-11 inches by end of summer with a few larger once in awhile. In 2009 you could expect to boat 30-40 bass with a couple of lines in the water -- maybe more on a good day (we catch and release everything). Some nice 14-16 inch fish were fairly common. Then it just seemed to me to crash with two trips in and not a strike. The last time we spent some time wandering around and it looked like someone had cleaned a mess of crappie early in the year, but again, we couldn't get a nibble on anything
Yes, the road is requires a slow, careful crawl in some spots. I've got a fairly light aluminum we take in but the road still can jiggle the fillings out of your teeth. As to the ranchers, in some ways I don't blame them as many folks dumped trash and weren't very good stewards of the shoreline. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the owners one day -- her largest concern was fire. They own the lands surrounding the reservoir -- not the stuff irrigated by the water.
There is an agreement with the irrigators and the DF&G I believe to leave a "conservation pool" at the damn. But the water gets so algae filled and hot I think the oxygen levels crash and kill everything.
We used to make a half dozen trips in a year cause it was so great. On a hot July night the top water action could be fantastic about sun down. I miss that.
Thanks again the the welcome and update.
[signature]