fishinguypat Posted November 16, 2009 Report Posted November 16, 2009 have you knoticed the fisheries on these lakes are getting worse...i know one in particular that has huge boat trafic in summer and too much fishing and the lake is too small to sustain it all... but the lake is closed basically half the year now because of this...and there is only a 3 month period for catching bass give your thoughts on this topic and how regulations may need to be tightened...what do you think?
splashhopper Posted November 16, 2009 Report Posted November 16, 2009 have you knoticed the fisheries on these lakes are getting worse...i know one in particular that has huge boat trafic in summer and too much fishing and the lake is too small to sustain it all... but the lake is closed basically half the year now because of this...and there is only a 3 month period for catching bass give your thoughts on this topic and how regulations may need to be tightened...what do you think? i think it has to be taken on a lake by lake case... The conservation area in your neck of the woods that i went to this summer was over run with power boats seedoo's. Maybe some kind of "power sharing" strategy could be tried... ie... let the and paddlers and electric motors have the water on even numbered days and the motors have it on odd days.... don't know
fishinguypat Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Posted November 16, 2009 shutting it down half the year will regenerate the walleye fishery though
jediangler Posted November 16, 2009 Report Posted November 16, 2009 All conservation areas should be "No Gas Motors" and ice-fishing should be banned or every second year if the lake can support it.
bbog Posted November 16, 2009 Report Posted November 16, 2009 All conservation areas should be "No Gas Motors" ..... Would be nice to have a few places to go where a quiet paddle is possible.
timmeh Posted November 16, 2009 Report Posted November 16, 2009 (edited) The problem with conservation areas is that they provide easy access to fishing for the masses. And unfortunately when you get a mass of people you get the bad apples too. I would love to see the conservation areas have some power to enforce fishing regs on their own waters. If they're only dealing with fishing they wouldn't need to carry firearms and wouldn't require the amount of training a CO would. I realize the CA's don't have the money to support full time positions to this, but even if a couple staff were trained and given the power to hand out tickets for fishing violations they could monitor what's going on during busy times. And splashoppers observations are right on the money. There are a few areas around KW that are completely overrun by personal watercraft. And I've seen some people driving incredibly stupid considering the small lakes they're in. Edited November 16, 2009 by timmeh
Cookslav Posted November 17, 2009 Report Posted November 17, 2009 (edited) The issue is a bit more complicated in most cases... Most of these conservation areas are funded by Lease fee's paid by the cottage owners, and boat launch fee's The staffing, maintence of the roads, parks, Dams all come from the revenues paid. They also turn profit for the GRCA to help fund other projects be it a stream restoration, trout stocking etc.... You name it, thats were the Lion's share of the dough comes from. It would be a tough sell to the cottage owners if you attempted to tell them their families can no longer use their boats and Jet Ski's, and winter fishing is now off limits... Dont' get me wrong I'd like to see the traffic slow down a bit but its a more complicated then cutting off the Gas motors to appease people Wanting to fish the lake, when the people complaining don't own realestate on the lake...know what I mean? Some of these areas became conservation areas by default.... Most of the dams were built as Flood control dams, which in turn made a lake, which in turn made an opportuntiy for a revenue stream And along came the cottages and parks. The idea of these lakes being conservation area's came along after the fact. (in some cases) One thing to note though, And don't take this the wrong way, I'm actually trying to help a bit. Fishing on these lakes in not actually that bad...you may be fishing it wrong. The lakes your talking about have MASSIVE fluctuations in depth and temperature being resevoirs... This leaves the fish a bit spooked, and as I'm sure you know the Structure is there one day, then gone the next, weed beds are few and far between, and can dry up in low water, or be under 4' of water the next day. Shore Structure is limited to willows that by July are usualy no longer in the water, and Stumps/Trees are almost non exsitent. The bottoms are usualy Gravel or Silty, with little to no humps outside of origional river beds, and the odd sunken hill. Throw in the the boat traffic and of course the fishing can get VERY quiet... Try reading up a bit on resevoir fishing as its quiet different then hammering your average lake due to the variables always changing. You have to learn all over LOL! Anyway It helped me. Just my $0.02 Edited November 17, 2009 by Cookslav
blaque Posted November 17, 2009 Report Posted November 17, 2009 Theres a small lake in my area south of Buffalo with MANY cottages and each one has like 2 pontoon boats and 2 jetskis. Its amazing there isnt more accidents. I dont know how people trust throwing their kid on a tube behind the boat on this lake lol. They dump the kid and hes gotta be fearing for his life bobbing there till his boat comes back around to get him. But closer to the point of this thread........if you go to launch a boat there on weekends, they will charge you 25 dollars to launch to deter you from wanting to do so and increasing boat traffic. Unless you are a fishing vessel. They dont mind the guys going to float around and wet a line...........they just dont want anymore pleasure crafts zipping around the lake, its THAT BUSY! Im not sure who determines what is a fishing vessel and what isnt.
Garry2Rs Posted November 17, 2009 Report Posted November 17, 2009 Hi fishinguypat; You said, in your post, the lake can't sustain the fishing pressure, the answer is therefore self-evident...get rid of that pressure! The first thing you could do to improve the fishing is ask the Conservation Authority to make this lake Catch-and-Release only. People will only listen if there is something in it for them. Therefore to gain support be sure to point out that by doing this the lake could be left "open" for a longer period of time thus generating more revenue. More access to these waters would benefit both the non-fishing boaters and the fishermen. Everybody wins, even the fish-eaters...because it's far cheaper to buy fish-for-food at the Supermarket...GRIN. Garry2Rs
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now