Anyone fish czechland or timber point?

[jordy1380]

Has anyone ice fished these lakes and had any luck? I think czechland was on the list of get together lakes so I was just curious if it's any good? I wanna get on a good crappie bit this year still, thinking about going to wanahoo?

[Fish-icer]

Fished czechland last week, couple bass and small bluegill.  Couldnt find the.crappie.

[kylerprochaska]

got checked by the game warden on czechland two winters ago and he told me the lake had been overrun with gizzard shad.  Said until they had the population under control, the lake wouldn't be as good as it used to be.

[Eastwesterner]

I've fished Czechland for years and it goes through cycles like any other lake.  It still grows fish well, but gets hit pretty hard.  Was there this summer and an old fella and his wife had their limit of nice bass to take home and eat.  He said he usually does well there.  The crappie and gills get hit even harder.  When the crappies hit 10 to 11 inches they get smoked there.   Didn't get to fish it last year, but two years ago the fish size left a bit to be desired.  Should be coming around.  I don't see how gizzard shad would slow crappie growth.  Wagon Train and Branched Oak both have gizzard shad and white perch and they grow crappies as fast as any lake around.

[whitetips]

I don't see how gizzard shad would slow crappie growth.  Wagon Train and Branched Oak both have gizzard shad and white perch and they grow crappies as fast as any lake around.

Gizzard shad compete for food with a lot of small game fish.  It is common to see the growth rates of crappies, bluegills and small largemouth bass decline significantly in small waters after gizzard shad invade. 

Now in larger bodies of water it can be a whole different matter, and in fact crappies in larger reservoirs may benefit from having small gizzard shad to eat.  However, even then gizzard shad are not great news for crappies because small shad grow so fast that they quickly become too large for all but the largest crappies to eat.

In small and medium-size reservoirs, "Shad are bad".

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/blogs/category/barbs-and-backlashes//

[Eastwesterner]

Gizzard shad compete for food with a lot of small game fish.  It is common to see the growth rates of crappies, bluegills and small largemouth bass decline significantly in small waters after gizzard shad invade. 

Now in larger bodies of water it can be a whole different matter, and in fact crappies in larger reservoirs may benefit from having small gizzard shad to eat.  However, even then gizzard shad are not great news for crappies because small shad grow so fast that they quickly become too large for all but the largest crappies to eat.

In small and medium-size reservoirs, "Shad are bad".

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/blogs/category/barbs-and-backlashes//

Sounds like a Largemouth bass catch and release policy couldn't hurt Czechland in the short term or is that lake on its way to being euthanized?

[kylerprochaska]

Sounds like a Largemouth bass catch and release policy couldn't hurt Czechland in the short term or is that lake on its way to being euthanized?

I vote for Northerns! 

[whitetips]

Sounds like a Largemouth bass catch and release policy couldn't hurt Czechland in the short term or is that lake on its way to being euthanized?

You are right, it could probably use more largemouth bass.  However since the shad are already present additional harvest restrictions may not be that successful.

I will not tell you that there are imminent plans for a rotenone renovation at Czechland, the fishery is still relatively good. But, ultimately, if we need to get rid of gizzard shad, that will be the only way to do it.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/blogs/category/barbs-and-backlashes//

[whitetips]

I vote for Northerns!

Northern pike are a large predator fish, no doubt.  But in a small to medium-size reservoir in eastern Nebraska largemouth bass are the predator best suited to the habitat and most effective at controlling panfish/baitfish/rough fish numbers.

By the way, northern pike have been stocked in Czechland in the past.  A few of them survived, anglers may have even caught a few, but the pike never were so successful in Czechland that they provided much additional predation.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
[email protected]
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/blogs/category/barbs-and-backlashes//

[Todd_NE]

Upstream waters, bucket biology or how did the shad appear in Czechland out of curiousity?

Are lakes like Czechland, Summit, et cetera designed to be drained dry now when they are built? When it comes to using Rotenone I always wondered if it was best to just pull the plug, rehabilitate the lake bottom, and fill 'er up again.

Of course filling up anything in Nebraska is a crapshoot...

[whitetips]

Upstream waters, bucket biology or how did the shad appear in Czechland out of curiousity?

Are lakes like Czechland, Summit, et cetera designed to be drained dry now when they are built? When it comes to using Rotenone I always wondered if it was best to just pull the plug, rehabilitate the lake bottom, and fill 'er up again.

Of course filling up anything in Nebraska is a crapshoot...

Your guess is as good as mine on the origin of unwanted species in a body of water like Czechland.  I would guess bucket biologists in that case unless someone knows of some gizzard shad in a pond in the watershed above Czechland.

Draw down levels vary from reservoir to reservoir depending on the design of the outlet structure.  There are some that can be lowered significantly, even drained, but there are others where the draw down capabilities are very limited.  In this pointy-headed fisheries biologist's opinion, they all should be built with outlet structures that allow draw downs to a variety of stages including complete draining.  When it comes time for a rotenone renovation or a habitat rehabilitation project, outlet structures build that way give us a lot more options and can allow us to accomplish a variety of management techniques for the least cost.

And then yes, filling 'em back up depends on the year and how much precipitation we get.

Daryl B.

[perchboy]

throw nets are a great shad catcher.

[PowerHour]

Hey lost a tip up at czechland last night coming off the ice it musta fell off my sled anybody happen to find it by chance?

[okcableguy]

Timberpoint last night was a wash.  3 baby gills and a lot of BS time with a good friend.  Guess that actually makes it a good time!