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My Dad that has been retired for sometime spoke to a DWR officer at Minersville this week. He is concerned about what that officer had to say about the division opening Minersville up to bait fishing late in the season if the water gets low.
He would like to get the word out and ask the DWR not to do this.
If anyone that has some pull with the division down there ask them to not open it to bait fishing. It will take all the big fish out of the reservoir in short order and trash the place in no time at all. There are plenty of catch and take lakes down that way and this really doesn't need to happen.
I have tried to find information on this but have not found anyhting about this being on a agenda in the upcoming RAC meetings. If someone could point me to anything that would be great
Thanks,
fnf[cool]
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With the current rate the reservoir is dropping the oxygen saturation by late fall will be low enough they will most likely lose the majority of the trout anyway. If it is indeed planned to let people bait fish (which I have no knowledge of at this point) that would be the reason. The downside would be they would lose a ton of wipers to the bait fishermen also, and I think they can survive lower water levels better than the trout.
I'm hoping PBH will chime in as I'm certain he can give better info with his connections to the dwr.
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[quote castnshoot]Minersville, lives on the edge of death year in and year out.
It has been a good long run this time, maybe the best run ever.
The reserve pool is not enough to save the trout for very long in late summer. That being said, Minersville trout have scraped by some close calls in the past.
They are predicting a real weak monsoonal season this year so the farmers will need their water sooner which might well be the nail in the coffin for Minersville trout this year.
If DWR decides to open it to bait fish Minersville I would back their decision. They have done a good job IMO the last several years.
I think they have a pretty good handle on weather or not it is going to go belly up.
If you waste a whole lake of fish you are just giving ammunition to those who want to return Minersville to a put and take fishery.
We will just have to rebuild,, which don’t take long with a little weather luck, which we are over do for.[/quote]
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[quote castnshoot]
If DWR decides to open it to bait fish Minersville I would back their decision. They have done a good job IMO the last several years.
I think they have a pretty good handle on weather or not it is going to go belly up.
If you waste a whole lake of fish you are just giving ammunition to those who want to return Minersville to a put and take fishery.
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I agree. If the DWR strongly suspects a coming large trout die off, I see no harm in this decision and a reasonable benefit.
As for bait fishing decimating the warmwater species, I don't see that happening unless wipers have a taste for powerbait. (mussels or anchovies might work though) Besides, wipers already have general harvest regs on them there.
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It wouldn't be the first time an emergency change was made at Minersville, and it won't be the last.
I know the DWR was out there early this week looking at water levels. As of right now, they aren't doing anything.
The concern of bait dunkers taking "all the big fish out" is stupid, selfish, and just plain birdbrained. Sorry to come across so harsh.
For those who haven't noticed: We are in a very severe dry period. We haven't had rain for months. We got no snow. There was no runoff. When Minersville should have been filling, it was losing water. Water continues to be drawn for irrigation. Minersville has a history of "summer kills" in low water years. This is a threat that is discussed often for this water.
The threat to that fishery currently is NOT bait fishermen. It's water, heat, and oxygen (or the lack thereof). If the DWR determines that Minersville is threatened, then I'll be the first person in line to support that decision -- and I'll probably head out there to fish, and harvest, some fish. I hope to see you and your dad there too.
If you really have concerns, I'd recommend calling the southern region offices and asking to talk with someone in the fisheries department. They will answer your questions, and hopefully provide you some much needed information. 435-865-6100
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[quote fishinfool]
Kolob use to be a blue ribbon fishery until they opened it up to bait fishing and you can't catch a decent fish up there anymore. [/quote]
You obviously haven't been to Kolob recently. Fishing last fall was phenomenal for large trout up to 26"!! So far this spring there have been numerous reports (right here on BFT!) of large cutts and rainbows being caught -- and not just a few. The regulation changes at Kolob have not hurt that fishery one bit. In fact, one could easily argue that the regulation changes have improved Kolob!
I'm glad you found some info on who to contact. You should make a call yourself, and not just rely on your dad to make the call.
Regardless of mercury status - if the fishery is threatened due to low water, there is no reason to not allow anglers to harvest some of those fish if they want to. It doesn't mean you have to. But for those who want, why not let them make that decision?
This happened a number of years ago, and regulations were relaxed to allow the use of bait. The hords of bait anglers that artificial guys feared never showed up. A few did, and a few caught fish -- but when you look back at it today, what was the net negative effect from the bait guys?
There was none.
And there won't be if allowed as an emergency measure for a short period of time.
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castnshoot -- I think that's exactly why the DWR isn't doing anything at this point. They simply went out to take a look at the current status and see if anything has changed. At this point, there is no reason or cause to make any recommendations for a change.
But, as you pointed out, it is way too dry. And the lake did not fill this year due to a poor winter and runoff. Using historical data, the DWR can certainly look at the current lake level and have cause for concern looking forward to July and August.
We'll see how this plays out. I certainly do have concerns over the fishery, in the short term. But those concerns have very little to do with bait fishermen.
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