Mack Snagging at the Gorge???

[Out4Trout]

[cool]I've never fished this beautiful lake, but I was over on the DWR board and found the following post very interesting, and quite and disturbing at the same time. This guy has terrible English skills. Makes you wonder how he ever graduated high school, but he brought up a very interesting topic. I hope nobody on this board catches their big Macks from the Gorge this way:

This is sick and kids i dont mean sick cool i mean sick these lake trout are older than most of the people that are out ripping the guts out of 30+ pounders and we need to stop it now before it is to late i personaly caught 200+lake trout last year and out of all of them 8 were caught in the mouth to say it is fun but we are hurting mass numbers of monster fish and before long it will be over and the days of catching trophy lake trout in the lips will ly come to an end two years ago you would see only a couple of boats out and thay were the guides from conquest expeditions and now there are so meany boats out there snaging away that people are fighting and makeing it a bad place to fish 99.9% of all fish I have seen people catch have been fowlhooked and kept becouse thay cant catch them in the winter or spring what a challenge the guys you see on the lake in november are never to be found 11mt out of the year only when thay become there most vonarable what it took for me to realise that we were hurting fish is last year when on of the guides throw about a 20pd hen over bored that was spewing mass eggs from her side as she swam away to later die Iam sure then in the spring i caught lots of big fish with great big rips in there bellys cant it be sing hook and barbless what can we do becouse we need to stop this terable thing before it is to late I have allso been thinking cant thay put bouys around the spawn beds and shut it down on the hump that these fish spawn on I wish i had some photos to show you what these poor fish are going thru Please help if you can bets luck to all and catch a big one.....
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[DonInDenver]

I saw the same post over there O4T. I've never been to the Gorge in November, so I don't have any first hand knowledge, but this is not the first I've heard of this. If this really is as bad as this writer says, I'd like to see the DWR shut down Linwood bay entirely during the spawn. That is simply too great a resource to allow it to be raped this way.
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[DrewT]

I've fished Linwood a couple of times in November and there gets to be quite a happy little family of locals and guides out there. Not everyone is intentionally trying to snag the fish - but a good share are. You can tell the ones that are snagging because they don't jig more than rip their rod tips from the surface of the water all the way over their heads.

As far as protection is concerned, the big fish don't move in until just before and then after dark - when it is closed. They then move out first thing in the morning. These things aren't like stream trout that sit on their redds all day. They are really only vulnerable for a couple of hours a day. However, there are a lot of fish snagged in that couple of hours. I'm not saying that snagging is not a problem - I think that it is a huge problem; I'm just saying I don't know the extent of the impact that it has on the fishery. I will have to put my faith in the managers up there to dictate the regulations. I do know that there is still a boom of smaller (3 - 10 lb) lake trout in the Gorge and that the state wants you to keeps some of these.

I would be at least equally concerned about the kokanee. The state obviously is which is why they closed it to possession from October 1 to November 7. Their numbers seem way down from five years ago. If the kokanee crash, the lake trout will be right behind them.
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[ocean]

I remember a few years ago the dwr banned a certain size of treble hook because of the snagging situation. I didnt think it was still going on!I have never been to the Gorge and when i do go i hope the poachers havent ruined it for everyone.
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[fishley]

Ok first thing's first.out4trout you have no idea who I'am so do not judge my english skill's . I beleave you got the just of what i was saying . you know I joined this web sight to meet people and maybe share some tricks. but with people so much smarter than us not so educated people. why would i ever have to share how i have caught 5 fish over 40pd in the last two years you probably have it
all figured out.. Ok ocean I have spoke with Rogger Snidervin of the dwr. flaming george has never had eny kind of hook restriction's becouse it is to hard for them to inforce a hook size. yes gentelmen this is still going on . and until we fisherman get together despit education or what ever else nothing will change.and these hawg fish will be raped from our water's . oh do you want to see a pic of my best to date find the george report from around the 14th of oct a friend put it up for you all to enjoy.want to hack on my fishing education there out 4 trout.........best of luck and catch that big on by the lip's...........[pirate][pirate]
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[DonInDenver]

Fishley-

So on average day how many boats are out threre chasing these big fish during the spawn? How many do you think are specifically trying to snag them? Are the snaggers predominastely people fishing on their own or are there some local "guides" involved? I have heard that it is very, very difficult to get the big macks to actually take a lure during the spawn, especially in late October and November - is that your experience? If so, why not simply close Linwood Bay during the spawn? Is there any sentiment for that up there?

Thanks. By the way, I sent you a private message, too. I hope you'll stick around here on BFT.
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[fishley]

[]The bottom line is the Dwr dont care as long as the koke pop's are up and there revenew keep's going up becouse of salmon thay will leave every thing how it is. snag away snagger's becouse unfortunatly use real fisherman can't say jack the Dwr know's what's best .But dont think you will get eny tip's from the guy's that are out catching them in the lip's.I was to young to fish for the big brown's before thay screwed that all up hope I have a little boy soon so I dont just have to show him pic's of how it was.
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[kokeking]

Their numbers seem way down from five years ago. If the kokanee crash, the lake trout will be right behind them.)


and i agree with the above statement very much,the kokanee number's are down,but it's due to more then just one thing,low water levels,a over abundance of smaller macks(everyone wants the big one) as we all know the kokes reproduce then die,i think that when the lake level comes back up(when ever that is) the kokes will rebound also, but i also think that it will take more then one season to see how the new limits will affect the mack's and the koke's.


fishley by your own admission ,you dont remember the big browns in the gorge,well i do and there are still some descent sized browns left,they just not as easy to catch as they used to be.


Both the wyoming game and fish and the utah DWR decided to put thier monies into the trohpy lake trout and kokanee programs.as they felt that thier return on the brown program wasnt paying off.

As they have seen that there is more money in lake trout and kokanee then in big browns.

Personally i would like to see wyoming go back to a (slot limit) on the macks and shut down all kokeanee fishing starting the 15th of sept,to many times i have seen limit after limit of spawing kokeanee taken home.
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[DrewT]

Kokeking - I agree completely (in fact, I don't think I said that the decline was for just one reason did I?). My concern is that the new regs and better water quality will improve the conditions for the kokanee but an overabundance of smaller lakers will outcompete (and eat up all of the YOY kokes) and thus supress the kokanee population from returning to its former glory.

fishley - as far as big lakers go, you need to protect their forage base if you want to sustain a population of BIG lake trout.
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[fishley]

Yes your very corect . Do you recall when the lake was full of chub's the lake had your big trout. but the small mouth took care of them that was the best forage that lake has ever had but becouse of water level's and such these fish cant spwn and if thay do the bass eat the heck out of the fry. when i was a kid you could catch the crap out of crayfish go find some now .at least the bass eat well. Look at it like this the salmon are a good forage .well it has to be now .do you think fat albert could catch carl lewis in a race ? no. but he would be tall skinny and have a big head ju8st like the lake trout know do .that is I think becouse the salmon are so fast and can burn a 40lber pretty darn easy . But this is about snagging we could start a new page about forage for the lake but that will not help stop people from snagging trophy lake trout.Best of luck and catch a big one in the lip's .
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[DrewT]

Yeah but if Fat Albert ever caught Carl Lewis, he'd squash 'im. Add yep, you would be hard pressed to find a chub in there now - the poor things were attacked from all sides: move in shallow and the bass ate 'em; move deep and the lakers ate 'em. I try to catch several of the big 'uns every year in the lips. []
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[kokeking]

drew and fishley, both of you bring up some good points about the gorge.fishley you are right this thread was about the snagging problem,sorry didnt mean to hijack the thread
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