Late Catching Report

[roby]

Thanks for posting and showing the shot of the fillet. The meat from most stocker trout is white and not tastey if you know what trout is supposed to taste like. That fillet looks pretty good. was it? Mike

The fish tasted great; I had some for lunch. Jess Ranch raises their own trout. I believe these are called the "Ruby Red Trout." I don't know the history behind it, but I'll try to find out. I would put it a notch up from the typical stocker. It taste nowhere as good as a brown trout I have had in the Sierras though.

Found some info on Wikipedia about Ruby Red Trout:

"Rainbow trout is popular in Western cuisine and is caught wild and farmed. It has tender flesh and a mild, somewhat nutty flavor. However, farmed trout and those taken from certain lakes have a pronounced earthy flavor which many people find unappealing; many shoppers therefore ascertain the source of the fish before buying. Wild rainbow trout that eat scuds (freshwater shrimp), insects such as flies, and crayfish are the most appealing. Dark red/orange meat indicates that it is either an anadromous steelhead or a farmed Rainbow trout given a supplemental diet with a high astaxanthin content. The resulting pink flesh is marketed under monikers like Ruby Red or Carolina Red. Steelhead meat is pink like that of salmon, and is more flavorful than the light-colored meat of rainbow trout.^[21]"

Mout Baldy has two ponds, one pond with smaller trout and the second with some much larger fish....But if you want to guarantee your your son/daughter catches a big fish, he can see the fish the whole time, and you're willing to pay for it than Mount Baldy is the way to go.

I have been to the Mt. Baldy trout ponds and the two places are different experiences. Mt. Baldy really is a catching pond. You can feed the fish with pellets and the ponds are only a rock's throw size wise. The several times I have gone I have tried not to catch fish since it takes "anyone" around 5 minutes to land a fish. Great for kids IMHO. You would never bait and wait here for example...

At Jess Ranch the lakes are still smaller (think Sierra sized), but not pond sized and it's possible not to catch a fish. There were several people I saw that did not catch anything and many families with one fish on the stringer. There were two male adults just to the right of us that didn't catch anything until 20 mins right before closing. It's easy to catch, but you still have to know what you are doing and pay attention to details, especially since the water is clear.

[roby]

Quick pros and cons about Jess Ranch since it does have quirks:

Pros:

* heavily stocked with fish
* small lake setting
* fishing metal and plastic work here on a consistent basis
* "no skunk" policy - go ahead and laugh - haha
* kid friendly
* somewhat low pressure
* easy access to the two lakes
* they have varied pricing depending on what you want to do at the lake

Cons:

* they are strict on catching your limit and not releasing fish; they will actually come out on a cart and mark your wristband/ticket (I don't mind though)
* they were checking stringers and coolers when I went for anglers taking too many fish
* some have complained the fish are on the smaller side (on average they are not Irvine Lake size)
* they are only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
* it's not the Sierras
* no kayaks allowed!!!!!