11-27-2020, 03:03 AM
That might be the case. I do know that reservoirs in Montana have had a serious decline in perch populations that was attributed to low water, lack of spring runoff and fishing pressure with no bag limit. Low water and lack of run off keeps lakes low and areas that might otherwise be flooded, like weed beds, willows and other low vegetation contribute to poor panfish spawn, as these are the types of cover they like to spawn in, plus the influx of walleye and pike, plus added fishing pressure has led the state to put a limit on panfish in certain areas now. As far as Idaho, I hope we are not going down the same path, with no panfish limits. Some lakes I fish can withstand the pressure because the herd needs to be thinned a bit, but I don't think fishing pressure will hurt anything here because it's hard to find information for lakes here, even from several fishing forums.