King sizes

[HB2]

 

 I did contacted( email ) the DEC and asked if they were aware ,why it is happening,and what they planned on doing going forward . 

 

They replied they were fully aware. And the reason they suspect and are   sure of are .....

 

Low bait abundance in the lake we had a few years of bad year hatches. He said you can't grow big fish without a lot of bait .  

 

Sea lampreys that suck the fluids and can kill a salmon . 2 years of covid  thwarted stream treatments . 

 

He also said it is strictly diet and not genetics . We got our eggs originally from the upper Great Lakes . The same fish that are in Lake Michigan . They crashed their bait by overstocking and Mature fish were avg 12# . But it has rebounded . He also said we constantly have the biggest Kings in the Great Lakes . 

 

He also said we had a good hatch of bait the last 2 years and expects sizes to rebound , but not much . The increase in stocking will offset the increase in bait . He said they are trying to do a balance of good fishing to size . 

 

He said more , and I am paraphrasing . But that is the gist of it . 

 

 

[spoonfed-1]

On 10/30/2023 at 5:23 PM, HB2 said:

 

 I did contacted( email ) the DEC and asked if they were aware ,why it is happening,and what they planned on doing going forward . 

 

They replied they were fully aware. And the reason they suspect and are   sure of are .....

 

Low bait abundance in the lake we had a few years of bad year hatches. He said you can't grow big fish without a lot of bait .  

 

Sea lampreys that suck the fluids and can kill a salmon . 2 years of covid  thwarted stream treatments . 

 

He also said it is strictly diet and not genetics . We got our eggs originally from the upper Great Lakes . The same fish that are in Lake Michigan . They crashed their bait by overstocking and Mature fish were avg 12# . But it has rebounded . He also said we constantly have the biggest Kings in the Great Lakes . 

 

He also said we had a good hatch of bait the last 2 years and expects sizes to rebound , but not much . The increase in stocking will offset the increase in bait . He said they are trying to do a balance of good fishing to size . 

 

He said more , and I am paraphrasing . But that is the gist of it . 

 

 

Bull ****. For the last 10 yrs I've been seeing more 2 yr olds maturing every year. That has nothing to do with diet. I've been fishing the east end for about 25 yrs.

[HB2]

Actually it might have something to do with diet . I don't know how it might but you are what you eat . And if the fish are malnourished , mother nature might send them early. 

 

And how can we tell age ? Yankee says you can't tell by looking at them.  Last year I and others  got a bunch of Jacks in the stream on skein .  Did not catch one this year . 

[spoonfed-1]

1 hour ago, HB2 said:

Actually it might have something to do with diet . I don't know how it might but you are what you eat . And if the fish are malnourished , mother nature might send them early. 

 

And how can we tell age ? Yankee says you can't tell by looking at them.  Last year I and others  got a bunch of Jacks in the stream on skein .  Did not catch one this year . 

Actually no. If diet was a problem you would be catching skinny, undernourished fish for a few years before the **** hit the fan. Not the case. Who's Yankee? You can tell the age by catching thousands of fish over the years and comparing to past experience. If a fish is underfed he will not maintain the length versus weight (or width) relation compared to healthy fish. Age would effect both.

Edited November 4, 2023 by spoonfed-1

[HB2]

As stated , we got our original eggs from the upper Great Lakes. So we have the same fish as Lake Michigan. Their bait crashed, and they had Mature kings returning at 12# for years . It's come back over there after years of management. 

 

Am I wrong to  consider a   summer to late summer 12 to 18 king to be a 2 year old ?  Some probably are . But are some smaller 3 year olds? 

 

DEC says after their studies how much bait there is . Some guys disagree,and say I had bait on my screen all day . Well maybe their was where they were but there is a lot of dead water out there.

 

 

[spoonfed-1]

3 hours ago, HB2 said:

As stated , we got our original eggs from the upper Great Lakes. So we have the same fish as Lake Michigan. Their bait crashed, and they had Mature kings returning at 12# for years . It's come back over there after years of management. 

 

Am I wrong to  consider a   summer to late summer 12 to 18 king to be a 2 year old ?  Some probably are . But are some smaller 3 year olds? 

 

DEC says after their studies how much bait there is . Some guys disagree,and say I had bait on my screen all day . Well maybe their was where they were but there is a lot of dead water out there.

 

 

I would say the 18 lber is probably a small 3 yr old and the 12 lber is a second year fish. My observation is there are more 2 yr old fish that are maturing every year, especially over the last 10 yrs. Many of these years there was no problem with the bait fish population but I've caught and seen more fish maturing in their second year based on the size of the fish relative to the size of all the rest of the mature fish I was catching in the same areas on the same day. I fish in the area of the Salmon River.

Edited November 4, 2023 by spoonfed-1

[HB2]

I'm still " wait and see " 

 

Spring and Summer LOC weights  will tell us a lot . Bait has come back somewhat  last 2 years and should make an impact . 

 

Not a lot we can do between now and then .