12-30-2007, 03:12 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for your thanks, but I may have caused more problems than I solved. Yuba was set to open for perch harvest in 2008 anyway...with standard regulations. When I suggested some "interim" regulations to allow at least some perch harvest, I had no idea that DWR would carry them through to the "grand opening".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I just wish they would decide how they want to manage Yuba, if they are going to manage it at all. They planted trout to provide a fishery until the other species came back. Now the trout are doing poorly. They did not plant walleyes or northerns, but DWR seems to be trying to preserve the perch population to feed the predators...rather than to provide a decent fishing opportunity for anglers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As a perchaholic, I am continually flabbergasted at the mishmash of perch regulations on the different waters, and the lack of a proactive approach to keeping regulations consistent with conditions. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: The perch population exploded in Pineview several years ago. Bajillions of bitty perch. Tiger muskies and Doug Miller perch bashes helped reduce the numbers. Fewer perch but larger ones available now. But, the limit is still 50 and even though most perch caught in the cold months come from deeper water...and die from the bends...there are no silly "keep all you catch" rules.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: The perch in Starvation were illegally introduced and exploded in numbers...further finishing off the chubs and competing heavily with the smallmouth and walleyes for available food. The upside is that perch have become the primary forage for all species now. DWR claims that they are moving toward a policy of removing limits from all species illegally placed in any waters, yet there is still a 20 fish limit on perch in Starvation. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: Jordanelle. Same as Starvation. But, after a major boom cycle, the perch in Jordanelle had a crash...disease or food shortage. Whatever. It is extremely rare for anyone to be able to catch 50 perch in a day on Lake X, but the limit is still 50.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of my major issues with Yuba, all along, is that it is prone to extremes of water fluctuation, and that is the primary cause of the boom bust cycle. A proactive approach to "managing" the lake for anglers would be to monitor populations and to raise or lower limits, based upon current conditions...not running everything through the political process. If it takes two years to get something done, the whole ecology of a lake can change 3 or 4 times during that period. In the meantime, there is a wasted resource (perch) going unharvested by license-buying anglers. This year there will be lots of big perch dying of old age, as they reach the end of their life cycle without ever seeing an angler's hook...or maybe having been released several times.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And, for the next 4 months, those big perch are sheltered somewhat because we have to keep the first ten little fish that beat the big ones to our hooks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]CRASH!!! (I just fell off my soapbox)[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I just wish they would decide how they want to manage Yuba, if they are going to manage it at all. They planted trout to provide a fishery until the other species came back. Now the trout are doing poorly. They did not plant walleyes or northerns, but DWR seems to be trying to preserve the perch population to feed the predators...rather than to provide a decent fishing opportunity for anglers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As a perchaholic, I am continually flabbergasted at the mishmash of perch regulations on the different waters, and the lack of a proactive approach to keeping regulations consistent with conditions. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: The perch population exploded in Pineview several years ago. Bajillions of bitty perch. Tiger muskies and Doug Miller perch bashes helped reduce the numbers. Fewer perch but larger ones available now. But, the limit is still 50 and even though most perch caught in the cold months come from deeper water...and die from the bends...there are no silly "keep all you catch" rules.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: The perch in Starvation were illegally introduced and exploded in numbers...further finishing off the chubs and competing heavily with the smallmouth and walleyes for available food. The upside is that perch have become the primary forage for all species now. DWR claims that they are moving toward a policy of removing limits from all species illegally placed in any waters, yet there is still a 20 fish limit on perch in Starvation. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]EXAMPLE: Jordanelle. Same as Starvation. But, after a major boom cycle, the perch in Jordanelle had a crash...disease or food shortage. Whatever. It is extremely rare for anyone to be able to catch 50 perch in a day on Lake X, but the limit is still 50.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]One of my major issues with Yuba, all along, is that it is prone to extremes of water fluctuation, and that is the primary cause of the boom bust cycle. A proactive approach to "managing" the lake for anglers would be to monitor populations and to raise or lower limits, based upon current conditions...not running everything through the political process. If it takes two years to get something done, the whole ecology of a lake can change 3 or 4 times during that period. In the meantime, there is a wasted resource (perch) going unharvested by license-buying anglers. This year there will be lots of big perch dying of old age, as they reach the end of their life cycle without ever seeing an angler's hook...or maybe having been released several times.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And, for the next 4 months, those big perch are sheltered somewhat because we have to keep the first ten little fish that beat the big ones to our hooks.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]CRASH!!! (I just fell off my soapbox)[/#0000ff]
[signature]