Author Topic: Clear Lake (Read 4068 times)

angolajones · « **on:** Dec 30, 2005, 02:46 PM »

Went out from 8-1 today. Coach and I caught almost fifty. We did get a few gills over 9 inches. Looking in the holes there are fish everywhere but they are timid. We caught ours on purple moonglows in size 12 tipped with spikes. If I figure out how to post pics, I will post some of today's fish. It was a tough day of fishing on Clear. The ice should hold for one more day. About 20 people were out today.

Jonesy

angolajones · « **Reply #1 on:** Dec 30, 2005, 03:00 PM »

Jonesy

ChapstickCharlie · « **Reply #2 on:** Dec 30, 2005, 07:27 PM »

Now there's a mess of fish.

crappie rob · « **Reply #3 on:** Dec 30, 2005, 08:18 PM »

Is that the clear lake off of rt#6 at the Porter Co./Laporte Co. line? Crappie Rob.

brawler · « **Reply #4 on:** Dec 30, 2005, 10:00 PM »

I wishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I was there today.

angolajones · « **Reply #5 on:** Dec 30, 2005, 10:22 PM »

Steuben County east of Fremont. Wonder what the snow is going to do for the little ice left?

Jonesy

crappiehunter · « **Reply #6 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 07:05 AM »

Great pics, keep 'em coming!!!

jigginstick · « **Reply #7 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 09:47 AM »

nice sack of fish!!!!!!!

Fisherben · « **Reply #8 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 11:20 AM »

angolajones were you parking on private property? I looked at the places I know of to park and didn't have the guts to walk out. PM me if you would. Thanks

FishDaddy09 · « **Reply #9 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 03:22 PM »

Very tough bite on clear today. Not many fish taken. Most people left with empty sacks.

panfishman43 · « **Reply #10 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 07:33 PM »

Which Clear Lake are you talking about ?

jhc · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 07:36 PM »

Nice mess of Gills ............

taxi1 · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 07:52 PM »

Angloa Jones,

Shy fish on Clear under the ice is the norm isn't it? I've seen some gills come in over on round looking down in the ice shanty and they acted really timid too. I think it has to do with the really clear water don't you? How light of line were you using Angola Jones?

Anyone catching any of the brown trout NEITA put in this fall? Any big rainbows come through and snap any lines these days?

HiRanger · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 31, 2005, 09:00 PM »

Nice mess of fish. Good going.....

angolajones · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 01, 2006, 12:25 AM »

Saturday there were a few fish caught early. Then they became lock jawed. There were still a few caught. My buddies and I had 25 on the ice at noon when I left. I use 2 pound test. The water is clear enough to look down the holes, but that will spook the fish unless you are in a shanty. It is pretty amazing to look in the holes and see many (and I mean many) 9-10+ inch gills looking at your bait but not touching it. Our fish today ran bigger than they did the last few days. Our biggest was 9 3/4 today. We had probably 5 over 9 and 10 over 8. There was a trout caught today around 3-4 pounds. It took 10 minutes to land on the guy's ultralight. Another guy caught a sucker that was huge. I didn't see any tip up activity today. Most of my fish came in the shallower water by the saddle that runs across the bay. It was hard to see the bite due to the wind moving the rod tip around today.

I'm done rambling. (Happy new year)

Jonesy

taxi1 · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 01, 2006, 02:28 PM »

Angolajones,

As you probably know Clear Lake historically has some hog bluegills and as a taxidermist I mounted one for a customer that was a hair short of 12 inches (tape measure over the top so probably about 11 inches on a board). I have caught a good number in the 10.5 inch range as probably have you. Unfortunately last few times I fished Clear I observed a retired gentlemen fishing the 15 foot hole across from the marina religously from daylight to dusk day after day and I noticed he kept everything. He commented to me, "I don't know why I catch these as I end up giving them away." As you may know some years large gills come into that hole after fall turnover and are really vunerable. I've caught up to 70 at a sitting with two other folks with slip bobbers and crickets, but we usually gave them a break and trolled for walleyes and trout. He was always there when I showed up and still there after I left the lake. He would have three poles out and I would not be surprised if he took several hundred bluegills if not a thousand in the course of a week. After I couple of years of this I couldn't help notice the size was going down as was the numbers. when I fished this hole. Even in a lake as large as Clear, research has shown you can effect the quality of the bluegill fishery by overharvesting. Of course in it's infinite wisdon the IDNR says there is not need for a limit on bluegills while all the up to date research says you can really put the hurt on large bluegills by overharvesting.

The sizes you mention are nice bluegills anywhere but fall short of what I was used to catching five to ten years ago.

FXjohn · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 01, 2006, 09:42 PM »

That's pretty sad that people like him have to be such gluttons, taxidermist (sun up til dusk, give away the fish guy).
Personally, I see nothing wrong with a 25 bluegill limit.

taxi1 · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 02, 2006, 04:26 PM »

FxJohn,

Well you know I think every state around us has a bluegill limit. What can I say Indiana is slow to change again. Illinois Natural History Survey http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/ has done some fascinating research on bluegills and comes to a different conclusion than our IDNR that says the more bluegill you harvest, the more food supply for what is remaining, etc. etc. This has all been disproven by other researchres and it's much more complicated than that.

I see every time we have the rule change proposals someone proposes a 25 fish bluegill limit but the IDNR knocks it down.

Personally I think some lakes should have it some should not.

crappie rob · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 02, 2006, 05:00 PM »

Hey guys, I agree with a gill limit. Genetics, genetics, genetics!!! Willow Slough, in Newton Co., used to put out "hawg" gills. They're not there anymore. Now after draining and dredging the lake fot the third time since 1979, the DNR has decided to put a 25 fish limit. That's to include gills, redears, and crappies. No more than 25 fish combined of the three species. I'm all for this, and only time will tell if it was a good move or not. Take the "hawg" breeders out of a lake, and all you have left is smaller breeders resulting in smaller fish. Take Care. Crappie Rob.

angolajones · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 02, 2006, 05:36 PM »

Two lakes I can think of that have been impacted where big fish used to be caught regularly are Pleasant Lake and Crane Marsh. Eight inchers are hard to come by most of the time on these two lakes now.

Jonesy

Bigbass101 · « **Reply #20 on:** Jan 02, 2006, 05:48 PM »

There has been quite a bit of research on this matter. One study showed that the most valuable gills are the big male bluegills. They keep the smaller males off the beds until they are large enough to bump someone off. This usually means an extra growing season. I truely believe that genetics plays little role in the whole deal. It's more about selective harvest. Keep some of those 7 inchers, and release a few of the jumbo's.

Lake La Su Ann in Ohio knows this better than anyone. Their magic formula includes a bluegill limit, size limit (it's something like one fish over 9 inches is allowed to be harvested), and the biggest key is lots of small bass in the 12 to 15 inch range. They thin the smaller gills out, which leads to more food for the biggest gills. Bluegill are a plentiful resource, but they can be hurt with over harvest of the biggest gills. Leaving nothing but the small ones to spawn in the Spring. The same can happen if there's no harvest at all. If you don't keep some of those gills, then they get over populated. Which is why we need the bass to thin them out too. It's a delicate balancing act, and no easy task for the DFG to figure it out. I'm no biologist, but those are my thoughts on the matter. Rarely will I keep more than 25. They are usually shared with my fishing partner.

Rufus · « **Reply #21 on:** Jan 03, 2006, 06:46 AM »

I have been ice fishing for 21 years now and have noticed a decline in a few lakes, but there are just as many that have either gotten better or just simply stayed the same. For instance, Docksiders has been kicking out thousands of early ice for as long as I can remember and the size has basically stayed the same. The same is true of Silver Lake in Angola. That lake gets a whoopin' every year and I do not have any idea how it keeps kicking all those 7 1/2"-8" 'gills out year after year. It gets an incredible amount of pressure and every out there seems to catch a few. I have really not seen a change in Clear Lake either, everyhting in this lake grows big. I believe the rule on Clear is get big fast or get eaten. With a predator base such as one on Clear and the lack of vegetation (as a rule there isn't that much) I don't believe we will ever see the average size of the 'gills go down. I do believe that too many can be taken, but I have never seen it where those big boys were "easy to catch. On the flip side of the coin, you have lakes like Pleasant Lake and Fox. These two lakes used to put out a lot of big fish. They still put out big fish, but the average size has went way down and so have the numbers. Fox is fished yearround, but P-lake is only fished hard in the winter and only in the little bay on the south side of the lake. The fish in P-lake are extremely timid and have always been difficult to catch. I have not seen too many people walk off of their with a big sack of fish. So where did they go, have they changed thier habits, are they in a different area of the lake? I have noticed over the years that lakes cycle and as the fishing pressure decreases due to lack of success, in my experience, the lakes slowly return back to original status or better. Certain lakes could definitely use a 25 limit, but it would be a very small amount of them. I do not think a general limit of 25 would be good for all lakes. A true trophy lake like Clear may even benefit from some kind of slot, but I do not believe the state will ever study our bluegill fisheries close enough to worry about it.

Bigbass101 · « **Reply #22 on:** Jan 03, 2006, 08:09 AM »

Rufus,

Pleasant Lake still has good fish in it, but it's always hit or miss on that lake. I fished it early this year, and caught one keeper and 5 dinks. Marked only 7 fish on the electronics over a 4 hour period. That's out of about 30 holes.

From what I can gather, the perch population has really declined in that lake. The locals tell me that lots of perch use to be caught early and late ice. Now they don't see them anymore.

The good fish are still there. Here's around 25 that I caught last winter before calling it a short day. The biggest crappie was 11 1/2 inches, and the big redear went 9 1/2 inches.

FishDaddy09 · « **Reply #23 on:** Jan 03, 2006, 12:55 PM »

Clear Lake still has many over 12" gills in it, but they are not that easy to catch. People who have fished Clear for many years will tell you that the amount of over 10" fish that you used to catch has gone down over the years. As in any body of water if you continually pound the lake and take a lot of big gills out the average size of the fish will go down. It's unfortunate that many people have no restraint and will take as many as they can catch, not because they need the fish but so they can brag about how many they caught. I think that a 25 fish limit would only help the quality of fishing in Indiana, but enforcing it would be a problem.

crappie rob · « **Reply #24 on:** Jan 03, 2006, 09:22 PM »

I strongly recommend Dave Genz's book "Bluegills". Excellent reading!! A must have for every bluegill fisherman, especially now that most of us are patiently,(or not) waiting for the return of the ice GODZ!! C'mon Arctic Blast. C-ya. Crappie Rob

crappie66 · « **Reply #25 on:** Jan 04, 2006, 12:41 AM »

I have never seen anybody catch a 12 inch bluegill, but a fish that size is more than likely at the end of its life cycle, so I don't think I would be releasing them either not because I need the meat but because you are damn right I would brag about it.

Rufus · « **Reply #26 on:** Jan 04, 2006, 06:01 AM »

I know that the fish are still in P-lake, but the numbers have definitely suffered. The occasional big redear is there, but those days of 15-20 'gills all pushing the 9-9/12" mark are over. I still catch one here and there, but the average size has dropped to around 7". As far as the perch fishing goes, believe me, if you have a Vexilar and are willing to drill a lot of holes you will find them. I have been chasing those big jumbos out there for the last 5 years and I promise you that they are still in there. If I had a scanner I would post a few pics of the ones I have caught over the last few years. They average 11 1/2"-12 1/2", but are very tempermental and hard to keep up with. After a couple of hours of fishing for them (and ususally about 60 holes) I am sweating and wore out. Just talking about them makes me completely sick of the warm weather. AngolaJones has come along with me on these perch outings, we usually trade each other drilling duties while the othe has the Vexilar and the jiggin' pole. Action usually lasts about 5 minutes at the most before they move on, many times never returning to the original hole you caught them in. If you do hook up and it comes off you can watch on the Vexilar as he tells his big buddies not to hit the little fake minnow and they all get the heck outta there. Then all you have to do is drill another 60 holes lol. God Bless and Good Fishin' everyone!

FishDaddy09 · « **Reply #27 on:** Jan 04, 2006, 08:12 AM »

Rufus: I haven't fished Pleasant Lake in a long time do you park on top of the big hill on the road and walk down? As I remember the walk back up the hill is a real bear!

Bigbass101 · « **Reply #28 on:** Jan 04, 2006, 04:49 PM »

Thanks for the information on the Perch Rufus. I did not know that. I've only fished the traditional area there in the cove. Never caught a perch there before. It's good to know they are still in there.

FishDaddy, you do park on top of that hill and walk down through the reeds. It's some work to get a shanty down there and back up the hill again. I took mine down there for the first time this year. Won't do that again anytime soon. Needed some oxygen by the time I got back up the hill.

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Author Topic: Clear Lake (Read 4068 times)

panfishman43