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The problem with fish is they swim. Patterns change all the time.
I agree that the pike fishery is off. I have essentially given up on setting tip-ups for pike while I am panfishing in the islands. Countless hours of running tip-ups with 3 to 5 inch perch and only one pike caught all year on Champlain, and that fish was only low 20s. There are places with so many small perch and bluegills that are filled with hungry pickerel and bass, but seemingly no pike. Maybe they have stayed out deeper than usual this year?
Fair enough. Been fishing on Champlain for 55 years. I've experienced a lot of changes in that time, including decimation of the walleye fishery and a now non-existent sauger population on the southern end of the lake. A number of factors lead to that, not the least of which was overly generous bag limits (IMO), overfishing, fishing the spawning run, loss of spawning habitat and invasive white perch. Today I'm seeing pictures of groups of 4 fisherman with 20 pike on the ice. Being that pike are at the top of the food chain in the lake I have to wonder if that's really necessary, and how many of those fish will be thrown away due to freezer burn...if they even make it to the freezer. It also seems like we'd want to protect the big breeders. I'm no biologist, but I do know the lack of predatory fish can lead to overpopulated and stunted prey species like perch. I've seen very few reports of anyone catching true "jumbos" on Champlain these days. Would it hurt to have a slot limit on pike to protect the big breeders? Do we really need to have a 5-fish bag limit?
I have mixed reactions to this post. If you assert that the pike fishing has gone downhill, how then is it possible for 4 guys to limit out and catch 20 pike ? I agree that for the most part it is not necessary to ever keep a limit of 5 pike, but there could be good reasons why some people do keep 5. Maybe they only have enough time for a couple of days of pike fishing per season, or maybe they are feeding pike to a big family. As long as the fish are not wasted I do not fault anyone for keeping a legal limit of any fish species.If keeping a legal limit of fish by enough fishermen truly harms the population of that fish such that it harms the sustainability of the species, then the fishermen are not to blame, and the state fisheries biologist need to recognize what is happening and tighten up the size limit and/or the bag limit accordingly to get things back to sustainability.
This topic is of very high interest to me as a NY pike fisherman that does a lot of ice fishing trips on the south basin of Champlain. I am very sad for the guys that want to catch pike, both for action and size like they are accustomed to, and are finding a dropoff in either size or numbers of fish. I am wondering if this is a problem specific to the northern part of the lake in VT ?I have not seen a dropoff in either the average size of the pike, or in the numbers of flags and fish caught on the NY side where I fish, in the 10 years that I have been fishing the same spots. The area seems to be inexhaustible for pike ( also pickerel and perch ). I don't catch limits and never have, and even if I did I would not keep a limit because I do not want to clean that many pike, but it is a rare weekend thata I don't put at least 2 pike on the ice that are > 30 inches.Back in 2014 or 2015 ice season, I was visited 3 times by VT fishery people that pulled up on snowmobiles doing creel surveys, that they said would ultimately be compiled and used to review the VT regulations with regard to size and creel limits for pike and other fish. They said the info. would also be shared with NY for assisting NY with setting size and creel limits since it is a border water for most of its length.If the diminished pike problem was occurring the entire length of the lake based on creel surveys, I think they would have imposed stricter regulations since 2015, but they have noit changed anything for pike regs . in NY so maybe this is limited to the VT only portion of the lake and those areas are possibly being ovefished. ? If true then that is sad and VT should definitely change the regs. to reduce the bag limit and/or put a slot limit or something useful in place for a while.
Don't forget that VT and NY have reciprocity with the fishing licenses on most of Lake Champlain. If you are not getting the pike action you want where you normally fish in VT or NY, drive a little farther and try some new spots in VT or NY for a change of scenery and it could be just what you need for some increased pike action.
I like to say if you keep swinging for the fences at some point you’ll hit it out the park. Fish def move around depending on weather and the way the weeds die off each yr and where the food travels. I’ve sort of seen both sides of it. Where I would say I normally fish there’s been yrs it’s great and others it was a clean miss but that’s what keeps me going back. The challenge of figuring out where the giants are living
Agree 100% with your comments. If fishing was too easy, would it be as exciting ? Everyone agrees the answer is NO.
"The low numbers in female length distribution beyond the 34-inch group in 2009-2010 and 2021, may suggest a cropping effect from size-selective harvest (Pierce 2010) or some other mortality pressure. Data from the 2015 southern Lake Champlain winter creel indicates that about 55% of the harvest pressure on the south lake is directed towards pike 30-inches and larger."
"Opportunities to improve fishing quality for Northern Pike on Lake Champlain should be considered, with a focus on increasing the proportion of the population that exceeds the 34-inch mark, and provides trophy fishing opportunities for large pike between 36 and 40 inches in length."
"Unconventional regulation strategies not previously attempted in Vermont could be evaluated on a Test Water basis, such as split bag limits or protected slot limits, for example (lengths provided below are for example only):* 5 fish/day with no more than one over 32 inches (all 5 can be under 32 inches)OR* 5 fish/day with a 32-35 inches protected slot and no more than 1 over 35 inches (all 5can be under 32 inches)."