Has electronics and live bait ruined my favorite lake ?

**gillchaser999** · 10-29-2021, 09:04 AM

I took some time off from fishing because of health issues and Covid .
I have recently returned to find my favorite water reservoir lake void of fish .
I’m mostly a sunfish or panfish ultralight fisherman who practices catch and release 99.9% of the time .
Over the years I’ve witnessed folks bait fishing panfish beds until they were wiped . But I knew there were some beds in deeper water that allowed the fish to recover and to keep a decent population over the the years .
Now with the new electronics, people are able to find the deep water fish and with bait have ruined the lake for everybody .
The “ fishermen” I’m talking about , don’t follow regulations. If they catch it , no matter what size , it goes in the bucket, only now it’s a livewell.
It only took a couple of years to wipe out the fish population in this 350 acre reservoir.
My electronics consists of an old Eagle depth finder that shows fish as little fish and the depth . Also beeps when I pass over one . I bet I haven’t heard more than 10 beeps in the last four fishing trips .
I can remember years before underwater structure that I would pass over and the beeper would sound off with multiple beeps and show the structure full of fish , now , occasionally I’ll might get one beep , if I’m lucky .
And it hasn’t stopped . On a recent trip , a guy fishing off the docks with minnows landed an undersized bass and it went straight into his bucket . As I passed under the only bridge on the reservoir, a couple of guys in a large bass boat loaded with electronics were tied up under the bridge dropping minnows down under the bridge .
When I asked if they had had any luck , one said he’d caught dinner , a four pound largemouth.
It’s sad that people would abuse a resource in this way .

**DockShootinJack** · 10-29-2021, 09:20 AM

I also believe areas go through a cycle. Once they can no longer catch fish they will move on to a place they can. Then the fish population will rebound

**cricket george** · 10-29-2021, 09:24 AM

I agree

**gillchaser999** · 10-29-2021, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I also believe areas go through a cycle. Once they can no longer catch fish they will move on to a place they can. Then the fish population will rebound

I hope it rebounds before I get too old to be able to launch my boat . The reservoir is close by .
Just in the last couple of weeks , the county has posted a sign stating a new regulation that goes into effect January 1, 2022 , requiring out of county folks to have a visible permit to use the lake . Annual permits are $300 .
That should slow them down some .
If they had enforced just the state regulations, it would have helped . But I rarely see any officials anymore and they were more concerned with boating regulations and park hours than enforcing fishing regs when they did come around .

**DockShootinJack** · 10-29-2021, 09:59 AM

I was watching a biologist about crappie. He said a 9 inch fish was 1 year old. At that size they were ready to breed. In a year or 2 a big improvement would be seen

**deathb4disco** · 10-29-2021, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by gillchaser999

The “ fishermen” I’m talking about , don’t follow regulations. If they catch it , no matter what size , it goes in the bucket, only now it’s a livewell. ...

... On a recent trip , a guy fishing off the docks with minnows landed an undersized bass and it went straight into his bucket . As I passed under the only bridge on the reservoir, a couple of guys in a large bass boat loaded with electronics were tied up under the bridge dropping minnows down under the bridge .
When I asked if they had had any luck , one said he’d caught dinner , a four pound largemouth.
It’s sad that people would abuse a resource in this way .

I see this a lot.

I'm not a fan of modern electronics, but it's people like this who view the regulations as "suggestions" that can ruin lakes.

**deathb4disco** · 10-29-2021, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by gillchaser999

hen I asked if they had had any luck , one said he’d caught dinner , a four pound largemouth.

I'd rather go to Long John Silver's.

**gillchaser999** · 10-29-2021, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I see this a lot.

I'm not a fan of modern electronics, but it's people like this who view the regulations as "suggestions" that can ruin lakes.

I have an old Eagle “fish finder “ I use mainly for the temperature feature and the speed when I long line .

**Fishfishwish** · 10-29-2021, 07:20 PM

Sounds like the problem is irresponsible people, not electronics.

**Gomer Snerd** · 10-31-2021, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by DockShootinJack

I was watching a biologist about crappie. He said a 9 inch fish was 1 year old. At that size they were ready to breed. In a year or 2 a big improvement would be seen

Except that may not be true. Saw a video where an Oklahoma biologist said the oldest crappie he ever saw was 11 years old and 6 inches long. The grow depending on numbers and available food, among other things.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Thread: Has electronics and live bait ruined my favorite lake ?

Thread Tools

Display

Has electronics and live bait ruined my favorite lake ?

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions