Can you over fish an area?

[twintrades]

Ok mabye this topic was coverd b-4  But can you over-fish an area?

My reason is because were catchen crappies like mad. Full limit in a day....
There are around 5-6  other people in the area that fish it at the same time. Its a "Chain of lakes" That has a nice size Thurofare ( i dont know if its spelled right) connecting the last two lakes to the first three. There decent sized lakes.

I would like to fish there every day but i am afraid the crappies will all dissaper.I could be bein silly.

[jayswimmer09]

not if you put them back!!!!! yes you can fish out a area temporarly, next year most likely they will be back

[GAMBELL]

Practice catch and release and you will not have to worry! 

[vivlamored]

 yeah you can over fish i don't know what your limit of crappie is in a day but just try not to keep your limit everyday still doesn't mean you can't fish everyday though

[twintrades]

Our limit is 25

Normaly we only get 12
And i do catch and release. Its just hard to put a Big ol slab back in the hole

[Skipper]

We have lakes that get decimated every year. When the word gets around about a hot crappie bite, meat slobs will haul pails out until their are none left. They will even make trips to their car to dump their pails in case a warden checks them on the lake. In my oppinion, if laws are followed and people respect their game there are no problems. The fish will eventually leave the pressured area. When 100 guys are taking over 100 fish a day for 2 weeks, that is another story.

I really despise people who feel the need to fill their freezers with OUR fish.

I am glad you fish inside the law! There are allot of people who just wont stop.

Now keep your yap shut about where they are. Take your limit and enjoy your fish! Your DNR set those limits to protect the fish, if you are following the law you should be fine. You may want to concider a nice digital pic and quick release of any exceptional fish, but that is your call. Fish are good to eat man!

[GAMBELL]

Read the article in the Infisherman Icefishing mag for 2008 titled "legal is not always ethical".  Just because it is legal to keep X number of fish does not mean you should keep your limit every time out. 
Guys that keep a limit of slob pike time after time really bother me.  Those big pike are your breeders.  Panfish can bounce back easier than your top of the food chain predators.  Sorry for my little rant. 

[comicdog]

Come on now!  If you don't think you can over harvest a lake, just tell a bunch of friends about it and watch.

[jamesdegitz]

I agree with everyone else....There are limits for a reason, and as my dad always told me, "don't make a pig out of yourself."  He said that about deer hunting, rabbit hunting, fishing, everything.  But I do think it's also good to "thin" out a population every now and then.  I think it's impossible to catch all the big healthy fish in a year.  There's a reason they're that big and healthy!!!!!!

[twintrades]

Ya i wont even tell my father where im catching all of them at

Anywho we toss more back than we keep. My wife seems to think 90% of them are too small.
( there 9+ inches )  They shure are fun to catch !! Best part of it is when the go bye and all of the poles have fish on them. She catches them i follow and rebait. Once there was a 7-8min stretch thats all we did. I was waiting for a break so i could sit and dry my hands

later

[Indiana_Lou]

I am sure there was a time "limiting out" was the most important part of being out. Now, a few years older and hopefully wiser, getting out is more important. I don't particularly want to clean fifty fish every time I get out. I prefer to keep 5-10 fish which is plenty for a meal or two. And when those are consumed, given away, or what ever, then keep some more. No freezer burns, no waste, and they taste even better. As far as over fishing an area, think how many of those fish you clean contain eggs. I would think at some point it has to have an affect on future population. Try to harvest selectively. The ones that you know are busting with eggs pitch it back. Ones that you maybe deep hooked hang on to. Just remember all good things usually come to an end. Don't make it sooner than it has to. Okay, I got to go out and hug my trees!!!  Just kidding!! They're on their own.    Lou

[Jigging Nomad]

Selective harvest is a good idea.  I release almost all the real big crappie and bluegill I catch and will keep a limited amount of normal size adults on occasion.  I personally feel that lots of the DNR established creel limits don't really anticipate the effect that a GROUP of ice fishermen can have. 

[fishingking]

Keep the smaller ones let the big girls go. i release all crappies over 12"

[Indiana_Lou]

As HuskyBass said, "the effect of a group of ice fisherman." Think how the number of ice fisherman has probably quadruppled from ten years ago. And then factor in the success rate due to better equipment, knowledge of the sport, and electronics. I think you could put a lot of hurt on a given area if you don't selectively and conservatively harvest the fish.    Lou

[Strike_Zone]

                                      This is what I have taught my Sons :

             "IT'S NICE TO CATCH YOUR LIMIT,    BUT IT"S NICER TO LIMIT YOUR CATCH."

[Pasquatch]

You can overfish an area, but that will be only temporary if you practice responsible fishing. That means selective keeping if you do keep anything, and treating the water well. If you go in every day and collect your limit, and all the other guys out there do, and you litter all over the place, there is a possibilty that you will have significant negative impacts upon the lake. Treat it with respect, and it will continually produce, and may even improve in quality if you take proper control action.

[Indiana_Lou]

Strike Zone,  I like that! I think some bumper stickers or post its to attach to your ice shanty or sled would be good. All proceeds going to a "good cause" of course. Great philosophy to pass on to our younger generation.  Lou

[A- bomb]

okay....
i believe the managers set these limits before "technology" set in! so to balance it out the limit on all panfish will be 35 fish thru the ice. thats with a spoon auger and a schooley pole'
fish finder.....-5 fish
camera........-5 fish
power auger.-5 fish
reel w/ drag..-2 fish
and so on....................

[twintrades]

I remember a time when we went out and had a group of "fishermen" next to us and they kept all the bigones and tossed the "smaller" one on the ice to die. When they were packing up i asked why they wernt picking up the little ones. They said they were culling the STUNTED. I tryed to reson with them and tell them, They didnt start out life as a adult. So what do you think the fish do?

Little to say they left and i pulled my rods up and collected the fish on the ice and added them to my bag limit. Least i could do i thought.

Just a tidbit o info i thought id share.

later

[chillywillie]

Every species can be overfished, but panfish bounce back much quicker than others.  It would really kill an area to keep a limit of trout or salmon every time out, but the panfish will rebuild pretty quickly.  That said, Maine doesn't have a limit on crappie because they state considers them "invasive" and doesn't care about them.  If I get into them good, I'll keep 8 to 10 and throw the rest back.

[skulldugary]

Yes I believe a lake can be over fished cause I've seen it happen.A private lake we used to fish had a great crappie fishery.After the owner passed away his wife let anyone on the lake and after a couple of years of people taking limits day after day through the ice the fishing went down hill and the biggest crappie you could catch would be in the 5-7" range and very few of those....

[captain54]

It take 8 years for a Blue gill to reach 8 inches in Pa. I don't think they bounce back as fast as the rest of you guy's. The key is if a lake has alot of different classes of fish. Like are you getting 4's 5's 6's 7's 8's and 9 inch gills or all they mostly one size.Yes if there all  keepers that lakes in trouble.You can over fish any fish,gills to pike

[TJR]

  what do you tell the guy that sad to many Little ones ,need to be thinned out .  Tim

[USMC130FE]

We have lakes that get decimated every year. When the word gets around about a hot crappie bite, meat slobs will haul pails out until their are none left. They will even make trips to their car to dump their pails in case a warden checks them on the lake. In my oppinion, if laws are followed and people respect their game there are no problems. The fish will eventually leave the pressured area. When 100 guys are taking over 100 fish a day for 2 weeks, that is another story.

I really despise people who feel the need to fill their freezers with OUR fish.

Ice Fisher's,
If everyone that see this kind of activity does nothing about it..... You ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM Nothing gets me more upset than to witness this.  I take it as an insult to me that they would so openly do this in front me.  Kind of like saying I'm too scared of them to do anything or that I don't care about my Natural resources enough to do anything.  Well I have an answer to that !!!  I have a few of the area Conservation Officers numbers programmed in my cell phone and believe me They DO get called!!  2 of them I'm on first name basis and they know when I call it's for real.  Kind of make's their job's easier also, and you will be surprised at some helpful info or "tips" you might get in return! 

Just something to consider to help protect your resources for future generations.

Tight Lines all,
Steve

[njsimonson]

Read the article in the Infisherman Icefishing mag for 2008 titled "legal is not always ethical".  Just because it is legal to keep X number of fish does not mean you should keep your limit every time out.  

GAMBELL is right on, and that article has summed it up well.  I was privy to the perch harvest that went on in many of ND's lakes that formed after the wet 90s.  I even participated in it.  The thing is, back then, limits were 50 per person.  Now it's 20.  The G&F reacted quickly (1 season) to an unpredictable phenomenon.  When word got out, EVERYONE hit these little lakes.  This was also the advent of the internet message board, and as soon as a "Hot Bite" thread was posted on a now well known ND fishing site, people who were just casual anglers became zealous anglers.  Plates from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota showed up near Valley City, as opposed to traveling three more hours to the usual perch stops at Devils Lake.  Gas prices were low, information was easy to attain via the web, and perch numbers were ridiculous.  The result...these lakes were fished to the point of being barren.  A "Perfect Storm" of factors contributed to this.

Can YOU fish out a lake?  Most likely not.  Can you and your buddies?  Maybe, depending on lake size and population/pyramid structure.  Can 300-400 anglers who swarm it after the report of a good bite.  Yes.  

However, YOU can create enough pressure on your own, in some instances, to chill a bite in an area.  Fish are also reactive, make sure you give them the credit to adjust to your presence.  That's probably what's going on in the instance you posted.

[njsimonson]

Oh, and if you see people doing something illegal: Grow a pair and call your warden or tip line.  I've done it three times.  It feels good knowing I'm doing something that helps clean up our ranks. 

[JCaughtem]

Ok mabye this topic was coverd b-4  But can you over-fish an area?

My reason is because were catchen crappies like mad. Full limit in a day....
There are around 5-6  other people in the area that fish it at the same time. Its a "Chain of lakes" That has a nice size Thurofare ( i dont know if its spelled right) connecting the last two lakes to the first three. There decent sized lakes.

I would like to fish there every day but i am afraid the crappies will all dissaper.I could be bein silly.

YES YOU CAN.

[captain54]

Don't blame non residents for the demise of fish populations,local fisherman(POACHERS) are the worst.During spring walleye runs one cell phone call and a buddy or wife picks up a limit and the local poacher keeps right on banging them,and I leave with my 6 keeper and drive 75 miles back home. Every hot bite lake in Pa. is hammerd by the locals (Poacher),and I'm sure in your state too. THE CAPTAIN

[Turkeyhunter10ga]

Yes I believe a lake can be over fished cause I've seen it happen.A private lake we used to fish had a great crappie fishery.After the owner passed away his wife let anyone on the lake and after a couple of years of people taking limits day after day through the ice the fishing went down hill and the biggest crappie you could catch would be in the 5-7" range and very few of those....

Ditto, seen it happen here in the spring one year. By the time i got down there after hearing about it from a buddy and got there a week later all that was left were a few dinks 

[Fishin Medic]

Heck YES!

Twintrades

You should have seen the people on Mendota 2 years ago when the word got out that the perch had "come back" and they were as big as ever. The lake got hit hard for 1 1/2 years by thousands of anglers, winter and summer. All of a sudden there are no decent perch.?? Of course, it was the pike and walleyes that were eating all of the perch. It could not have been all of those people trying to keep limits day in day out.??

RIGHT!!!!