DVL 5/25/17 En Fuego

[OG MUDBONE]

Great job and report. Glad to see you crushing them.
DVL can be a cruel mistress at times if you aren't A)Very lucky or B) Very experienced there.

Thanks Brent, yeah the learning curve at DVL can be steep. Once you put the time in it can be very rewarding, and a lot of fun.

[OG MUDBONE]

OG MUDBONE,

Thank you for the great posting & report. I too was feeling this form is "maybe ... past the point of no return". You post has revived my hopes. Check it every morning and see so few posts as outstanding as yours!

Thank you sir. It's sad to see the state of this forum now as I've learned a deal of knowledge about DVL here back in the day. What can ya do. Tight lines bud!

[BassinPLS]

OG MUDBONE,

I am in a small bass club in the Inland Empire and our club Secretary was talking with Kwin about the impacts of our bass fishing on the lake carrying capacity. Kwin said that bass fishing virtually has very little if any impact at all on the LMB population. His reasoning was that we practice catch & release and that during each spawn there are millions of fry hatched out. He said that if those fry don't get to +/- 6" in length before winter that they won't survive. He indicated that it takes about 2 years for a LMB to reach 12" in length. And at that length they pretty much eat all of the fry. He is a proponent of increasing the LMB limit from 2 @ 15" to 5 @ 12" to reduce the number of smaller fish that over feed the habitat.

With all of that being said, it is surprising how secretive everyone is about how they catch their fish. Most all of us don't eat them, just want to catch them!

[kwin]

OG MUDBONE,

I am in a small bass club in the Inland Empire and our club Secretary was talking with Kwin about the impacts of our bass fishing on the lake carrying capacity. Kwin said that bass fishing virtually has very little if any impact at all on the LMB population. His reasoning was that we practice catch & release and that during each spawn there are millions of fry hatched out. He said that if those fry don't get to +/- 6" in length before winter that they won't survive. He indicated that it takes about 2 years for a LMB to reach 12" in length. And at that length they pretty much eat all of the fry. He is a proponent of increasing the LMB limit from 2 @ 15" to 5 @ 12" to reduce the number of smaller fish that over feed the habitat.

With all of that being said, it is surprising how secretive everyone is about how they catch their fish. Most all of us don't eat them, just want to catch them!

Um, almost got it right.
Millions if not billions of fry are hatched out each year negating any need to close the fishery during the spawn (which was the response to the initial question posed to me). The regulating factor in fry survival is generally they have to transition away from eating bugs and plankton and get to around 6" before the onset of winter when aquatic weeds die off and the lake flips to avoid predation and have more/better feeding options. All of the fry are not eaten if there is adequate habitat, food and growth rates. Excessive catch and release and water fluctuations can alter these components in a negative manner independently or in aggregate.

Most of our lakes would benefit greatly from more selective harvest to improve growth rates so I am in favor of reverting Perris back to a 12"/5 fish bag limit to increase harvest there once the lake refills. I am targeting Perris for this change as that is how it was prior to the drawdown and for other species management plans within the lake.

[BassinPLS]

Kwin,

Thank you for clarifying my erroneous recollection of your discussion with my buddy. It had been sometime since he had shared your conversation with me and my "senior mind" had a little trouble stating it correctly.

Also, I want thank you for the service you provide to us anglers. It is greatly appreciated!