Hi again, I was thinking about carp and brown trout movements through seasons in a relatively small/medium lake.
Posted on October 21st, 2015In Ontario we really don’t have brown trout lakes. The only small lakes I know are those where browns have been stocked by private landowners we no public access.
I don’t believe the Ontario government stocks in-land waters with browns. Browns can tolerate warmer water temps than rainbow or brook trout and in those small lakes they usually feed along shorelines and on the surface in the spring & fall. In winter they mainly feed along the shorelines in water depth of 6-15′. That is their consistent depth. If the lake warms-up in the summer time they can suspend where water temperatures are 50-60+F degrees. So they really don’t have a big seasonal movement.
Carp will feed shallow and deep in the spring, summer and fall. Their main movement in the winter time when lakes they are in freeze over is to migrate and hold in the main-channel or main-lake basin and they become very lathargic. I have only caught on carp icefishing for walleye on a vertical jigging spoon (was very surprised). In the spring they can be seen splashing in very shallow water either staging for spawning or in the process of spawning. After spawning they scatter throughout a lake system to feed on a variety of organism. Most of their feeding is on the bottom for a mix of crustaceans, invertabrates and plants. They seldom feed deeper than 25′, but can adapt very well at feeding at different depths depending on the type of food that is available. For the most part they are caught throughout the spring, summer & fall in water less than 15′ deep.
