Fish hooks

[woodchip]

Think they will now outlaw fish hooks as they cause too much fish damage!!!!!!

[JDK]

I wouldn't be giving anyone any ideas.

[woodchip]

We  need to pass our thoughts around so we can grow Bigger Salmon and Brown trout!!!!!!!!

[Alex Delarge]

Think they will now outlaw fish hooks as they cause too much fish damage!!!!!!

If they do I'll do just like I did with my lead split-shot and toss them... in the lake.

[woodchip]

I believe lead is already illegal.

[jfisherman]

I talked to a game warden early in the year, an he said a lot of lakes have to many fish because ppl aren’t keeping fish like they use too. Too many fish not enough feed leading too poor growth rates!

[thedirtydirtyfisherman]

hit the nail on the head there with not enough people taking fish, but im not sure its the trout species but probably more the perch and bass that are doing the number on the feed.  Although a lot of places in southern maine have seen resurgence in the smelt populations due to all the regs so IDK might just be the genetics or water quality... that being said there are still really nice fish out there.

[Huemorin]

That's my feeling around some of the lakes way up north.  Most of the time I can be the only one fishing on the lake when I am at camp, and will catch a lot of salmon but mainly between 10-16 inches.  A handful of years ago they changed the law to be able to keep 3 salmon and they only need to be 12 inches, but who wants to keep a 12 inch salmon.  I try and keep one here and there for the grill, but I think the bottom line is the lake does not get enough pressure to take out some of the over population.  Its a double edged sword because one of the things I like the most is that it gets no pressure.  I saw a 7 pounder come out of there on a 4th of July weekend probably 6-8 years ago, I myself in the 10 years I have been fishing up on this lake have caught one salmon over 4 lbs, ive caught a lot of high numbers but not many big ones.  I keep thinking they have to be in there somewhere.  I know one things for sure.  I will keep trying

[Trout4evah]

I was told that a body of water can hold a certain amount of pounds of fish.  Depending on how it is managed, you can have a marginal number or bigger fish or a lot of small fish.  Which makes me fish differently for different bodies of water. If i'm landing a lot of small fish, i'm probably going to try and keep my limit of the smaller but still legal fish.

[JDK]

That's my feeling around some of the lakes way up north.  Most of the time I can be the only one fishing on the lake when I am at camp, and will catch a lot of salmon but mainly between 10-16 inches.  A handful of years ago they changed the law to be able to keep 3 salmon and they only need to be 12 inches, but who wants to keep a 12 inch salmon.  I try and keep one here and there for the grill, but I think the bottom line is the lake does not get enough pressure to take out some of the over population.  Its a double edged sword because one of the things I like the most is that it gets no pressure.  I saw a 7 pounder come out of there on a 4th of July weekend probably 6-8 years ago, I myself in the 10 years I have been fishing up on this lake have caught one salmon over 4 lbs, ive caught a lot of high numbers but not many big ones.  I keep thinking they have to be in there somewhere.  I know one things for sure.  I will keep trying

I agree with you.   Fish under the little ones and kill your limit more often.

[Seamonkey84]

I’ve been looking into the articles about selective harvest vs strict catch and release. Both have merit depending on the species and fisheries. On the catch and release to the point of being religious about it, bass have become numerous and stunted. With other states, panfish are a big thing, so pulling out all the big bull sunfish has stunted their population with a bunch of runts. Harvesting the average size and releasing above average to become big breeders would be very helpful in most situations. Now if your trying to thin the numbers... pull them all as the big breeders will just keep pushing them out. Which is why I feel a slot on togue in Sebago “to help the salmon” is such a sham.

[8orach]

Personally I think this issue is lake/pond dependent and is going to vary from fishery to fishery. There's no single solution to keeping larger, genetically dominate fish (salmon, trout, etc) for all waterbodies. In some cases, yes, it may be caused by the fact that there is overpopulation of grunt fish (10-12 inch fish for example) from stocking that causes competition against the larger breeder fish that we want to catch. However, there's so many other factors caused by other gamefish within those waterbodies. Bass, perch, sunfish, bait, etc there populations all manner also. Each fishery is its own ecosystem, which every species coexists together. An unbalance in other populations, or an introduction of a new population may disrupt the balance and diminish what we want to catch. I'm still very young but even in my experience growing up I've seen these changes. One of my favorite white perch waterbodies used to produce 5 gallon buckets full of 1 pound perch 5 years ago, yet now fishing the same way you're hard pressed to catch 4-5 anywhere near the size. What's the factor in my opinion there? Alewives.

[woodchip]

 8orach  thanks for the great post .  I agree with you 100%

[jacksmelt71]

I talked to a game warden early in the year, an he said a lot of lakes have to many fish because ppl aren’t keeping fish like they use too. Too many fish not enough feed leading too poor growth rates!

more like not enough smelt to freed the game fish population! the too many game fish excuse is because they aren't willing to protect the smelts like they should!

[Fish Wayniac]

more like not enough smelt to freed the game fish population! the too many game fish excuse is because they aren't willing to protect the smelts like they should!

I hear you on protecting the smelt. A pond I fish 2 bait dealers raped a pond by dropping nets at night for years. This year they tried but stopped. The smelt are to small now. Some of the Brown’s were spitting up tiny smelt on the ice.Hope the population rebounds!

[8orach]

Think about what happened with Trickey pond after the years they allowed bait dealers to put shacks up for smelts. Used to produce some of the largest salmon in southern Maine (aside from Sebago) often. There's no doubt there are still beautiful salmon caught out of there to this day, but no where near as often. The smelt population there was practically diminished to non existent at one point.

[woodchip]

There are a lot of reasons for fish decline .Heavy cutting in larger areas create a lot of Phosphorous lowering the PH  and the White fish and smelts feel the problem first. This is the number 1 problem from the brooks too the lakes and down into the ocean,  Rather than spend money  on this the blame goes on the fishermen and over population of other species. Farmers maintain ph of their fields and Gardens  to get better crops ..and loggers just keep on cutting .Over a period of time the water shed and forests around die off.

[9huskies]

Logging also lets the sun warm up the feeder streams which changes temperatures of the lakes. The cool water from the inlets was a haven for cold water fish. Without shade the brooks are warmer than they should be.

[woodchip]

Since they started the large clear cuts the areas are now covered with 25'to30' trees so the inlets are getting shaded again. Its a big cycle but the woods should be cut off at a slower rate. with smaller machinery.

[8orach]

This thread is the epitome of why conservation is such a complex field. (it also happens to be part of the field I'm going to college for) Economics, politics, human behavior, amidst ecology, etc, all play a role in to being able to manage and conserve the species we fish for. The sad part is all of these intertwined mechanics of conservation aren't always balanced, particularly in the culture that we live in now. Solutions no longer can be simple, even when they are directly in front of people's face at times. The amount the state of Maine has been cut over is overwhelming and does indeed create a ecological cycle for fish populations, but the odds cutting slows down? Pretty low, especially as technology increases.