lake piru 5-27-09

[crappiemike]

was up late last night and decided to go to piru, everybody i asked was busy so i did
a solo run to my old hole!!! took about an hour drive and was there in line right at 6am..
the girls at the booth were a little slow today, maybe they were up late doing the party thing? went straight to the launch and the first one out in a foggy morning.
did some slow troll in and around the marina with only one hit and that was it.
then straight to the honey hole and it was on as usaul!!!

first fish on!!!

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_0849.jpg


then the two variety of crappie's, now the black;

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1150.jpg


then the white crappie's

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1151.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1149.jpg

here's the launch from up top:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1153.jpg

still dry:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1154.jpg


look how low the water is, the dam,

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1221.jpg

there were a bunch of smaller models out today, lost count, kept 5 keepers

bucket shot:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/05-27-09_1152.jpg


all of the crappies were cought on a 1/32 oz curlytail grub in pearl white with the crappie nibble, fish were hitting in the 8 to 25 ft range.

cm

[ART HILL]

Nice job on the slabs Mike. Those will make some great tacos.

[BuzzBait]

Nice slabs!
Good job!

[Panfish Junior]

Good pics and nice size slaps you got there. Thanks for sharing CM!

[troutdog]

I always enjoy a fishing buddy to share the day, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do and roll solo....glad to see your efforts paid off CM!


TD

[TRDEXPERT]

Wow!! That think is DRY!!! I use to launch my boat off that ramp like 2 years ago..

[Seng90806]

i wasnt busy...why u didnt give me call for a piru run...great job out there CM!!

[Troutman65]

CM, Nice going on the Crappie:Envious:. Looking at the water level:EyePop: OMG. Its so far down from when I was there 2 years ago. Thanks for the pics. :Cool:

[Crappie Doc]

Nice catch. I was there last thursday and my friend and I caught our limits of crappie Most were nice size. Some were small. Through a lot back. The shad were running around everywhere making the crappie active.

[crappie stalker]

good to see the crappie are on the prowl out there.. You kit them Mike.. With the water that low many of the crappie spots are on dry land.. Good job working it out..

CS

[Str8t Slabaronies]

Nice Job out there CM...way to go at them crappies.

I'm noticing that all the crappie reports have slowed waaaaaaaaay down. That was to be expected after all the spawn bites died.

They get off that shoreline and most do not know how to locate them after that.

Some do. :Wink:

From last Sat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/royalty65/thebay019.jpg

CM...you looking for a better size....you know wsup! :LOL:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/royalty65/thebay020.jpg

[camman]

not sure if the crappie are impacted like LMB...watch out though

High levels of mercury in Lake Piru bass, study shows
By Zeke Barlow (Contact)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

An examination of pollutants in 152 California lakes found that largemouth bass in Lake Piru have levels of methylmercury that could make it unhealthy for women and children to eat.

Although further study is needed before a health advisory is issued for the lake, the initial results showed the largemouth bass, which often have high levels of mercury, were above the threshold for safe consumption levels.

Fish from Lake Casitas were tested but did not have high levels of mercury.

“There is definitely a concern,” said Jay Davis, a senior scientist with the San Francisco Estuary Institute, which did the study for the California Water Resource Control Board. “We don’t want to send the message that people shouldn’t eat fish or be fishing. It’s more that they should try to be informed and try to focus on the fish that have a lower level of the contaminants.”

The bass at Lake Piru are not alone in having high concentrations of pollutants.

Only 15 percent of the lakes that were sampled were determined to be “clean,” meaning the fish had levels of mercury, PCBs, DDT and other pollutants that were all below the limit at which officials establish health advisories, according to the report — “Contaminants in Fish from California Lakes and Reservoirs.”

Mercury levels over .44 parts per million in fish is considered unhealthy for women and children to consume. The largemouth bass in Lake Piru tested at .46 parts per million.

Methylmercury — a by-product from gold mining that was rampant in the state more than a century ago — was the main culprit. Of the lakes sampled, 74 percent had levels of mercury high enough to be considered unhealthy to eat more than three servings a week. Overall, 26 percent had even higher levels of mercury — considered unhealthy to eat at all by women and children.

Much more comprehensive tests of different species would have to be done before the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment issues an official warning against eating fish. Even if a fish, such as bass, is deemed unhealthy, other fish from the same lake further down the food chain are OK to eat. Brown bullhead from Lake Piru were also tested but had low levels of mercury, the study found.

Swimming in the lakes or other recreational activities are still safe, officials added.

In Northern California, where gold mining was much more prevalent historically, mercury was known to be a problem, but this is the first time the southern half of the state showed widespread problems, too, Davis said.

“It was somewhat surprising to see some lakes in Southern California with high concentrations,” he said.

It was news to United Water Conservation District, which stores water in Lake Piru to recharge the aquifers on the Oxnard Plain.

“This is the first sampling we know of,” said Dan Detmer, a hydrologist with the district. He said the district will look into the findings and potentially issue a warning if needed.

Detmer said some of the mercury contamination could be coming from the water the district gets from the Sierra Nevada, where there was a lot of gold mining. Mercury was used to extract gold and then dumped into the watershed where it accumulates in sediment and remains for decades.

Davis said mines around Southern California also could have contributed to the problem.

Fish at the top of the food chain, such as largemouth bass, tend to have higher concentrations of mercury because it is stored in the muscle.

Too much exposure to mercury can affect a human’s nervous system and women can pass on the pollutant to their fetuses.

Even if further tests show the bass in Lake Piru shouldn’t be eaten by children and women, some question the impact. Most bass fishermen who come into Eric’ s Tackle Shop in Ventura are releasing the fish they land at Lake Piru, shop owner Eric Huff said.

“They are fishing for sport and not for food,” he said.

Clayton Strahan, a park ranger at the lake, said there aren’t any statistics on the number of fish caught and kept versus the number released. He estimates there are somewhere from 50,000 to 70,000 fishing trips per year at the lake, with many fishermen making return visits.

Dwayne Maxwell, a senior fisheries biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, said many of the bass caught are released back into the lake — but a fair amount are eaten.

“A lot of people who fish in Southern California are subsistence fishermen,” he said. And even if a fish is deemed unsafe to eat, it doesn’t mean people are deterred.

“There have been signs up on the Cabrillo Pier (in San Pedro) cautioning people against eating white croaker, but that doesn’t keep them from taking them home by the bucketful,” Maxwell said.

These tests are the first in a long string of studies looking at the health of California waters. Next year, another round of tests will be done on lakes, followed by examinations of the pollutants in streams and the ocean.

If a water body is found to be very polluted, it could qualify for a federal cleanup of the waterway

[Fishthewhaler]

Thanks for the report cm, I will take the whaler back to the spot for more action ,maybe friday morn session! nice going as always.

[vagabond]

Dam good job CB.nice size too..piru is really low..