Lake Perris 3/20

[baitmaster]

Hit up Perris with Big Red, Erik, and Uncle Al. The water is warming up a little, 58.9-60 degrees depending on time of day and location. Recent rains have brought the water up a bit too. We fished our normal spots with the additon of a few new location due to the slightly higher water temps. It was a great day on the water
Final boat count: 4 red ear and 1 bass kept. 5 bass released due to new length requirements.

[Flying]

5 bass released due to new length requirements.

I'm glad you mentioned that. I would have never know(I don't keep any).

Perris is know back to the old regs of 15" min. limit 2 .

[fishmounter]

Baitmaster- Nice catch. No Bluegill yet huh? How deep were you guys fishing? Jigs & crickets?

[baitmaster]

Baitmaster- Nice catch. No Bluegill yet huh? How deep were you guys fishing? Jigs & crickets?

Fishmounter,
Thanks, no BG yet...but they will be out to play soon enough. We fished several spots from the east end all the way to the dam. water depth ranged from 9'-35'. Jigs and crickets were not as hot as a jig and a small night crawler.

[LuvThymetal]

Nice fish !! Why did u keep the bass ?

[baitmaster]

Nice fish !! Why did u keep the bass ?

Luv,
Thanks! The bass was over 15" long and they make great tacos. I wish the other bass were a bit larger to keep also. Why didn't you ask about the Red Ear?

[Natural Lefty]

Here we go again with the bass eating issue.

I didn't know about the rule change until I read this report. It's true that Bass weren't jumping on my line last year the way they usually do at Perris, but I did see people who were targeting bass with plastic worms do fairly well on 1-2 pound bass last year, plus literally hundreds of baby bass in the shallows. Maybe there were fewer adult bass than in previous years, prompting the rule change.

[bass assassin#23]

i do realize that as a licensed fisherman that you have the right to take fish that meet the certain length requirements and im all for that, but during the pre spawn and spawn please try ad c&r so we have twice as many to get next year. thanks oh and great report and pics man

[baitmaster]

Bass Assassin,
Thanks for the response and the polite way you proposition me to C&R. Nice to see that some people on this board have manners, even with differing fishing opinions and ethics. To be honest I was not even targeting bass, I was hunting bluegill and red ear.

[LuvThymetal]

I was just saying. Might as well fish for trout if your gonna take fish home =]

[Ifishtoolittle]

Luv,
Thanks! The bass was over 15" long and they make great tacos. I wish the other bass were a bit larger to keep also. Why didn't you ask about the Red Ear?

He didn't ask about the redear because he could care less about it as long as his prized bass are fine. If you ask me no one should really take any particular species when they are spawning. Sadly this is not the case with Bluegills I mean during their spawn people take like 50 bedding males and other FNN members congratulate you on it. If you take just one bedding bass all hell breaks loose. People can just be ridiculious.

[bowler]

He didn't ask about the redear because he could care less about it as long as his prized bass are fine. If you ask me no one should really take any particular species when they are spawning. Sadly this is not the case with Bluegills I mean during their spawn people take like 50 bedding males and other FNN members congratulate you on it. If you take just one bedding bass all hell breaks loose. People can just be ridiculious.
I know they make a big deal if you take a bass home when they are not spawning anymore too as my case (Spotted Bay Bass). But they can careless about the panfish.

[Ifishtoolittle]

I know they make a big deal if you take a bass home when they are not spawning anymore too as my case (Spotted Bay Bass). But they can careless about the panfish.

Yah I know what I'm saying is for any species we should not take any fish when they are spawning.

[carpanglerdude]

Bluegill get rocked hard during the spawn...it's so easy to spot their beds and they are super aggressive during that time. On small city park lakes, I honestly don't know how bluegill populations survive, with nowhere shallow for them to spawn without someone dropping a worm on their head.

[baitmaster]

Thanks for the responses everyone.
I have done lots of research over the years about fish spawning and the sustainability of lake fish. My research has led me to believe that 100% C&R is one of the worst things you can do to a lake. The lack of harvesting fish will over populate and crowd the lake. Once a lake is over populated the average fish size will be reduced, the health of the lake will be compromised, and the natural ecology of the lake will be lost. Let face it, it is all about ecological balance. We, as humans, are part of the ecosystem of the lake….at the top of the food chain. If we fail to take our place at the top of the food chain the entire system will be top heavy and collapse.
Another way to look at sustainability is in pure numbers. According to some sources (noted below), a female bluegill will release up to 50K eggs in a year and a female bass up to 100K. If we only have a 1% hatch survivability from each of those egg beds, we would have added 500 bluegill and 1000 bass to the lake. Of only 10% of the hatch survivability made it to adulthood, there will be 50 remaining bluegill and 100 remaining bass from the original egg beds. Now all of these new fish will reproduce and continue the process once they reach adulthood. Anyone who has looked at a simple family tree, taken basic math, or understands finances will understand this process of exponential growth. The exponential growth of fish population is why I believe it is important to harvest fish and take our place at the top of the food chain.

Edit: I forgot to add the refs., so here they are
http://www.kentuckylake.com/fishing/fishfacts/bass.html
http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/sport/bluegill/mobluegill.htm

[bowler]

Thanks for the responses everyone.
I have done lots of research over the years about fish spawning and the sustainability of lake fish. My research has led me to believe that 100% C&R is one of the worst things you can do to a lake. The lack of harvesting fish will over populate and crowd the lake. Once a lake is over populated the average fish size will be reduced, the health of the lake will be compromised, and the natural ecology of the lake will be lost. Let face it, it is all about ecological balance. We, as humans, are part of the ecosystem of the lake….at the top of the food chain. If we fail to take our place at the top of the food chain the entire system will be top heavy and collapse.
Another way to look at sustainability is in pure numbers. According to some sources (noted below), a female bluegill will release up to 50K eggs in a year and a female bass up to 100K. If we only have a 1% hatch survivability from each of those egg beds, we would have added 500 bluegill and 1000 bass to the lake. Of only 10% of the hatch survivability made it to adulthood, there will be 50 remaining bluegill and 100 remaining bass from the original egg beds. Now all of these new fish will reproduce and continue the process once they reach adulthood. Anyone who has looked at a simple family tree, taken basic math, or understands finances will understand this process of exponential growth. The exponential growth of fish population is why I believe it is important to harvest fish and take our place at the top of the food chain.

Edit: I forgot to add the refs., so here they are
http://www.kentuckylake.com/fishing/fishfacts/bass.html
http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/sport/bluegill/mobluegill.htm
Well this time of year for bass fishing is like shooting fish a bucket. The reason you should not take them this time of year is that they are spawning. Now if everyone took home a bass during the spawn there will be less bass hatch. And if people kept on during that there will be less bass. So the best time to take home a bass if you want to is the summer when they start hitting topwater. So try not taking bass in the spring. I have no problem if some one take a bass home but during the spring i do. So try C&R during the spring time but in the summer if you want to take one home go for it just not in the spring.

[Natural Lefty]

Ifishtoolittle and Bowler, at least the new panfish limit may reduce the take of spawning sunfish, especially by boat fisherpeople who target their spawning beds.

I am in general agreement with you, Baitmaster. I don't usually target Bass, but they are part of the ecosystem, like the other fish, and fish in general are very prolific. It is true that fish are more vulnerable while spawning, but as long as some of them spawn successfully, there will be a lot of baby fish. The problem would be if very few or none of them spawned successfully.

Also, I find it ironic that fisherpeople usually target places that have large fish, to catch some to eat, while ignoring places where they are stunted "because they are too small." One way to increase their size is to keep some from the stunted place. I guess that is the fisherman's dilemma.

On the other hand, the predominance or lack of smaller fish may have to do with the predator population. Places with stunted populations might need more predators, but in some places with top heavy ecosystems, perhaps there are too many predators, so it would be best to keep some of them.

I fished one large reservoir in Colorado that was so top heavy with Smallmouth Bass and Walleye, that there were hardly any panfish. I caught a bunch of Smallmouth there, and finally, one good size Bluegill with a fresh bite wound in its back.

[smokinflies]

Nice catches baitmaster. I've been looking for info some on Perris' bass action.

Thanks for the report.

[baitmaster]

Lefty,
Well put, there is always a few ways to look at the same data.

Smokinflies,
Thanks, do you fish perris also?

[bowler]

this is why you need to C&R right now at Lake Perris.


February 4, 2010

Commentary

Recovery of Lake Perris
bass fishery is still
at least six years away

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

If everything goes as planned, the revival of the Lake Perris sport fishery for largemouth bass and other species is still at least five or six years away.
The problems for the fishery began in 2005 when the lake level was drawn down 25 vertical feet when it was determined the dam could fail in a massive earthquake. The lake has been at this level or below ever since while the Department of Water Resources (DWR) engineers looked at a whole range of possibilities, from leaving the lake at it's current low level to completely replacing the dam and even enlarging it.
In January this year, the agency released an environmental document on its preferred alternative for its Perris Dam Remediation Project, work that would make the dam safe in the face of a massive quake without creating a massive environmental nightmare in the construction process. At its first public meeting on the dam project Wednesday this week, Tom Barnes, an environmental consultant for the DWR, said “to enhance and restore public safety is really the key issue” in the project.
The project would consist of building a deeply-seated dam in front of the existing Perris dam as a brace and anchor, preventing the possibility of collapse. Fill dirt for the additional dam would come from the northeast end of Lake Perris between the current water line and riparian area at the edge of the old water level.
Veteran Lake Perris anglers reading that will recognize this was the lake’s key spawning habitat for all warmwater species before the lake was lowered. Mike Giusti, the Department of Fish and Game’s supervising fishery biologist for this area, said the bass fishery has declined by 60 percent and recruitment of young fish has almost ceased with the loss of this habitat. Now it looks like this habitat could be lost even when the water level comes back up.
Barnes was blunt in saying “there’s going to be less shallow water habitat and spawning area” once the project is complete.
Giusti was just as blunt in saying “we’re going to expect them to do major habitat enhancements throughout the whole lake so the fishery is as good or better than before the drawdown occurred.”
Construction on project could begin as early as the first quarter of 2011 if the review and approval process of the environmental document on the planned changes goes smoothly. It is expected all the work could be completed in two years, and then the lake could be refilled to its original level, depending on water availability. Giusti’s best estimate on how long it would take for the fishery to fully recovery after the lake level comes back up is at least another three years on top of that -- or 2016 at the earliest.
While the lake would remain open to recreation and fishing during this time, about half the lake’s shoreline from the middle of the dam and all along the south and east sides of the lake would be closed to shore access.
Giusti pointed out that the environmental document forces the DWR only to examine the biological impacts and mitigate for those. He pondered the loss of public recreation, recreation-related jobs around the lake, and revenue to state parks during the drawndown, reconstruction, refilling, and fishery recovery process. Even if the DWR completely restores the lake to its former fishery greatness, it will have resulted in a lost decade for the local community and area anglers.
Lake Perris was built in 1974, the terminal reservoir in the State Water Project that brought northern California water south through the California aqueduct. Largely a shallow-water lake, it quickly gained a reputation as the nation’s premier Alabama spotted bass fishery, producing a succession of world records in the mid- to late-1980s. When Florida-strain largemouth bass found their way into the lake, they were even better adapted to the habitat and over the following decade completely replaced the spotted bass.
Largemouth bass over 10 pounds are caught each year in Lake Perris, even since the drawdown. The lake record is something over 17 pounds -- and there are some reports that put it at 20 pounds. Until Diamond Valley Lake opened, Perris was considered to be the premier bass water in the Inland area and one of the best fisheries in Southern California.
It doesn’t look like it will be reclaiming that title anytime soon.
PERRIS BASS STRUCTURE: The big problem with Lake Perris at its lower water level is lack of structure. With the exception of the dam, all of the rip-rap areas around the marina and launch areas are almost completely out of the water. Aside from the dam and a few rock outcroppings around the island, the lake has very little cover for smaller fish and that is a big factor in the poor recruitment of young fish.
Giusti said the DFG has been working with State Parks to try and help this problem by placing 260 citrus brush piles in the lake in 2009, and he said another 100 to 150 will be placed this year.

[oscarbassman]

Aint it cool that we are on top of the chain food!? >:)

[carpanglerdude]

So, is shore fishing at Lake Perris a waste of time with the water levels down? I want to head out there soon.

[Natural Lefty]

Bowler, thanks for posting that article. It finally gives information on the disposition of Lake Perris' future. The article only seems to care about bass fishing, typically enough. It says that the bass population has gone down by 60% since the lake has been drawn down. Since the lake is smaller than before, it stands to reason that fish populations are reduced, though by how much they should go down, I don't know. The northeastern part of the lake from which the earth would be taken, does have a lot of spawning area, but the article also says that habitat improvements will be made. As it is, I know I saw literally hundreds of baby bass around lots 11 and 12 last fall, so it didn't seem like a poor spawn to me. I guess it may be a few years before they have another good spawn, though, according to the article.

Carpanglerdude, actually, since the lake was drawn down, I have noticed an actual improvement in Crappie and Redear fishing there, Bluegills about the same, but Trout and Bass not quite as good. That is based on my own observations, and others may differ. In any case, shorefishing is definitely not a waste of time there, nor is dock fishing. I have only fished from a boat there one time. The water levels have been down for several years, by the way. They have not significantly changed over the past couple of years.

[bowler]

Like article say there is not a lot a spawning area anymore for the bass so now is time we need to C&R during the spring time so the bass populations can get back to normal. It might take a few year but in the in the long run the bass fishing will get better. Only time will tell. We will see when the put water back in and it will go back to a normal level.