All Panfish Harvest graph

[jbritch]

So I got a minute and put all four species of panfish on one graph.

Notice that for 2017 (and remember there's still 3 months' of data to be counted) the sunfish total is almost the same as for yellow perch.  I had no idea that more sunfish than yellow perch were harvested in 2008 and 2011.  Remember the variable is pounds of fish, not numbers of fish.  Do guys catch more sunfish and crappie through the ice or in open water?

If I get some more free time I'll try to show the difference for ice versus non-ice but don't see much credence in those numbers as some fish mongers don't discriminate, so Shawn Good reports.  Also it's the same with Lake Champlain versus non-Lake Champlain.

And, again, these numbers are only as reliable as those reporting them.

[Champlain Islander]

It looks to me that over time all the species except white perch are on a level plane. What this means to me is the fishing that is currently happening isn't negatively impacting the numbers. What that tells me is our fishery is stable and healthy.  Whites are an invasive so a decline is probably a good thing from the states point of view..even though they are a blast to catch. With regard to the other thread where some were calling for changes in crappie....unless a change is called for biologically then things should remain the same as today. Enacting regulations just for a social issue is wrong and that ship sailed back in the Dean era when they mistakenly put yellow perch limits on Champlain even though their own biologists stated there wasn't a scientific reason for doing so. Thankfully when GOP Governor Douglas came into office he righted that mistake.

[JMailbox8]

I agree, looks like a dampening sinusoidal wave, which would indicate stability.