Am I nuts to fish in areas where there are power bait fisherman catching large stocked fish?

I took my dad fishing (and hiking) down the North Fork of the Stanislaus with nary a bite between us. The scenery was spectacular and that made up for the lack of action. As we walked through the campground on our way back to the car I saw some fishermen at their campsite with about a half dozen fish on a stringer. The men said they used powerbait and fished right at the campground. We had hiked about two miles below this area to get away from the hub of civilization.
I returned to the campground late yesterday and got some strikes in the "powerbait" area. It wasn't satisfying the way it is down river or even up river where the fish aren't freshly stocked. I use barbless hooks and do not want to keep my fish, my dad on the otherhand wanted to.
Well, here's my question:
I spent a few days fishing with my dad last week. We used various flies, times of day, and locales. We are both seasoned and have learned over the years that you can't always catch the big fish even on a good day. There was a point where the cballenge lost its charm at least for me. I fished nearby small streams with success this last week but that still didn't settle the frustration of not catching anything with my dad when we did it all right except we didn't use powerbait.
How do I deal with that?

BTW - My dad is 83 but you wouldn't know it to see him scrambling up and down the streams determined to get a fish.