What's your opinion of the current state of our fishery?

[HB2]

You caught me LL . I'm full of s....

[RH93]

3 hours ago, HB2 said:

I can't see how those angler surveys are even remotely accurate , especially lake anglers . I fished a lot this year out of Sandy  ,caught a bunch  and only saw the survey boat once and stopped to see them . I don't know about how the Salmon River surveys go . 

 

 

 

Yup, I only saw the survey boat on the little salmon river twice this year on my way back to the marina from the lake.

Both times I had been skunked and reported zero fish. I fished 25 days this year, and caught fish 23 out of those 25 days. The state should look into a fish harvest reporting app to get a better idea of what people are harvesting out of the lake. I would have no problem logging in the fish I catch. 

[ut_falcon]

No one is talking about what happened on Lake Superior this year, they had record hatches of Cisco a few years ago and this year the salmon were pushing 40 pounds, bigger than any other of the great lakes.  We're talking average derby winner a few years ago was 15 pounds up to 39 pounds doubling in size in a few years, they've never had huge salmon like Lake Ontario until this year.

[LongLine]

 HB - Don't take that as an insult. 

 

Off topic from the subject of this thread, but there's a difference between "actively feeding" and "hitting."  Back in the 70's I caught a female while balancing on a rock, 1/3rd of way out the east side of the Oak Orchard channel on a very dismal October evening. (rainy, windy, freaking cold) Casting a CD5 Rapala.

 

Poor cast with a lot of slack. Fish hit it as soon as I reeled in the slack. Never saw fish till it was a couple feet from the rock.  Very dark and dropping eggs after I landed her. She had both trebles in her mouth.

 

 I thought it was great to catch 28# Salmon feeding under those condition. However, her guts were shriveled up and hard to distinguish which was what. (Totally empty stomach) I then thought that the lure settled directly in front of her, scared her so she grabbed it.

 

Since then, I've seen a lot of underwater videos of spawning fish.  Pre and post spawning smallmouth chase anything away from their nests. (Which is why the closed season) 

 

I've also seen underwater videos of Salmon runs. In addition to discoloration, hooked jaws and deformed bodies, I've noticed (in most of them) the frequency of their mouth and gill movement.  Spawning is very stressful and exhausting for Salmon so I can't help thinking these fish are gasping for breath. I.E. Sucking in a lot of water to get more oxygen.  Just like any animal's respiration rate increasing when stressed or exhausted. 

 

Bottom line:  Did that fish take the lure because it landed so close that she instinctively grabbed it.  Was she being protective?  Did she just suck it in during one of her deep breaths?  

 

She was a spawner, hit a lure but definitely was not "actively feeding."  
 

[HB2]

23 minutes ago, LongLine said:

 HB - Don't take that as an insult. 

 

Off topic from the subject of this thread, but there's a difference between "actively feeding" and "hitting."  Back in the 70's I caught a female while balancing on a rock, 1/3rd of way out the east side of the Oak Orchard channel on a very dismal October evening. (rainy, windy, freaking cold) Casting a CD5 Rapala.

 

Poor cast with a lot of slack. Fish hit it as soon as I reeled in the slack. Never saw fish till it was a couple feet from the rock.  Very dark and dropping eggs after I landed her. She had both trebles in her mouth.

 

 I thought it was great to catch 28# Salmon feeding under those condition. However, her guts were shriveled up and hard to distinguish which was what. (Totally empty stomach) I then thought that the lure settled directly in front of her, scared her so she grabbed it.

 

Since then, I've seen a lot of underwater videos of spawning fish.  Pre and post spawning smallmouth chase anything away from their nests. (Which is why the closed season) 

 

I've also seen underwater videos of Salmon runs. In addition to discoloration, hooked jaws and deformed bodies, I've noticed (in most of them) the frequency of their mouth and gill movement.  Spawning is very stressful and exhausting for Salmon so I can't help thinking these fish are gasping for breath. I.E. Sucking in a lot of water to get more oxygen.  Just like any animal's respiration rate increasing when stressed or exhausted. 

 

Bottom line:  Did that fish take the lure because it landed so close that she instinctively grabbed it.  Was she being protective?  Did she just suck it in during one of her deep breaths?  

 

She was a spawner, hit a lure but definitely was not "actively feeding."  
 

So now it's ," well they hit , but why did they hit? Were they actually feeding or was it a conditioned response ? " 

 

Give me a break