In today's Post Register it said there could be a big winter kill because of the low lake level . Not enough oxygen , but it could be a good thing because there are to many fish in the lake . Why not raise the limit , and reduce the population . So there is more oxygen for the remaining fish . Idaho Falls paper , outdoor section .
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Raising the limit could definitely help those who do Harvest. From what I have read in the past, that is the main problem. People don't harvest in search of that bigger fish.
Go get um' Curt
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So would people rather catch 2 or 3 in a day if they are bigger? I always hear the argument about people wanting to catch bigger fish. I'm a fan of going fishing and catching fish. I think it's a great lake where most people can take their families and catch trophies in their eyes.
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Isn't that what Island Park was for? Henry's "was" a Blue Ribbon Trophy Lake...what is wrong with that? I mean ONE in Idaho, is that a bad thing?
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10 percent of the fishermen catch 90 percent of the fish at Island Park . Almost anyone can catch fish at Henry's . Ice fishing IP this year is going to be almost impossible . The lake is coming up so fast , there is going to be to much water on top of the ice .
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My answer was to Lip. Yes, people go to Henry's for BIG fish, or at least they use to. And some came away with just that.[
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You want it to be just another family fishery?
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I want it to be like it use to be . More big fish and fewer small ones .I wish they would stop planting cuttroughts , they don't fight and are eating food that would make the remaining fish grow faster .The reason I wish they would raise the limit , just for the ice fishing season is I would rather see them consumed than just die under the ice . I have seen a bad winter kill , it makes you sick to your stomach .
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And I wish they had left it the way it was too. Open Memorial weekend and close End of October, but you what they say about wishing...LOL
It was perfect back then, but people demand change. Now someone feels Bass are needed?!
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I wish it was open year round . I only fished it 3 times all summer . I will ice fish it a lot more .
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That too. Make it another Island Park venue. Like I said, you don't need that stinkin' Trophy Lake anyhow[laugh][laugh][laugh]
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The lake is in a rapid decline. I've only been fishing there for a few years but the quality has dropped every year. The fish are getting noticeably smaller every year.
There are still some big fish but people in the know parked on top of the holes over the hard deck have done a job on the bigger fish.
Planting all these small cuttbow hybrids hardly made up for what was taken quality wise.
I wish they would have kept it the way it was.
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Have you ice fished it ?
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I would be ok with it open through march. Maybe allowing 1 over 20" and 1 under16" as a compromise through the ice.
[quote curt69]Have you ice fished it ?[/quote]
I am not answering for Ex, but not sure what fishing it could prove. The decline did start after they opened it later. Maybe the anticipation of more HARVESTING ice fishers, I don't know.
Damon knew all this, as does Bill Scheiss.
Opening it year round could work, but I don't think we will be seeing those 30+ inchers in the near future.
Look at opener when fish are close to shore...people go crazy catching way more than they could imagine of nice size Trout and Brookies.
I think the lake needs a rest to though to allow those fish to just eat and get big without stress, let alone making the lake more special to the Angler instead of another lake that has Brookies.
The years have an impact as well like the Algae Bloom in 2007. Or this year being so warm and the lake being so shallow.
I did fish it for 4 days this year as compared to several days in the past. The catching is up, the size is down.
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I have no interest in ice fishing it.
I've seen the fish pulled out of there ice fishing and these fish would have lived till the May opener at least and likely much longer.
Many of these bigger fish caught ice fishing are very hard to catch under normal conditions. That's why they are so big when someone catches one.
Some are happy with the fact Henry's has been turned into a regular lake or family fishing waters with all the smaller fish.
I'm not one of them.
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The lake gets more pressure on opening weekend than it gets for the 6 weeks it get ice fished . The study showed 1 percent of the total harvest for the season .
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Why do you think they are easier to catch through the ice? In my boat I can go anywhere on the lake . During winter there are very limited parking areas .Most people have to walk and drag there gear to where they are going to fish . Usually not far from the parking area. The more people that fish an area the worse the fishing is , because of all the commotion. They don't plow the road to the State Park . So the acess points are the Hatchery , Wild Rose , Pintail Point , and County boat dock .
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I think that study is flawed. Who goes to Henry's to harvest? It's a trophy fishery.
There are just as many fish caught on the ice if you go by FPH( fish per hour).
The average angler would catch more fish on the ice than they would any other time of the year minus opening week(s)or Oct-early November if they can take the weather.
Henry's isn't a harvest fishery. The problem is I think the F$G wants it to be.
It is supposedly a blue ribbon fishery. People don't think of Henry's as a put and take fishery. I see more fish kept by the ice fisherman and on average they are bigger fish.
I've only seen a few people keep fish there on all my trips. I can't speak to the opener as I avoid the zoo.
I feel the mortality rate is much higher for fish pulled out of the water, flopping around on the ice, finally corralled with ice and snow all over them.....picture taken and then released than caught & released fish on the opener.( Good fish handling all being equal)
For the majority of anglers the fishing is too hard from early June until later in September.
There are two times each year that the fish are extremely vulnerable(Opening week(s)and Ice Fishing)
On ice fishing: This is a true case of 10% of the fisherman catching 90% of the bigger fish on the hard deck. The bigger fish have never been easier to catch.
I work on the East side and know people who ice fish and they have never caught big fish there until ice fishing was opened.
I've seen the fish they catch on the ice. They catch more fish and keep the bigger fish. IMHO too many of the bigger fish can be targeted on the ice and caught.
It's showing in the quality of the fish caught since ice fishing was allowed.
Sorry but that's how I see it.
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Five Poles for one. Whole families. Everyone that does not have a boat and fishes shore lines when open water. I am sure there are more boaters during the warmer months than the few on the possible two months ice.
But, changes were made for those two months that I feel have effected the lake.
C&R is easier with open water provided you do practice this correctly, but Ice fishers have proven that as well in "some" cases. I am betting most however, pull the trout out to the ice to see the size.
I also think the fish are going to be more concentrated under ice, but I am no biologist.
In a perfect world, "IF" Idaho continues to keep Henry's closed certain months, then closure till middle of June makes sense.
Strawberry use to be closed certain months. But, now open year round has worked out well, but Henry's doesn't work quite the same because of the depth and species.
People keep screaming for a family fishery and year round, I am sure someday they will get it. But, to turn it back around to a trophy will be much harder.
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As I stated when I started this thread . If it freezes over early and thaws out late mother nature is going to do more damage than any of us can imagine . There is only so much oxygen under the ice . I would rather see them consumed , than just go to waste . Low oxygen will be good for the chubs they don't need as much oxygen as the trout do .
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