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[AkDan]

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[The Common Man]

Nice work on catching a bunch of fish.  I also agree with what you are saying.  Do you know if the same holds true for grayling (being old fish if they are big)?  I have heard that before. 

We had fun on Flathorn on Friday night/Saturday.  We kept about 10 Northerns and put back about 10.  That was probably our last trip in because of the trail conditions.  We don't want to be tearing up the muskeg. 

Keep hauling in those lunkers!  If your legs ever stop getting rubbery, it's time to give it up.

[Fishin Fireman]

Real fiserman practice what they preach, which one are you "fishinlakeout". You must walk the walk and not just talk about doing it!

Right on Dan

[Barleydog]

Curious AKDan?
Kind of a contradictory topic eh?  Did you mean to single anyone out on this topic like FF?  Did I miss a post here?  Who's Fishinlakeout?  Damned I leave for a week or so and you guys are raising heck!   I cruised over to the lake a week ago and saw way to many folks on the ice!  Unreal!!!!  Manage to C&R 6 fish one at 20 lbs. and a couple pressing 20.  Watched a couple other folks hoot and holler dragging a fish out of the ice.  Guess the secret is pretty much out of the bag!  Location, location, location seems to be where most other folks are hammering fish.  Sometimes silence is the solution eh? 
If ya get a laker of that size, it only makes sense to be prepared to release it.  Boga grip the fish, keep it in the water or net, snap a photo, and get it back quickly.  There's no need to keep any laker in this lake unless it's mortally wounded or it's your first fish IMHO.  We C&R'd plenty of healthy lakers last summer and registered 2 via the AK C&R program, including a couple caught by my boys.  Not ringing my own bell here, just stating it starts with the youth and continues with us older folk.  Lip grips, a soft net,and proper handling are a must!  On another note about C&R fish...  You will not be eligible for C&R certification if you handle your fish out of the H2O at a great distance or place your fingers within the gill plate.  The boys in Juneau will turn down your certification and send ya back a stinky no-no letter!  Happened to my bro in law, and he was pretty disappointed...  Guess I learned the hard way on that one.
Spawning or not?  They stopped planting these fish years back, and yet we managed to catch some lakers around 14" long.  Had one on that got hit by a monster pike or laker at around 12" 2 years back.  I'd say they're doing a great job repopulating!  Just a hunch here, but it seems that F&G would get some substantial assistance from fishermen if they "requested" creel samples, or surveys from the locals?  How about a web based survey?  Something that shows the public they are trying!  Then again, the boat launch/entrance at Harding is crazy!  The state seems to make excuses to every feasible solution to these simple problems yet no answers?  Someone please tell me why I pay $10 a launch?     
On Char, F&G will tell you Harding char are all non-spawners and make great wall hangers!  Although the thought of a skin mount on a oily fish like a char would give me second thoughts...  Additionally, they taste like crud over 6 lbs IMHO, (oily and fatty yucks.)  If you get a biggen, release it and let your grandkids enjoy it.  There's plenty of replica blanks out there that will make your fish look fantastic!  Heck, seeing this lake produce the next state record would be a hoot!  Good topic on C&R out of Harding, (yeah it's not a secret anymore for most of the lurkers existing on IS.)    

[Fishin Fireman]

NO I know it was inteded for me. Were tight . It was mainly intended for others that are unaware of how precious Harding is and how easy it would to over fish it.

We are with you Jim

Fishinlakeout was posting dumb comments and being  stupid. He was terminated by Grump , Thanks Moe

Brad

[KGrant]

Dan, they do sell annual passes, except for camping.  http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/asp/fees.htm

[Hickory]

Hey AkDan,
  Quick question for you,  when you say biannual spawners were you truly meaning they spawn twice a year or did you mean every other year.  I don't know the answer, but it seemed by context that you meant every other year.  How fast do you understand these fish to grow.  I know the answer is SLOW... But when you see a picture of a Harding trout is is a HOG, head looks small compared to its gigantic belly.  Compare that to pics of fish in other lakes and you have lots of head and not much body.  If there is such a great prey (baitfish) population in the lake to feed fish that well then I would think they would grow faster that lakers elsewhere but "slow" compared to other fish.  I would be totally interested in any reading you guys know of that describes these fish and how they grow, particularly in Harding. 
   I have seen six lakers hit the ice out there this year, 3 were big and 3 were "little".  The "little" guys were about 18" each and looked like footballs with laker skin stretched over them, none looked like they were hurting for a minnow!  Who is to say there aren't a lot of smaller ones lurking but we don't see them because of the size of stuff we are dropping,  and the risk of life a 10-12 inch fish or smaller has by being in the open water column out there.  When exactly were these fish stocked,  because there is obviously a big age split here.  Also, do you guys have your fish aged when you keep them and where do you recomend this be done?  I am really interested and might just hit some literature in my spare time a bit on some of this stuff and let you guys know if I find out anything cool. 
  Here is another thought for ya to ponder, though I am new to the sight this year and new to this great lake,  what would you say is responsible for all this "new" pressure on these fish?  Would you say it is just a good lake and enough people that cared heard over the years to reach fishing levels seen now or would you say it has been the recent advertisement of the sport and lake from local establishments that are directing more fisherman out there.  Just a thought I've been pondering, don't want to step on anyone's toes here.
  Hit it yesterday and had a great time, first time i had seen more than 4-5 trucks.  Only had 2 hits but the one that held on made the day, taped out to 33" and didn't weight it,  again though not a skinny fish!  The more I see guys with vexilars then the more they look SWEET,  I might have to think about one next year.  It is fun fishing them blind though, then if you don't get hits you think it might be lure or presentation, there is always anticipation.  But with vexilar they are there or really not, I'll have to think it over more.  I don't know what it is like for other people, but one every trip or two is plenty to keep me hooked?
P.S. Fishingfireman, I don't think you have seen me in a store, only been in the one you suggest about 2 times this year. 
  Tight lines.
Hickory

[Barleydog]

Dan, 
No harm intended!  I'll agree with the baboon eh!   I'm glad to see no one on the site was your target.   Great conversation about a premier fishing lake, that's do for collapse, unless action is taken....

Some interesting points to ponder eh! 
- Char reproducing?  Two folks from the Fairbanks office told me they were indeed
"not reproducing" in this lake, (Cal and Nancy are two folks you may want to chat with Hickory concerning the char.)  They very well could have been mis-guiding me, but they seemed fervent in their information!
- No real pressure?  4 summers back I could fish that lake on a weekend with maybe 2 other fishermen on the lake, (but 30 jet ski's!)  4 summers ago you could C&R 30 fish a day, and watch others do likewise.  I can actually tell you that a fish I caught was indeed "The largest they had seen on hook and line brought into the office", at 11 lbs. or so.  I had caught and released well above 80 big fish that summer.  The next year, the same thing, and then this last year a sharp decline....  Why?  I really believe that word did get out and the fish populations decreased from folks keeping big fish.  It was common to see folks at the landing with nice fish, and some BIG lakers in years past!  Point being, it doesn't take long for word to get out, and that word leads to the decimation of a small lake.  I'll except small blame where layed for not holding information, although tight lipped most of the time it happens!  Heck keeping people interested in our sport through a little success has always been a hobby of mine, (especially kids.)  Large numbers of fishermen will always deter the "antis" and other "Eco-weenies" through our passion and a strong voice.   
- Large volumes of folks on the ice catching fish this year, instead of just watching their bobbers, (heck even the stinks off of us!)  More mobility that wasn't seen in years past!  Shanties where almost nil this year, but trucks were plentiful.  Success was great on the move, but shanty-sitting still was tough.  Lot's of folks learned over the winter?  I think word has travelled fast and Hickory post hit it on the head!
- Lucky lures?  Naw, even that one's been figured out.  Although odd manufactures of lures, they are indeed good!               

Not to be a "dooms-dayer", but I firmly believe that this lake will suffer from the pressure unless action is taken soon!  I know the biologists are trying hard...  I'm sure they are continually swamped with useful suggestions that spin their pretty little heads.  I just hope their theories don't fail and we're stuck with an empty lake!  Maybe closing the laker industry to all fish above 32" would be good?  Maybe making it a C&R lake would improve stock?  Maybe implementing a slot limit would benefit the stock and ease the broad stock present in the lake?  I don't know, but erring on the side of conservativeness wouldn't be bad eh?  Can't see it hurting the future trophy fisheries for our youth eh.

Tight lines gents!  Gotta go now.....

[Fishin Fireman]

Excellent discussion  and many opinions and ideas all geared toward the same goal. Man are we good or what. As far as stocking Harding, according to Brendan I think thats his name. When he spoke at sportsmans warehouse he said active stocking was stooped in the early 90's because it was found the fish were successfully reproducing on their own with good success. He informed us that when the new state of the art hatchery is completed in Fairbanks that the hatchery will have areas to produce laker and char stock but will rotate between the two every other year, lakers this year char next year as an example. IMHO they will continue to due this until they ADF&G see a drastic decline in one species or both from the lakes and then go every year. This is what we must keep from happening, the drastic decline of our fish population that the state cannot produce as many as we take. This is what we know as a deficit. We must INFORM the people on the board of fisheries who make the rules KNOW that we are deeply concerned about overfishing our streams, lakes and saltwater in general and not just one lake like Harding. Look how long it took them to realize the impact that people were putting on the Chena river before they did anything it was almost two decades before they turned the river into a C&R river for 90% of the length. I for one do not want to see any good fishing water turned in to C&R  unless it is an absolute last resort. We need to stiffen the laws  on length and shorten the limits like Char for example, 10 a day and only one over 18"s. Lets cut the limit in half and keep the length, honestly who eats ten char a day , no one I know. Yes I feel bad about taking a female with eggs. I am not a bad person for it. It is OK to cull the herd as we do with others species here in Alaska but it must be done ecologically and responsibly. There are a diminishing number of true sportsman out there these days and it is our responsibility to teach the others how to be respectful to nature and each other. Remember the few bad ones out there make us all look bad. Here is a quote I remember from the 5th grade nurses office. "When I do good no one remembers, when I do bad no one forgets".

Lets keep up the good fight and hope that others out there will read this and learn from and follow the example we are setting. We are the ones who have all the eyes turned on us and we must walk the walk we spoke of.

Sincerely

Fishin Fireman 8)

Brad  

[Hungry4Fish]

Excellent discussion  and many opinions and ideas all geared toward the same goal. Man are we good or what. As far as stocking Harding, according to Brendan I think thats his name. When he spoke at sportsmans warehouse he said active stocking was stooped in the early 90's because it was found the fish were successfully reproducing on their own with good success.....

There are lots of studies performed by ADFG biologists available for review regarding Harding Lake. Here are some samples:

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fds91-09.pdf

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr03-01.pdf

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fm91-02.pdf

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/F-9-17(26)G-III-K.pdf