Fishing ban on select NY lakes

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

I see I am in the minority ( of 1 ) but I am not giving up on the hope that there are some readers who will agree with me. My final comment is that good fishing came easier and was way more exciting and enjoyable for me when I fished at Loughberry, which fell under the conditions that I am proposing. I may never be able to convince most of you that it is a good idea, so we will agree to disagree, and tight lines to all of you, and I hope everyone has fun no matter what is being caught. i'm sorry if I got a little rough on people.

[bonkfan14]

I see I am in the minority ( of 1 ) but I am not giving up on the hope that there are some readers who will agree with me. My final comment is that good fishing came easier and was way more exciting and enjoyable for me when I fished at Loughberry, which fell under the conditions that I am proposing. I may never be able to convince most of you that it is a good idea, so we will agree to disagree, and tight lines to all of you, and I hope everyone has fun no matter what is being caught. i'm sorry if I got a little rough on people.

never apologize its a sign of weakness 8)

[Mentiply]

dfuller I appreciate you interest in wanting more "trophy fish" in NY waters and it is always good to voice opinions and hear feed back on each side of the subject. I happen to disagree with your proposal and here are my reasons why.

1) I go fishing to have fun not to try to put a fish on my wall and the idea of a "trophy" is in the eye of the beholder. If a 5 year old catches a sunfish to him it's a trophy. To close a lake down because you want to catch a big fish at the expense of others who just want to fish I believe is a bit selfish.

2) From a camp owners perspective I would be 100% against it. How would you feel if you spent lots of $$ for a place on the lake to fish only to be told sorry you can't do that for 5 years now? Just because a lake may be only a short distance away does not mean that it would be easy to go to another lake to fish. Public access to lakes are limited and if you add more people to already limited space you get a lot of angry people with no where to go.

3) When the lake that is off limits comes back online you can bet every trophy hunter around is going to be targeting that lake and in no time all the work to get that lake to where it is will be erased and you are back to square one.

[CNY Lee]

We can't get them to set a QDM for deer, do your really think they care about some fish?   

[axle54]

To close a fishery for any amount of time and then openiing it up will lead to a mass influx of fisherman and they will simply erase all of the benefit that was obtained when the fishery was closed 5 years ago. 
To me quite simply the only realistic way to protect our waters for the future generation is to promote catch and release.  This is especially true with the larger fish. It takes longer for them to recover.  Take the photo and put them back.... 

Just imagine if fisherman kept 15% or 20% less fish.  Our lakes and rivers would be in a lot better shape then they are now. This will ensure the well being of fish populations for the next generation.

[krappie_king]

I want to ask a question before I even make a statement. Would any of you consider a 44" 18lb. Northen or a 28lb. Tiger muskie trophies?

[akdg]

There are already plenty of artificial lure and C&R lakes/streams in NY. Go fish them.  I think that you need to work on your fishing skills, as there are tons of nice fish to be had in NY's waters.  They don't get big by being stupid   You just have to be smarter than the fish   There are also lots of lakes that get little or no pressure, do your homework and find them.  Even on the best waters in the world if you don't know how to fish you still won't catch big fish.  The last thing we need are more silly laws.  Merry Christmas and tight lines!

[1TIGGER]

No new laws !!!
As it's been said already our waters have plenty of fish and plenty of trophy class fish .
What we really need is judges and law enforcement that have the testicular fortitude to go on the ice when it's cold and do their job . If I recall correctly the job is not a fair weather ,Monday through Friday job unfortunately .
Too many places don't get checked often enough therefore too many fish are being taken under size limits or over creel limits .
I can honestly say that I fish one of the most popular lakes on the western end of New York and have yet to see a D.E.C representative in the 11 years I have fished there .
Is that a bad thing you ask ? Yes because not enough illegal fish are being found .
Enforce the law's that are already in place and there wont be any problems .

[KingFisher1]

No new laws !!!
As it's been said already our waters have plenty of fish and plenty of trophy class fish .
What we really need is judges and law enforcement that have the testicular fortitude to go on the ice when it's cold and do their job .
Too many places don't get checked often enough therefore too many fish are being taken under size limits or over creel limits .
I can honestly say that I fish one of the most popular lakes on the western end of New York and have yet to see a D.E.C representative in the 11 years I have fished there .
Is that a bad thing you ask ? Yes because not enough illegal fish are being found .
Enforce the law's that are already in place and there wont be any problems .

The wardens are too busy checking everyone on all the smaller lakes(Alma, Case, Harwood etc...) because they can walk a short distance and check a lot of people. Once I got checked twice on the same day by the same guy about an hour apart. One guy knows me by name and still checks my license every week. I've also seen them park and just get out and look at us from shore, and then drive away.

[jimski2]

Underfisning a body of water is as bad as overfishing it. release the big guys, take the good eaters, and you'll have a healthy fishery. Boom and bust fisherys come about with overprotection of desired species and forage failures. I can't understand where these fellows come up with their "idiot logic", maybe college?

[pike-perch01]

do you really think that the home and camp owners would go for a 5 year ban.they didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for their property if they can't fish it.

[esox slayer]

3) When the lake that is off limits comes back online you can bet every trophy hunter around is going to be targeting that lake and in no time all the work to get that lake to where it is will be erased and you are back to square one.

Perch Lake is a prime example of a lake that was closed for years, and reopened.  Nice sized fish were caught the first couple years of the re-opening, but now it's back to smaller fish and poor catch rates......and PL was closed for what, 40 years??  It didn't work there, I don't see how it would work on a 5 year plan either.....

What would you do, close it for 5 years, reopen it for a couple and then close it again to let the fish "catch up"??  Sorry...no support from me on this issue either......Esox

[saphireblue99]

How about a catch and release fishing license??? Maybe half the price or a few dollars less than a regular one?? Would give more incentive for more people to start practicing catch and release. You would not be allowed to remove any fish from waterways, yeah I know the state would loose revenue, but you would think they would recoup it in less stockings. Or how about a trophy fish license, you would only be able with this license to keep certain species at or above an increased size limit. Imagine the bass fishing we would have if minimum size restriction was say 20 inches for a bass. You'd have to do some fine tuning for tournaments etc. but what the heck.....

[saphireblue99]

By the way for all of you who take the word TROPHY fish in a negative way, trophy fish programs and waters are intended to benefit individual species as a whole and not just a few monster fish, the regenerative numbers and quality of new fry increases greatly from say a spawning 14 inch bass compared to one of 18 inches. I am from PA and many of our waterways are going to special regulation fishing areas and having great success in regenerationg fish populations, "trophy bass lakes" with size restrictions for bass of 15 inches are more than fair for the fisherman who enjoy eating their catch, and really I haven't seen any 15 inch trophies mounted yet..

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

Underfisning a body of water is as bad as overfishing it. release the big guys, take the good eaters, and you'll have a healthy fishery. Boom and bust fisherys come about with overprotection of desired species and forage failures. I can't understand where these fellows come up with their "idiot logic", maybe college?

I did learn something from this reply, about forage failures, and it is a good point about keeping the eating size fish. But the problem is usually that all I can catch is the eating size fish. I guess I will just need to accept the way things are unless I get enough money to dig my own private lake and stock it. Yes, my idiot logic came from being a college graduate, but at least I did not decide to get a PhD so I will be a little easier to correct!

[bigfish_1556]

What's this have to do with someone's edumacations   I came out of the college experience with a post-graduate degree in fishery biology.  This is not a biological, but more or less a commonsense, moralistic and idealistic issue. The whole idea of a "trophy" fish is indeed in the eye of the beerholder (e.g. I almost mounted a 13in. rock bass).  Pardon my pessimism, but we will NEVER restore our fisheries to what was experienced in the days of pre-colonization and westward expansion (a whole environmental genre I won't even get into)......Banning fishing on a given lake/chain of lakes for a given amount of time is a valiant and potentially superbly effective effort, but not a socially/politically sustainable one.  C&R fisheries and slot limit fisheries are the closest, most realistic proxies we have at the moment to satisfy the angling public (us) and fishery management goals - and they even work (go figure) if implemented/enforced properly.  The burden is not on the fisheries managers, but on we the fishermen, as many have stated to effect thus far.  Get out there, have a great time fishing, keep a few "eaters", have a great shore lunch and a couple beers, and keep on the quest for "the big one".......that's what keeps us going right?  If the big fish were the only ones available to catch, we'd still have an eye out for something bigger....... They're out there, and should be a challenge to bring to creel - Go Get Em'!!!!

Comments appreciated. Considering political office in 2024, NOT.

Cheers.

[jflood]

well said bigfish

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

What's this have to do with someone's edumacations   I came out of the college experience with a post-graduate degree in fishery biology.  This is not a biological, but more or less a commonsense, moralistic and idealistic issue. The whole idea of a "trophy" fish is indeed in the eye of the beerholder (e.g. I almost mounted a 13in. rock bass).  Pardon my pessimism, but we will NEVER restore our fisheries to what was experienced in the days of pre-colonization and westward expansion (a whole environmental genre I won't even get into)......Banning fishing on a given lake/chain of lakes for a given amount of time is a valiant and potentially superbly effective effort, but not a socially/politically sustainable one.  C&R fisheries and slot limit fisheries are the closest, most realistic proxies we have at the moment to satisfy the angling public (us) and fishery management goals - and they even work (go figure) if implemented/enforced properly.  The burden is not on the fisheries managers, but on we the fishermen, as many have stated to effect thus far.  Get out there, have a great time fishing, keep a few "eaters", have a great shore lunch and a couple beers, and keep on the quest for "the big one".......that's what keeps us going right?  If the big fish were the only ones available to catch, we'd still have an eye out for something bigger....... They're out there, and should be a challenge to bring to creel - Go Get Em'!!!!

 

Comments appreciated. Considering political office in 2024, NOT.

Cheers.

Thanks Bigfish for your informed reply. Your qualifications to offer an expert opinion on this issue can not be questioned based on your stated background. I appreciate that you did not knee-jerk slam down my concept of selected closures like others that replied did. While I do not have your background, I consider myself somewhat of a visionary, and am always thinking of ways to improve things in the world. This is a carry-over from my innovations at work. While my idea is certainly not without some flaws both technically and socially, you certainly indicated that some version of it could be effective. I appreciate your reply and the other replies that had thought put into them - these are the only critiques that matter to me.

If Teddy Roosevelt had not been a visionary we probably would never have had National parks in this country, and places like Yellowstone would have been and continue to be logged off and none of us would have this place to enjoy. There should always be people questioning the status quo, it is the only way that any positive change has ever happened to mankind. I am not saying that I am right, but I at least want to engage people in new ways of thinking, which based on the activity on this topic I think I have done.

[1TIGGER]

dfuller
I don't think "ANYBODY" intends to knee-jerk slam down your idea's or concepts as you put it !
You asked for honest opinions and that's what you got .
Not all of us have fish and wildlife backgrounds and we are simply stating what we feel by what we have seen work in the field .
You are rite that our resources need to be protected but as with many other political and moral debates you're going to get many opinions and sometimes you may get to hear something that goes against the grain of the general populace or your ideas and feelings but be prepared to hear things like that if you ask .
Nobody's trying to ruffle your feathers just giving their opinions as asked .