6/4-Trout plant at Hennessey (Non-yak)

Took  the kids to Hennessey yesterday for the George Carl Fishing Derby.  Too bad my little girls didn't catch any. FYI- for future reference, I expect the 1,000 lbs of trout they planted will be there for a while if anyone is interested.  I was excited for my kids 1st experience at Hennessey, but soon understood the madness adn won't likely do it again unless I get a bigger kayak for them to join me on it.  Not to badmouth the organizers, but so many issues:

1.The gates don't open until 6 and the event was advertised from 6AM to12 noon. Cars lined up everywhere and dangerous driving into the lot. So much for getting their early to set up at 5:30.
2. Everyone was fishing on top of each other; no more than 10' apart. (thank god we were there early and picked a decent spot where no one could crowd us.
3. The plant was done at 7AM and rude, crazy, people flocked to the ramp and were casting on top of each other.  (Sarcastic) Great example for the kids.
4. Planted Farm trout don't usually eat for several hours according to Smith's Mountain trout owners, where I ended up taking the kids to get a sure catch.

So at least Hennessey will have some trout for a while.


Good luck yakers !

I'm sorry to hear it turned out that way, I'm sad to say that I've seen the same behavior at similar events before.


As for the stocked trout not biting, the fish are usually bought by the pound and not by the fish. That way an unscrupulous hatchery (they're out there) will feed the trout before weighing/loading them. Fish food costs less than fish.


Go back mid-week, there will be less people and the fish will be hungry.

Sorry to hear about the crowd. That's to be expected though during those types of event. Yeah, having a tandem for the kids on the water would have been a lot more fun.

Jedmo

In reality planting fish for kids a few hours or the same day or even the day before a derby is not really a good idea, the fish won't be on the bite and it will be a dissappointment for the kids, not to mention all the rudeness and disrespectful actions going on.
I can think of another place or two where this happens.  sorry you had a bad experience. 

sounds awful, I have had same experience with gate supposed to be "open at sunrise" ... and every time I ask what time is "dusk" I usually get an answer well before sundown. I help with a local fishing derby and they usually stock at night or evening before. Freshwater regs usually help since its illegal to fish for trout after sunset in some locations, sounds like Hennessey would fall under it as well.



3.00. Fishing Hours.

(a) Day Defined: One hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Remaining hours are night.
(b) All fish may be taken day or night, except as follows:
(1) WATERS WITH RESTRICTED FISHING HOURS FOR ALL SPECIES:
(A) American River between Business 80 and Nimbus Dam (Sacramento Co.): Night fishing prohibited
(B) Heenan Lake, (Alpine Co.): See Section 7.50(b)(76)(A).
(C) Mono County: Night fishing is prohibited in all Mono County waters except Topaz Lake, where fishing is prohibited from two hours after sunset to one hour before sunrise.
(D) Tahoe Lake (Placer and El Dorado cos.): Fishing is prohibited from two hours after sunset to one hour before sunrise.

(2) WATERS WHERE NIGHT AND DAY FISHING IS ALLOWED, BUT NO TROUT OR SALMON MAY BE TAKEN AT NIGHT: (A) North Coast District.
(B) North Central District, all waters except Berryessa Lake (Napa Co.) and Mendocino Lake (Mendocino Co.)(C) South Central District, all waters except Coyote Lake (Santa Clara Co.)
(D) Valley District, north of Interstate 80, all waters except Camp Far West Lake (Nevada, Placer, and Yuba counties), Collins Lake (Yuba Co.), Oroville Lake (Butte Co.), and Wildwood Lake (Nevada Co.).
(E) Shasta, Siskiyou, Lassen and Tehama counties.