10-10-2012, 11:18 AM
You're probably right in that there still are some but I think it really has gotten overfished. It wasn't just 08 that we used to catch big fish. Every year before then was like taking candy from a baby to catch 20+ inch bows. Now that I think about it, 2009 and 2010 there still were some but it wasn't prime like 2008...it was like a declining athlete.
I think that fishing has gotten more and more popular over time and that most of these "big bows" got caught and kept and the ones left are more scattered now. Up untill this year I used to go like 10 times or so per summer and we always had a boat. I've noticed more people fishing than there used to be.
The problem isn't when one or two people keep their limit but more and more often now is the group with 6-10 people halling out close to 40 fish. That's the major change from now versus back in 2008...we used to be practically the only people on the lake on a sunday in 2008. In particular,the rainbows in particular are sterile so once those big ones are caught, they aren't replenished and even old ones that don't get caught will obviously eventually die (not sure how long they can live).
I also don't have links directly but I remember in 2010 and 2011 gill nettings were done and if I recall there weren't any 20 inchers bows which might indicate that it has lost a lot of the big ones.
I'm not one to complain cause I love challenges as well but when we used to catch these 20-24 + inch bows it wasn't just in 1 spot. We had many spots we would go...some more private that not to many people go to and some that are common.
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I think that fishing has gotten more and more popular over time and that most of these "big bows" got caught and kept and the ones left are more scattered now. Up untill this year I used to go like 10 times or so per summer and we always had a boat. I've noticed more people fishing than there used to be.
The problem isn't when one or two people keep their limit but more and more often now is the group with 6-10 people halling out close to 40 fish. That's the major change from now versus back in 2008...we used to be practically the only people on the lake on a sunday in 2008. In particular,the rainbows in particular are sterile so once those big ones are caught, they aren't replenished and even old ones that don't get caught will obviously eventually die (not sure how long they can live).
I also don't have links directly but I remember in 2010 and 2011 gill nettings were done and if I recall there weren't any 20 inchers bows which might indicate that it has lost a lot of the big ones.
I'm not one to complain cause I love challenges as well but when we used to catch these 20-24 + inch bows it wasn't just in 1 spot. We had many spots we would go...some more private that not to many people go to and some that are common.
[signature]