I've seen enough!

I've had a severe case of cabin fever this winter and because of the amount of snow we've had, I haven't been able to get outside to Grandma's much at all. I caught wind that a local state park was being stocked with trout so I made plans to check it out. I took Nick out first to stake out the lake. We bought some night crawlers and found a nice spot all by ourselves. It was a great day, about 60 degrees and over cast but we caught nothing. We only spent about 3 hours fishing but I was frustrated. Nick was crazy bored so we left to meet the girls and Andrew for dinner. On our way out we stopped by the other end of the lake where a ton of cars were parked to further investigate. We saw a guy pull out a 12 inch rainbow. I asked what he was using and he showed me a can of whole kernel corn. These farm-raised trout were used to what they were fed before they were released into Lake Isabella. How boring! These guys were all using corn and bobbers! Anyway I took notes and left.



Two days later I heard they were bringing more trout in (750 lbs) so I took Andre and Lilly down to watch them release them into the lake. I even brought corn! We casually fished from the dock for an hour before we saw the truck pull in. It was going to release the fish into a cove about 50ft by 75ft. All the way around this cove, standing shoulder to shoulder were retired, old, over-weight, bearded men. They all were loaded down with power bait and corn. Even at the end of the cove was seated four men in boats just waiting to cut off the freed fish. It was pathetic! As soon as the trout were dumped into the lake, one net full at a time, bobbers and spinners would fly in from all sides into the area the size of a hula hoop. There were multiple tangles and cussing going on, some guy was chucking corn kernels with a scoop into the water, and I was told to get Andrew away from the fisherman so there would be no accidents. Talk about grumpy old men! I saw one guy catch one of the fish (that wasn't floating upside-down or barely moving) as soon as it hit the water. He cheered and put it into his bucket. The fish was only in the lake for like 5 seconds! That's not fishing! I could have grabbed my limit of four with my bare hands and been home for lunch in 20 minutes. I was embarrassed to be there and said I have seen enough. The kids and I left before all the fish were unloaded. They enjoyed seeing the half-dead fish but were soon as bored as me.


I decided to leave Lake Isabella to the grumpy old men for now. Maybe I'll take the kids back there in the summer to fish from the docks when it gets warmer but until the bluegill, bass, and crappie start biting, I think I'll pass on the trout. The whole experience was a bit too corny for my taste.