I'm always hearing that the fish are dissappearing

[jimvanm]

Does MNR have stats on this? Are there big differences in fish populations since, say, 20 years ago?

Edited July 9, 2008 by LootBag

[jonnybass]

Good question. I would love to see some data pertaining to this very question.

 

I will say one thing though - It seems that older people always say that things were better back in the day. LOL

[oncogene]

part of it may be true... then i'm sure part of it is just selective memories Not that uncommon for ppl to remember somethings back then that were good/better, yet when finally having the chance to do/see/eat/try/etc again, it's actually not as good as remembered.

[BillM]

Personally I think people are remembering one good day they had, compared to a few bad days..

 

All of a sudden that combined with old age and the loss of long term memory turns into "Back in my day we'd catch a 100 fish in 2hrs!!!!!"

 

[Greencoachdog]

I'm not sure aboot the stats...

 

 

... but you can look at all the plates of cooked fish at the end of the reports on the board here and see where they're going!!!

[Billy Bob]

All lakes go through cycles on any species of fish they hold. You can have a couple banner years of crappie fishing because crappies had a good spawning conditions a few years ago. Then you get can get a few years of hardly any crappies. This holds true for bass, walleye (pickerel) pike, etc.............

 

One thing I have learned over the years you can count on: It is never as good as they say it is and it is never as bad as they say it is. AND you can count that this year's bite will not be like last year's bite. It is always different in one way or the other.

 

That's why it's called "fishing"

 

Bob

[JohnF]

All lakes go through cycles on any species of fish they hold. You can have a couple banner years of crappie fishing because crappies had a good spawning conditions a few years ago. Then you get can get a few years of hardly any crappies. This holds true for bass, walleye (pickerel) pike, etc.............

 

One thing I have learned over the years you can count on: It is never as good as they say it is and it is never as bad as they say it is. AND you can count that this year's bite will not be like last year's bite. It is always different in one way or the other.

 

I think you've pretty well hit the nail on the head. Fishermen are like anyone else, well - perhaps we tend to lie a bit more than average - and we do let ourselves fall victim to paradigms. If there were fish in a certain spot last year, then it'll be good again this year.

 

Some of us recognize that fish tend to move around slightly for whatever reasons seem to matter to them. For example, one particular area where I fish most of the time there are now no pike that I can see, yet I clearly remember seeing and catching pike there as a kid decades ago. Others have confirmed that memory so I know I'm not imagining it. To some who can't imagine simply moving to a new spot to try for pike, that might well be interpreted as a pike decline, even general decimation of the species. To me that just means the pike have a new locus, not that the pike population has declined. In fact, I was told just yesterday of a particular area where the pike are so numerous they've become a nuisance and the locals slit their throats before throwing them back, like gobies. I'm not interested in starting a rant about ethics etc, just mentioning an example.

 

There are a number of factors that have to be considered.

1. Fishing pressure - has there been a renewed interest in fishing of late?
   
2. Weather patterns - has our changing climate somehow affected the fish behaviours?
   
3. Conservation Authority activities - have all the new water controls altered fish habits?
   
4. Environmental Issues - have we crudded up our waterways so thoroughly that we've genetically altered the fish in them?
   
5. Cottage developments - have we disrupted the ecology of certain areas by developing areas for human habitation?
   

Seems reasonable to me that any or all of these could lead to changes in fish behaviour, possibly to a change in fish population as well. Probably only a well-planned province-wide fish census run by some organization like the MNR will really produce a factual analysis, and given how overtaxed the MNR resources appear to be, I'm not sure they can even be depended on for more than the odd localized survey.

 

So I doubt we'll know for a certainty any time in the near future whether fish stocks are generally in decline or not. Probably the best answers will come from folks just like us who might pool their respective observations and come up with a reasonable consensus. Another benefit of a board like this, not to revive that discussion either.

 

JF

[danbo]

In the old days most headwater creeks had BrookTrout. Some were stocked, as well as Rainbows like the Pine River,etc.

Numerous ponds used to be stocked by the Lands & Forests Dept.(now the MNR)

Now the trout aren't stocked anymore, unless a local Anglers Club gets involved.

I'm guessing Bass Tourneys are a mixed blessing too.

Water quality has deteriorated in some places. Pollution, lack of access to Private Property, etc.

Pacific Salmon stocking has put fish in an otherwise barren Lake Ontario. Invasive species,Cormorants,etc..we have really messed with nature.

Some places are better than they were, some are worse. Overall, we are still lucky to have what we do. So,Go get 'em, but take only what you need.

[MuddyWater]

the lack of fish these days is because of new technology. back in the day you would have a cheap sonar and a fibre glass rod and have to actually learn how to find fish. these days youve got lines and crazy rods that rarely let you loose a fish accurate sonars, underwater cameras, thousands of new baits and the internet. remember when you would go ice fishing and use a cheap paper map to find a shoal or weed bed then spend all day trying to find it and then finally find it and catch fish? now you just plug it into the gps and land right on the spot and pound the hell out of it. it use to be that the easiest part of fishing was reeling in the fish not anymore it seems. well thats my opinion...

[Billy Bob]

the lack of fish these days is because of new technology. back in the day you would have a cheap sonar and a fibre glass rod and have to actually learn how to find fish. these days youve got lines and crazy rods that rarely let you loose a fish accurate sonars, underwater cameras, thousands of new baits and the internet. remember when you would go ice fishing and use a cheap paper map to find a shoal or weed bed then spend all day trying to find it and then finally find it and catch fish? now you just plug it into the gps and land right on the spot and pound the hell out of it. it use to be that the easiest part of fishing was reeling in the fish not anymore it seems. well thats my opinion...

 

I think CATCH & RELEASE has balance the technology out

[jimvanm]

I think CATCH & RELEASE has balance the technology out

 

That's a good point. Catch and release has become the standard these days. Only keep what you'll eat. I think it used to be that people didn't worry as much whether the fish survived.

 

Which brings me back to another thread, about fish getting more conditioned. If more fish are being put back, those fish might be more reluctant to bite, whereas in times past, it didn't matter if a fish learned that a lure was bad because it seldom survived to benefit from the experience gained.

[lunkerbasshunter]

i think fishing is better then ever!!!!! Smallie fishing is amazing on most lakes in ontario. Walleye bite has been decent this year from reports i am seieng on here and hearing out on the water. Musky are healthy, and there are almost to many pike in most lakes.

 

There is actually less pressure now then 10 years ago. Check out the star articale from the fishing news section on this board.

 

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/449139

 

I would say that this article is pretty acurate. Which means less pressure, however it also means less money for the resources but the fishing has been great this year from what i have witnessed.

 

Cheers!

[MuddyWater]

like my dad always says. you know those lures that work very well for a while and then the fish just dont touch them after a while? keep those lures and wait ten years and use them again and wammo its back to normal again... only thing is that im 23 and i doubt i have a lure from 10 years ago that wasnt tossed into a tree or pile of rocks.... cant test his theories yet