Pretty interesting report the DFW did regarding deep caught bass on DVL

[ShellBack USNRET]

Finally some real life studies on the causes and effects of Tournaments at the Jewel. And I agree with noleash’s comment, if they dig deeper more will surface.

When I first started fishing Diamond Valley back in 2007, this time of year LMB was everywhere throughout the lake, I mean EVERYWHERE. It was truly the Jewel that drove me to invest time, money, and energy to develop a sport I loved. For close to a year I stayed away from Diamond, that extra fee for tags, increase in entrance price, tournament pressure, and all those other things the Recreational Angler hate about the Jewel gave me a unwelcome to Joe The Fisherman feeling. Yesterday, was the first time I fished Diamond since May 2013. The line was out to Domenigoni Road, Yup another Tournament which I expected. I always give the Tournament guys a wide berth, and that's not my gripe. This time of year and I didn't see any Bass. The good ole days are just a memory. Now I read this article and can't help but speculate on the reasons why.

If anyone who denies that the constant pressure of tournament after tournament is not causing some negative effects to Diamond they need to read the article again “Tournaments are held on up to 85% of all weekends annually”. Add in the effects of holding tournaments during prime spawning periods, Stripers, water level fluctuation and you get an obvious decline in the LMB population at the Jewel.

If you still thinks tournaments are doing no harm. The article mentions culling. What happens to the culled bass caught in deep waters (deflated or not deflated) during their recovery time? Do they become prey to Stripers or that Ten Pound Bass? Let someone stick a needle in your lungs and see how fast you recover! Predator to Prey (if only for a brief moment). Just look at the stats on the number of improper deflating. Are you really a expert on fizzing/deflating? What's your error rational?

In response to DEVOREFLYER 67% comment….I’m one of those non-tournament stats…..Aka Joe The Fisherman….As a responsible and ethical recreational angler I can hold my own with a rod & reel….C&R, yes all green bass….but occasionally I’ll put under the knife other species, because I do eat fish (I show no love to Stripers, besides they taste good).

The answer to the puzzle is simple…..I don’t spend 85% of my weekends fishing.

DEVOREFLYER I’m not saying you’re pointing the finger, but for others who weigh-in on this post….Joe the fisherman is not the problem…Don’t start pointing fingers….let’s not go there! Just read the article again.

It’s time to make a drastic change to our fishery at Diamond Valley. It starts with a reality check for EVERYONE! 85% Come on! Give em a break!

[Stinkbait]

Do any of you or know tourney guys that do the shallow rockfish release methods? I think they do it on Atlantic swordfish too. Saw it on TV.

It's about a pound of lead with a grapple hook that goes through the jaw or inside the gill plate. There is a ring and rope attached to the outside bend of the hook. The weight gets the fish to depth and the rope reverses the hook out releasing the fish at depth. Same as the release crates, but portable.

[HawgZWylde]

Finally some real life studies on the causes and effects of Tournaments at the Jewel. And I agree with noleash’s comment, if they dig deeper more will surface.

When I first started fishing Diamond Valley back in 2007, this time of year LMB was everywhere throughout the lake, I mean EVERYWHERE. It was truly the Jewel that drove me to invest time, money, and energy to develop a sport I loved. For close to a year I stayed away from Diamond, that extra fee for tags, increase in entrance price, tournament pressure, and all those other things the Recreational Angler hate about the Jewel gave me a unwelcome to Joe The Fisherman feeling. Yesterday, was the first time I fished Diamond since May 2013. The line was out to Domenigoni Road, Yup another Tournament which I expected. I always give the Tournament guys a wide berth, and that's not my gripe. This time of year and I didn't see any Bass. The good ole days are just a memory. Now I read this article and can't help but speculate on the reasons why.

If anyone who denies that the constant pressure of tournament after tournament is not causing some negative effects to Diamond they need to read the article again “Tournaments are held on up to 85% of all weekends annually”. Add in the effects of holding tournaments during prime spawning periods, Stripers, water level fluctuation and you get an obvious decline in the LMB population at the Jewel.

If you still thinks tournaments are doing no harm. The article mentions culling. What happens to the culled bass caught in deep waters (deflated or not deflated) during their recovery time? Do they become prey to Stripers or that Ten Pound Bass? Let someone stick a needle in your lungs and see how fast you recover! Predator to Prey (if only for a brief moment)

In response to HawgZWylde 67% got me question….I’m one of those non-tournament stats…..Aka Joe The Fisherman….As a responsible and ethical recreational angler I can hold my own with a rod & reel….C&R, yes all green bass….but occasionally I’ll put under the knife other species, because I do eat fish (I show no love to Stripers, besides they taste good).

The answer to the puzzle is simple…..I don’t spend 85% of my weekends fishing.

HawgZWylde I’m not saying you’re pointing the finger, but for others who weigh-in on this post….Joe the fisherman is not the problem…Don’t start pointing fingers….let’s not go there! Just read the article again.

It’s time to make a drastic change to our fishery at Diamond Valley. It starts with a reality check for EVERYONE! 85% Come on!

You misunderstood the context in which I said that. I am blaming no-one. I'm only saying since the study only covered tournaments, one can only imagine how many fish are caught by other than tournament anglers and added to the equation. I'm simply suggesting that all of us could do a better job at helping the Bass population recover. I fish DVL every week, many times multiple times a week and have for years, so I'm just as guilty as the next guy. And I DO NOT fish tournaments. My response of being surprised is based on the fact that a single group of guys and gals who fish less than 52 days out of 364 days in the year could catch up 67% of all legal sized LMB's in the lake proves the LMB population is way down. Perhaps you should reread my post. And I'm certainly not bagging on the tourney folks either as they are much more inclined to take better care of the fish because if they don't, they get penalized at the scales for weighing in dead fish and they in fact want that fishery to become healthy again for their future tournaments. And if you read my post thoroughly, you would see that I put all the blame for the damage on a 100ft draw-down and Stripers. Sure, we anglers do some damage, but in a healthy fishery it would be miniscule compared to what the draw-downs and Stripey do. ..

The only drastic change I see that would eliminate the damage to the DVL fishery would be the elimination of Morone saxatilis...

I would add that I would like to see a cove on the East end and a cove on the west end closed to fishing during spawn, at least until the numbers come up. That is I'm sure drastic to some but it just might have a positive effect on the survivability of more eggs, but once those eggs hatch and the fry become juveniles Stripey won't care, it's the ultimate poacher...

[DEVOREFLYER]

A number of ways to put the fish down, some are quite simple. I will have to look for that Popel Pocket Fisherman that the kids had when they were small and make a rig and put the needle away.

http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpu...ubs/g05001.pdf

http://www.wpcouncil.org/bottomfish/...ng_Methods.pdf

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm...shconservation

[ShellBack USNRET]

Corrections and Revisions were made to my original post. I don't imply that you or anyone were placing blame or pointing the finger.

After monitoring this site for year's the Recreational Angler appears to take a back seat towards the Tournament circuit at the Jewel. That tend to come across the wrong way. I have always given the Tournament Guys a wide berth. In previous posts elsewhere, sometimes Joe The Fisherman gets hit on the chin. And in my opinion, the posture at Diamond is Tournaments gets head of the line privilege/leeway because "it's money involved".

Now with a study being posted, how could one ignore the pressure generated by 85% of Diamond weekend population being Tournaments. I agree that water draw down and striper's are part of the equation. Non Tournament practices hold a share as well, but when our numbers appear to be at 33% and fish less than the pro's I could put up a good defensive (Even for the ones who put some under the knife).

You don't enter a tournament to wish a fish, I consider Tournaments as having good to excellent Angler's who knows how to get after their target. Responsible and Ethical, skilled in the art of bringing weight to the scale. Loaded with high tech gear and in a small body of water with limited cover & structure other than to go deep, the prey is at a huge disadvantage. Hell, if you had a expert chasing you down 24/7 you'll give way sooner or later as well.

Nice pictures of what a good habitat should look like, but do we really think Diamond will ever look like that. Not in my life time! So Diamonds Valley Cover and Structure is what it is.

The answer was when the Lake's ramp was closed and the Bass had a half time break.

With a declining Bass population, maybe cutting the number of Tournament permits should be seriously considered. I don't see cutting the number of fish brought to the scale helping, it just means more culling. It was mentioned that improper deflating cause mortality, so unless everyone becomes a resident expert on fizzing/deflating, more deep water bass needs to be brought to the launch for proper treatment. I'm by no means a fish doctor or fish expert, but I do see the number of Bass at Diamond declining.

We can all put our 2 cents into the why, but you can't ignore a controlled study.

Can't wait for San Vincente to re-open, my only wish is the Tournament Circuit will take some lessons learned from Diamond and put some good resolutions in place to preserve the fishery.

Side note: Several weeks ago while fishing at Lake Perris (I believe that one that Pete Marino won) I saw the weighed in fish being released at the launch ramp. Not sure if this was a isolated Angler or all the Anglers releasing their bags at the launch ramp. Since this period was during Pre-Spawning time wouldn't it have been better to relocate these fish throughout the lake? If, this is a standard practice, how long does it take the fish to get back on station?

[HawgZWylde]

no thank you! you're always thinking about the bigger picture. it's killer! i too have sorta killed my deep fishing. i love it but man...

makes you wonder doesn't it? referencing my bedfish thread, makes a helluva lot more sense to do everything in our power to try and preserve our fishery when it matters the most doesnt it?

Yes it does Matt. Especially with this major draw-down occurring. The fish, while fewer, look so much healthier than a few years ago. I hope we don't see a repeat of those bad years...

[seal]

Eliminate stripey Hawgz? Boy that's a good one! You are one funny guy.

Think there might be a lake maturity issue also. DVL is still trying to find a balance and the fish will figure it out, man is only going to have partial control. Trying to make a perfect lake from an imperfect design (from the fish's viewpoint) is going to be awful difficult.

[HawgZWylde]

Eliminate stripey Hawgz? Boy that's a good one! You are one funny guy.

Think there might be a lake maturity issue also. DVL is still trying to find a balance and the fish will figure it out, man is only going to have partial control. Trying to make a perfect lake from an imperfect design (from the fish's viewpoint) is going to be awful difficult.

Not trying to be funny seal. Wishful is more like it. But this goes beyond just a maturing reservoir. DVL is unique in it's structure making it the perfect candidate for Striper overpopulation. Combine a huge draw-down with thousands of voracious Striper, you got a major kill zone bowl. And I am realistic, at this point in the game it would be next to impossible to eliminate them, but they can be better managed by removing limits on certain bodies of water like DVL...

[seal]

Not trying to be funny seal. Wishful is more like it. But this goes beyond just a maturing reservoir. DVL is unique in it's structure making it the perfect candidate for Striper overpopulation. Combine a huge draw-down with thousands of voracious Striper, you got a major kill zone bowl. And I am realistic, at this point in the game it would be next to impossible to eliminate them, but they can be better managed by removing limits on certain bodies of water like DVL...

Slot limit, lower take number to 2 to start. But I also think there is a bit of panic involved and can't get away from that opinion I'm sorry to say. I know you don't want comparisons but the only way to see into the future is to compare the lake to a more mature reservoir that has gone thru level ups and downs and various population swings. Unfortunately the goal of the reservoir is not to please fishermen, if it was a stable water level during spawning periods would be a plus and also high levels till fry have a chance to mature leaving more structure. But that's pie in the sky stuff. Every little bit helps and certainly addressing take is a part of it.

I don't think your idea on isolating coves for protection is going to work out either. The lake is for fishermen that don't only fish for LMB's and eliminating them from fishing good areas (coves) because LMB guys can't stay off the beds is not really fair to them.

Lot's of challenges, surprised the "experts" didn't see this coming, or did they?

[Stormcrow]

This is a quality publish.

It tells us a couple of things:

1. Deflation of deep water fish, whether exhibiting signs of Barotrauma or not, should be deflated regularly and properly as a responsible part of catch and release on the part of bass anglers fishing our so-cal waters.

2. Deflation does not eliminate mortality entirely

3. Reducing bag limit in winter time may become a commonplace. Get ready for that.

Please don't hijack the thread guys...This has nothing to do with the spawn, or stripers, or anything else. It was a BAROTRAUMA study. Further, Quin's results are significant....REALLY SIGNIFICANT...His "p" values were FAR less than (.05)

Certainly, what should be taken away from this by EVERYONE reading this article is to learn how to properly deflate LMB and make it part of your normal Catch and Release protocol on the water at DVL when fishing deeper than 25 feet.