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I went out and a did a little fishing until my brother had to go to work. We fished the north west side during the first hour and I caught one dink. After only getting one fish we left for the dam. I landed 3 more dinks and my brother a big 0. We moved down farther and both of us landed 15 more dinks. I was hoping to catch at least one nice fish and this was wierd for Minersville because we they average a good 5 or more inches. The ice was about 3" of good clear ice and the water clarity sucks but not as bad as last year. We left to go to work and after work we hit the lake again for the last hour of day light.
We planned on fishing the last spot but the water level has moved up so we had to walk down to find a better spot to get on the ice. When we got on it was making some wierd cracking noises so we spread out and enjoyed the last part of the day. The fish didn't get bigger, just the same planter bows. It got dark and so we packed up to head home. My brother headed off the ice before I did and the ice busted and in he went all the way to his head. I thought I was going in after hearing all that cracking. I didn't go in but I could get off the ice at that spot so I looked for another spot. I found a good spot but I was nervous and my brother was soaking wet. When I went to step on a rock and head out, the ice gave way under me and I went for a splash. I was thinking it was going to go for a swim before I tried to cross so I just let myself drop. I didn't get all that wet, only the legs but dang that was some COLD water. After the fun in the water we split and got out of our wet clothes. It was a good laugh after we warmed up and ended up taking a few pictures of us all wet and even though we didn't catch any big fish we still had a good time.
It seems like the fish all killed over last winter or during the summer so don't make the trip this year. It sucks all the fish died but it seems like the DWR is trying to cover this one up.
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Easy there Jaque Cousteau! Not winter scuba diving for me! I'm glad you guys made it out of there OK. Be careful next time around.
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Be careful out there . Glad you made it to shore and got warmed up . I hope I never get all wet thru the ice . I did break up the ice on the edge of a farm pond in february on a dare and went for a swim in my youth . I sure wouldn't want to do that again . LOL I never been to Minersville , always wanted to go .
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Cousteau is the man. I'd go scuba diving during the winter and this little dip wasn't to serious.
Either way thanks for the concern and have a merry christmas.
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It used to be one of my favorite places to fish but when all the big fish are gone I'll spend my time other places for the next couple years. Its really  to see such a great lake to go down hill, AGAIN.[unsure] To bad you couldn't of made it 7 years ago during its hay-days. All we can do is dream about those days now.
FYI- I've heard and seen more people go throught he ice at Minersville then most of the other lakes combined. Ice thickness doesn't seem to matter much here, it seems to get soft spots and splash, down another one goes.
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I'm curious what you mean by the DWR trying to cover it up???
Minersville has pretty much lost the fish in it. Not much you can do when there isn't any water in it. It was pretty much empty during the summer. The DWR knows this, and have been pretty open about it. It was stocked this year, but (like you already said) it will take a couple years to get it back to where it was. But, it all depends on water. The DWR owns a conservation pool in Minersville, but they have not been able to get that pool back since the dam was repaired -- which is why it was drained pretty much dry this summer. Not much you can do when Mother Nature doesn't provide any water.....
Don't be surprised if you see the regs lifted on Minersville for a little while.....no reason for special regs when there isn't any water, or fish, to fish for....
I'm still curious about your comment. Are you blaming the DWR for the poor fishing? The size of fish? Bad reports?
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hedgesd,
The fish made it through last winter in good shape. Some even made it through the summer. But the last week of October was the last straw, so to speak. The water users had been leaving a little water for the fish, but decided to let every bit out that last week of October. Then about 2 or 3 hundred pelicans moved in and feasted on the struggling fish. There wasn't enough water to keep them alive, and certainly not enough to allow them to escape from the pelicans. If we get enough water, you'll be surprised to see how fast things can turn around at Minersville. If they plant 12 inch fish in the spring, they'll be pushing 18 inches by fall. Minersville actually has a faster growth potential than Strawberry or Scofield.
PBH,
I hope that you are wrong about the regulations at Minersville. Even if there isn't much hope for water, there isn't much reason to go back to a put and take fishery in the mean time. You reestablish the meat hunter mentality. And you eliminate any holdover fish that may be next year's 24 inchers. I noticed the spelling in your profile of Heppy. Do you have any inside information? Are you related to anyone at the DWR?
I can't wait for the return of water to Minersvile so I can get back to fishing it every week or so.
Fishrmn
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Fishermn -- You are exactly correct -- the Pelicans were the last nail in the coffin. It also will not take long to get Minersville back to where it was, as long as it gets water!
As far as regulations are concerned, don't worry too much about it. It may not happen at all. But if it did, it would only be a temporary change, similar to the open regulation change when the dam was repaired. One thing to remember when talking about artificial regs, and catch-and-release fishing: These regs only work where overharvest (by birds, or fishermen) is a problem. If there isn't any water, or fish, then overharvest won't be much of a problem. If some bait fishermen wanted to go catch what few fish may be left, then let them. They will not be able to to any more damage to the fishery. Like I said, this most likely will not happen, but from my perspective, why be unnecessarily restrictive? Especially if we can't get the water back in the res. Take all those fish that the Pelicans ate....I think that fishermen should have been able to harvest those fish, and if there isn't going to be any water next summer, why not let fishermen harvest the fish instead of letting warm temps and low (no) water do it? Just my opinion -- and we all know what they say about opinions...they're alot like assholes! Everyone has one, and they are usually shitty!
hedges -- I would still like to know what you mean about the DWR covering up.....
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PBH- the answer is simple. If the DWR knew the fish were going to die then why didn't they impament a emergancy change and let us harvast some. They've done it in the past so why not this time.
On the lighter side of things why didn't anybody mention what was going on at Minersville?
I've got one question though. PBH you made a comment about the DWR losing the conservation pool since the dam was fixed why would they since the land owners didn't lose their water rights?
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hedgesd,
I think they thought that there would be enough water for the fish to survive this winter, just like they survived last winter. But then the water rights holders said "Let the fish die, we want our water." And then the pelicans moved in. Last year they left some water in, but this year they drained it as low as the outlet would allow them to. Maybe I should have mentioned it, but I was practically in tears when I saw how low the water was, and then I saw the pelicans eating their fill.
As for the DWR's water rights, and reaquiring a conservation pool, there has to be enough water for the primary water users, and then the secondary water rights holders. Then if there is any more water left after the primary and secondary water rights holders have received their allotment it goes into the conservation pool that the DWR owns. There hasn't been enough water since they drained it for repairs to satisfy those water rights. So there isn't any water in the conservation pool.
All we really need is water. Kinda hard to come by in a desert though. Maybe we've turned the drought around and we'll have 6 or 7 wet years.
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Thanks for the info. I guess I feel about the same this lake as you do. Maybe with some water well be able to get some keepers out of this lake. I know I won't be fishing it for at least a year.
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