# Paint opener fishing report



## Nikotav1 (Feb 21, 2017)

Fished the paint creek with a couple friends did a simple rig 6 gram float 2 split shots and 8 pound florcarbon leader and a small trout hook and a small red worm. Got a lot of browns a couple small rainbows, nothing over 12 inches. Released everything some nice fish let them get bigger


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## scooter_trasher (Sep 19, 2005)

good job , but their not getting bigger, they will either make their way to the lake, or die from the heat this summer


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## Nikotav1 (Feb 21, 2017)

scooter_trasher said:


> good job , but their not getting bigger, they will either make their way to the lake, or die from the heat this summer


Ya I got a bigger one td kept him don't want any of them to go to waste


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## Fishman95 (Jan 25, 2015)

scooter_trasher said:


> good job , but their not getting bigger, they will either make their way to the lake, or die from the heat this summer


So where are the occasional 16"-20", 3-5 year old trout coming from? Don't tell me that they're jumping the dam at Yates.


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## mrjimspeaks (Aug 23, 2009)

They're not, every couple years you see a pig come out of the Paint nearer to Rochester. When I was a kid there was more big residents in the Lake Orion area...not so much anymore.


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## FISHINGcuresALL (Jun 26, 2016)

Hmmm.... I wonder if being over fished and everyone keeping them has something to do with no big fish? Nah, a big stream like that can handle the pressure.


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## Nikotav1 (Feb 21, 2017)

FISHINGcuresALL said:


> Hmmm.... I wonder if being over fished and everyone keeping them has something to do with no big fish? Nah, a big stream like that can handle the pressure.


It's definitely not being over fished there will be 5 guys on the river max when I go and I occasionally keep 1-2 bc it's legal and not really hurting the system plus it's not the best stream to sub stain life I also believe a decent amount of steelhead come up from the dam at Yates and possible a brown


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## Fishman95 (Jan 25, 2015)

Nikotav1 said:


> It's definitely not being over fished there will be 5 guys on the river max when I go and I occasionally keep 1-2 bc it's legal and not really hurting the system plus it's not the best stream to sub stain life I also believe a decent amount of steelhead come up from the dam at Yates and possible a brown


There's nothing wrong with keeping some, but don't keep every 12" fish you catch purely because they won't survive the winter. The stream has proven capable of sustaining 20" fish. My guess is that there aren't many 20" fish because so many people keep the 10-14" fish they catch. Not that they're at fault of anything, the law is clear. I've kept a couple 12"+ fish myself.


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## Anthonydaslayer (Jan 29, 2016)

NIKOTAV1 believes that all the trout die in the summer and they re stock it every year.... lol I do not think that is true... I can't remember the last time they stocked it, if anyone knows please reply


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## Fishman95 (Jan 25, 2015)

Anthonydaslayer said:


> NIKOTAV1 believes that all the trout die in the summer and they re stock it every year.... lol I do not think that is true... I can't remember the last time they stocked it, if anyone knows please reply


They stock it every year, but they stock 3-6" fish, not 20 inchers. The dnr stocking reports are available online.
Edit: plus they don't stock rainbows, so any rainbows you catch are naturally reproducing residents or baby steelhead. I'm guessing the latter.


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## manOfaith (Feb 29, 2008)

Saying they don't survive the summer makes zero sense. 

As Fishamn 95 says the DNR website states the stocking size is the 4-6" fish anuually in the spring. Anything over 8" is a surviving stocker or a fish from natural reprodution....and there are alot of fish in the 8-12" range imho. Which proves the stream can support a yearly turnover of fish, which should encourage everyone to practice some form of catch and release on such a small stream
....but thats another topic lol.


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## Nutsboat (Aug 22, 2015)

There is no doubt that trout are surviving both the heat of the summer and the cold of winter. I also firmly believe there is a natural reproducing population of both brown and rainbows. There should not be small bows with Parr marks in that creek, yet we have all caught them. I realize hatchery browns may have marks, but if the steelies do it, the brownies are at least attempting to. The water temp when the browns spawn should be fine to protect the eggs and smolt until spring.


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## FISHINGcuresALL (Jun 26, 2016)

If the DNR balieved all the trout died every year.then they wouldn't stock it. They have proven that.


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## mrjimspeaks (Aug 23, 2009)

Also, when the depths of the summer come the stress you put on those trout during the fight will likely kill them. The Paint gets a little balmy.


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## nighttime (Nov 25, 2007)

They have planted some rainbows in the past


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## Fishman95 (Jan 25, 2015)

nighttime said:


> They have planted some rainbows in the past


Not in the past 7 years. I didn't look back any further than that


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## Nutsboat (Aug 22, 2015)

Fishman95 said:


> Not in the past 7 years. I didn't look back any further than that


Not since 1987


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## Nutsboat (Aug 22, 2015)

Nutsboat said:


> Not since 1987


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## Nutsboat (Aug 22, 2015)

There's a chance the steelies that currently spawn in the paint are descendants of those fish stocked in the 80s. That would be pretty cool.


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## jaytothekizzay (Apr 1, 2002)

The rainbows are naural. I see tons of spawning steelhead in the creek every year. Usually hook one or two after the trout opener. Also the creek produces big browns if you know how, where, and when. The Browns have adapted and learned to survive the summer heat, and holdover every year.


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