Originally posted by: g_RIZZLER27 on 10/10/2007 8:13:00 PM

Interesting

Originally posted by: Trace on 10/8/2007 12:02:53 PM

I was fishing with a friend and just happened to be on the lake when the state biologist was doing a survey. He mentioned that on the lake we were fishing, catch and release has caused some serious problems and that the bass population was taking a terrible hit. 5 years ago, most of the big bass were over 5 lbs but because not enough fish were removed, the average size has dropped to less than 2 lbs. For the bass to recover, 15 bass per acre have to be removed. He said ideally, the fish removed need to be in the 10" to 12" range but any of any size would help.

He also said that they are considering banning all catch and release tournaments during the months of June through August because 70% of all bass caught at released during these hot months will die. Because of the high water temp and the stress on the fish, even fish released immediately after being caught only have a 30% survival rate. Fish caught during the months of December through February have a 70% survival rate and fish caught during more temperate months have a 50% survival rate. He said that research has shown that 50% die off rate of released fish is tolerable among most fishing populations and will not damage a fishery.

He did mention that when fishing during the 3 hottest months of the year, it is better to keep what you catch because chances are most of the fish will die anyway. He said even among the healthiest of bass, only 30% will survive the stress of being caught and the high water temp. Because of the high water temp, the bass can not recover after being caught.

Originally posted by: mr bill on 10/11/2007 6:37:06 AM

some of that makes since and i did now you should keep some fish out of a lake for the reasons that he stated. so much water holds so much lbs. of fish. ask your self what you want 1 fish per acre weighing 20lbs or 20 fish per acre weighing 1 lb. apiece. i hope ya get the meaning.

the question i would have is, if so many fish are dieing in the summer than why remove fish at all. seems to me enough fish would be dieing to fill in what should have been removed.



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Originally posted by: Trace on 10/11/2007 9:43:17 AM

The lake we were on at the time is a local lake, only 77 acres, and there is only about 50 feet of shoreline that can be fished by anglers that do not have a boat. This particular lake is very rarely fished because most anglers do not own boats. This lake is the newest of 2 lakes within 2 miles of each other, it is 25 yrs old, the other north of it is 40 yrs old. The older lake can be fished easily from the shore and has a road most of the way around the lake. The new has a road that goes to the boat launch ramp and that is it. Most people fish the older lake because it is easier to fish. The new lake has very little fishing pressure. I have fished the new lake over 100 days this year and 99% of the time, my boat is the only one on it. The lake gets very little fishing pressure and the few people that do seem to fish it catch and release. Little if any fishing pressure along with very few people keeping the fish they catch has caused the small bass to take over. The biologist did mention that the old lake, which actually has the least desirable fish habitat, has a strong fish population and is perfectly balanced.

Not many fish die in the new lake because of a severe lack of fishing pressure. All these small bass are not enough to control the gizzard shad population and many of the shad have become quite large, to large for any fish to eat except the catfish. There are some very large catfish in the lake. My son and pull fish bigger than 20 lbs out of the lake every single night we catfish. The channel cats will go over 20 lbs and the flatheads go over 50 with the biologist verifying the rumor that there are 80+ lb flatheads swimming the lake. Even with these large catfish, the shad population is not being controlled but the predators. He mentioned that his next order for stocking in the spring would be for 25 saugeye per acre and possible some wipers.

He said it is a balancing act but the fist thing that needs to be done is to remove around 2000 small bass. He said once the small bass are gone, the bass that are left will help to control the shad along with the addition of more predators. He said if things work, within 3 years, the lake will again be producing large bass but the few people that do fish that lake need to start removing the small bass they catch.

Originally posted by: lbt on 10/11/2007 10:01:34 PM

interesting, very~very~interesting...

wipers? i guess if they can't spawn, but man those will eat all the baby bass in years to come?
they should put out a rule to slow fishing during the hottest times, so less bass will be tagets for C&R....I would think, just asking a C&R guy nicely &/or giving them the info of why not to fish C&R during certain times 'should' do alot to help out...i would not feel bad if i was eating the fish, compard to, let`n it go and it floats away....

Originally posted by: catmandu on 10/12/2007 7:30:46 AM

we have a farm pond like that, I try and keep everything I catch cause needs thinned out bad.

Originally posted by: jsettnek on 10/24/2007 7:44:58 AM

That sounds like a local lake I fish. 78 Acres, with tons of small bass and very large shad.
The problem is the limit on bass is 15 inches and nobody really cares about them. It's mostly fished by trout fisherman. I always thought the lake would benefit with a temporary slot limit of 10-12 inches.