RE: San Diego - what happened,
Mattlures,
Jan 24th 2011, #1
RE: San Diego - what happened,
dragger,
Jan 25th 2011, #2
RE: San Diego - what happened,
Mattlures,
Jan 25th 2011, #3
RE: San Diego - what happened,
dragger,
Jan 26th 2011, #4
RE: San Diego - what happened,
Mattlures,
Jan 26th 2011, #5
RE: San Diego - what happened,
swimbait,
Jan 27th 2011, #6
RE: San Diego - what happened,
dragger,
Jan 27th 2011, #7
RE: San Diego - what happened,
newmoonbite,
Jan 29th 2011, #8
RE: San Diego - what happened,
swimbait,
Jan 30th 2011, #9
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dragger | Tue Jan-25-11 10:45 PM |
Member since Jan 25th 2011
3 posts
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#11862, "RE: San Diego - what happened"
In response to Reply # 0
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It has changed a lot and for the worse as far as trophy bass fisheries go. I work at Lake Poway and we have completely isolated ourselves from the DFG and we started stocking our own trout from private hatcheries and purchased an Aquaculture Permit so we are not even owned by the State and the DFG.
To get back on topic though, the trout that we stock, average 2-6 pounds, with many in excess of that. That is great for the trout fisherman, but as far as a trophy bass fishery, it is far from anything positive. I loved when they used to stock the candy bar sized DFG fish because it was phenomenal for the fishery and the fishermen. Those trout used to get gobbled up by bass left and right and now, some of these trout are big enough to eat the bass! It is completely flip flopped. We now have more double digit trout than bass caught in a season which is a reflection of the decline of the big bass fishery this lake was once known for.
Lake Poway was once one of the lakes that many people thought a world record could come out of and with how many big fish I had seen in the years during the DFG stocks, I wouldn't doubt it. But now, since we have been stocking from private hatcheries for close to 5 years now with "trophy," trout, the bass population has changed. Fish still hit swimbaits, but there are a lot more 4-6 pound fish than true trophies and I guarantee it is a result of no more bite size trout to eat. There are still huge fish in the lake, but not in the numbers there once was. It takes a lot to support the diets of those big fish and with the trout gone, there isn't much ideal forage that could sustain those fish at their monstrously obese size. Those tiny trout were the backbone of building the next generation of trophy bass and when you take that away, you have an average fishery.
As a side note, many of these trout compete with bass for forage too. They are big and aggressive and routinely chase and eat schools of shad. That wouldn't be a problem if Lake Poway was larger and had a strong population of shad, but it is only a 60 acre lake and most of the shad barely make it to 2" so to have added predators feeding on them, will only further deplete the forage for bass.
It will be interesting to see how this comes to affect other lakes within the next few years. Bass are resilient and are great predators so they will always thrive, but the DFG trout were the key to their unimaginable success in many of the San Diego lakes. More lakes are buying Aquaculture Permits and stocking trophy trout and big bass are just a thing of the past and no longer "trendy," because they don't draw in as large of crowds or income as trout fishing does. I do agree with Matt that more people are getting tight lipped on the good fishing, but it is definitely not the same kind of fishery it once was... :(
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dragger | Wed Jan-26-11 06:44 AM |
Member since Jan 25th 2011
3 posts
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#11864, "RE: San Diego - what happened"
In response to Reply # 3
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I have heard those same rumors to, but the local authorities have stepped up to better patrol the lake after hours and write citations now.
We do get hit hard in the spawn by many different kinds of anglers and some are less ethical than others. While we don't get a lot of bass actually kept during spawn, it is always the biggest models in the 6-8 pound range predominately. Most people try and eat them and then complain they taste bad or get a skin mount made to put in their office. Total waste of a very important fish, but they see it as a great opportunity to brag about how good of a fisherman they are even though they caught in off of a bed with a Kastmaster. There was a kid who caught a 10 pounder during the spawn from shore on the other side of the lake and put a rope through its gills and dragged it to the dock and took pictures for 5 minutes. Poor bass barely swam off, but who knows if it survived, she was pretty abused.
Fortunately, we are making it MANDATORY catch a release for ALL bass from February to May in an effort to curb the taking of our backbone trophy breeders. There is still a very heavy population of good fish in Lake Poway, but this lake had the potential to crank out a world record and due to the hard work of the bucket brigade and Tail Walker trout, it seems that that is changing. I hope not. I fished Dixon a few times last year and there was always a guy who would catch close to 10 fish a day during the spawn, all over 6 pounds with some being over 10 and he would keep them in his backpack. I told the rangers and they said they would be on it. Never saw them once and I saw him everyday carrying out 50+ pounds of bass a day.
The trout that we stock are never small. Maybe a few one pounders mixed in, but never the palm sized trout that the DFG put in. The average fish is between 2-6 pounds. These fish are smart and fast too, they don't ball up in schools near the bank and sit there like the smaller trout did as bass pick them off one by one. They are always swimming around and really alert. We could request smaller fish mixed in, but then the trout fisherman would be upset. I think we should go back to smaller fish because then the bass grow bigger and the trout are much easier to catch so everybody wins. But it isn't my call to make so while we could get smaller trout, we won't because their is a huge demand for these trophy trout over trophy bass. I spoke to a guy who works at the water treatment plant over at Jennings and he said that they have made the conscientious choice to specifically stock smaller trout for the reasons above. Feed the fisherman and feed the bass. I think that is a great step towards maintaining a trophy fishery and a fun place for people to come fish. All I know is that we need smaller trout in all the lakes!
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dragger | Thu Jan-27-11 09:55 PM |
Member since Jan 25th 2011
3 posts
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#11867, "RE: San Diego - what happened"
In response to Reply # 6
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The real reason behind stocking these bigger trout is because they draw bigger crowds of people. Plain and simple. Money walks and well you know the rest.... Lake Poway was the first lake in San Diego to start branching out to different private hatcheries and stumbled upon the bigger Tailwalkers after a few other different choices. If you were a trout fisherman, what would you want? A limit that weighs 4 pounds or a limit that commonly weigh over 20 pounds? That was a lot of the driving force behind the decision of switching to these trout.
Its funny though because the fish still respond to the stocking truck like they used to when the smaller trout were stocked even though it only brings big trout nowadays that they can't eat. They hear the beeping of the truck in reverse and stack up near the loading ramp and sit there patiently. When the trout get dumped, they will chase them, but they can't eat them. I saw a dying 12 pound trout on the surface get hit probably 15 times from bass that were all under 4 pounds. They were just fired up on all of the fish activity and new scents. Also when the trout are stocked there is an oil slick of their slime coats that sits in the water and gets the bass all fired up, but they just can't eat these new big fish and just chase them for the most part. Like I mentioned before, these Tailwalker trout are WAY more active and alert than the DFG fish, making them even harder for a big bass to have an interest in. They are incredibly quick and fight very hard and to a big bass are probably too much of a hassle to pursue with minimal rewards.
Poway is not unique in regards to the issues we are facing with "trophy trout." More and more lakes are switching over to private hatcheries and bigger fish and the bass populations are changing right before our eyes. It is sad to see a pathetic, retarded fish such as a stocked trout have more significance in a fishery than trophy bass, but to each his own I guess.
Fortunately for Lake Poway, there are no endangered or threatened frogs in the area so that won't prevent trout stockings; hopefully! The real concern is battling with these pesky Quaggas. Those little mollusks are the spawn of Satan.
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