Lakes that have gone downhill.

[bucktail]

We always talk about hot lakes but not usually about lakes where they have gone downhill.

 

I was thinkng of a favourite of mine Head lake near Norland. It used to be an awesome largemouth lake, I got my pb from that lake many years ago.

 

It seemed to start going downhill ( for largies )once the walleyes were introduced.

 

Not sure if it was the extra competion or the extra anglers that started coming but largemouth fishing really trailed off there. Funny part was the smallmouth population skyrocketed and we soon found typical largemouth spots with smallies on them. Smallies under wood on shorlines and shallow weeds.

 

the muskies must have liked this since it always stayed good for them. There they are Kawartha strain and top out in the mid 40 inch range.

 

Wondering if anyone else has a lake that they have seen change over the years.

 

Darren

[solopaddler]

Sadly I've seen it far too often. Every time a new logging road is opened to the public people swarm like locusts and lakes that were once difficult to access and full of fish become more or less sieved out.

[ehg]

We always talk about hot lakes but not usually about lakes where they have gone downhill.

 

I was thinkng of a favourite of mine Head lake near Norland. It used to be an awesome largemouth lake, I got my pb from that lake many years ago.

 

It seemed to start going downhill ( for largies )once the walleyes were introduced.

 

Not sure if it was the extra competion or the extra anglers that started coming but largemouth fishing really trailed off there. Funny part was the smallmouth population skyrocketed and we soon found typical largemouth spots with smallies on them. Smallies under wood on shorlines and shallow weeds.

 

the muskies must have liked this since it always stayed good for them. There they are Kawartha strain and top out in the mid 40 inch range.

 

Wondering if anyone else has a lake that they have seen change over the years.

 

Darren

 

 

Have fished Pigeon Lake for last 35 years or so as my parents had place up there.

I remember counting 80+ boats north end of Big Island jigging/drfting walleye back 30+years ago on a Saturday evening.

Now if there is half a dozen boats there it is incredible. People are usually jetskiing, wakeboarding/waterskiiing instead of fishing. The big difference up there has been zebra mussels clearing the water making smallies, muskies and other sight feeders more abundant and sending the walleye into depth of weeds for cover.

 

Head Lake is the weirdest lake. I have never caught a panfish there. When i first was there got skunked. Tried to catch a sunfish or rock bass to get something but to no avail. Have caught decent smallies and walleye there and saw a 48" musky caught there but no largemouth ever.

[Billy Bob]

Have fished Pigeon Lake for last 35 years or so as my parents had place up there.

The big difference up there has been zebra mussels clearing the water making smallies, muskies and other sight feeders more abundant and sending the walleye into depth of weeds for cover.

 

Over the many years of fishing I have seen several lakes evolve because of the zebra mussel... ....walleye fishing on Lake Erie has become a different animal because of the super clear water column, but the fish are still there in great numbers. Walleye fishing on Oneida Lake in central NYS is no where as good as it once was because of the zebra mussel...same can be said for Chautauqua Lake....

 

But one thing we must keep in mind.....some of those great fishing outings was maybe when Lake X was peaking.....the only thing you can take to the bank when comparing one year to the next is this "It's never as good as it was and it's never as bad as it was"

 

Good Luck Fishing,

Bob

[Harrison]

Crowe Lake. Was an amazing Musky and Largemouth fishery. Now it is a hammerhandle snot rocket farm. Largies are few and far between, but the smallies have exploded.

 

There are a few theories why, all I know is it is not the same.

 

Such is life.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Harrison

[manitoubass2]

Straw Lake. Man, we used to have fun fishing there especially for walleye. We could catch/release over 100 fish per day, in almost any weather. It was a fun spot too, so clear and you could watch fish take baits. It seemed that almost nobody fished this lake, even though there was easy access. Then it just died, we went every year hoping it would return to it's former self, but to no avail.

 

Now, 15 years later, it's drastically improved. My son went with grandpa this past weekend and they did great. He even managed two nice lakers, 4lbs and 6lbs respectively. His first two trout, and boy was he happy.

 

Rainy Lake as well, years ago after a massive invasion of cormerants over took the lake. It too has since recovered.

[EC1]

In my short fishing experience I don't think I've noticed any lakes that have gone downhill. I find that there are spots that seem to hold less and less fish because of the pressure it gets.

 

It's all about adapting to your lake, but if that fails, go to another lake and watch that one go downhill! lol.

[bushart]

Kinda surprised nobody mentioned Lake Nippissing or Moon River

[Fang]

Percy Reach by Campbellford

 

What an amazing bass, pike, musky and panfish body of water in through the 80's. I'll always remember the spring crappie trips and miles of bass slop. Unfortunately due to over harvest the panfish population crashed and thus the bigger fish populations dropped. I've been on several trips over the last few years, praying for a comeback but to no avail.

[Headhunter]

Kinda surprised nobody mentioned Lake Nippissing or Moon River

HH

[Rod Caster]

Nearly every natural speck lake south of new liskeard minus algonquin park.

[fishindevil]

most of ontario now has lake trout slot limits !!! haliburton,kawarthas they all have taken a tremendous hit fishing wise,i remember early 80's pigeon lake you could get 30 walleyes a day no problem,and regularly catch 20-30lb muskies,my grandparents owned riverside lodge in bobcaygeon i grew up there and guided as well.and there is no comparison in the fishing from then to now !!! i have several photo albums full of pics from my grandpas 30lb muskies that were caught and his clients would bvring home 100 walleyes a day !!! i would get 25 cents for every fish i cleaned !!! was my first job...... the fishing was awesome !!! so many lakes are now fished almost out rock bass are taking over lakes in bancroft area ,lack of predetors....it goes on and on....let the breeders go...

[johnnyb]

Are there more people fishing say, from 1990 - 2010 compared to 1960-1990? It seems that next to nobody practiced catch and release pre 1990....and it also seems that the fishing was SO much better when we look back. Is this just human nature to remember it better than it was? Are there that many more people fishing now? Did catch and release somehow make fish harder to catch and that's why numbers are lower?

 

 

My own opinion is that posession/size limits got changed a few years too late, and we will see a recovery.

 

 

[lew]

It seems that next to nobody practiced catch and release pre 1990

 

I've been fishing muskies close to 40 years johnny and the ONLY one I've ever kept was the 1st one I ever caught, waaaay back then.

 

At least I'VE been trying to do my bit not to wipe out a species

[blaque]

Walleye fishing on Oneida Lake in central NYS is no where as good as it once was because of the zebra mussel...same can be said for Chautauqua Lake....

 

Word.....Not that i mind a challenge, but it seems Ya gotta work alot harder at those Oneida eyes these days than in the past. And Chautaqua, forget about it.

[Harrison]

Word.....Not that i mind a challenge, but it seems Ya gotta work alot harder at those Oneida eyes these days than in the past. And Chautaqua, forget about it.

 

Word.. haha.. awesome. Sorry, nothing else to add.

[Billy Bob]

Word.....Not that i mind a challenge, but it seems Ya gotta work alot harder at those Oneida eyes these days than in the past. And Chautaqua, forget about it.

 

Blaque,

 

I talked to the DEC this year just prior to the NYS opener (was trying to find out if they closed the lake because of flooding) and was told the walleye population in Oneida is around 498,000 compared to 1 million in the 80's and early 90's....half as many fish in the pond means you catch about half as many each outing.

 

On Chautauqua...the DEC has made MANY MANY mistakes mismanaging this lake from walleyes to crappies....they never wanted walleyes in Chautauqua Lake and were removing the breeders (I personally witnessed this) years ago to hopefully increase the muskie population...the gross mismanagement of allowing Diaquot and then Aquathol K to be sprayed into the lake to kill weeds still gets my blood pressure up...

[OutdoorDan]

Lake Simcoe in the winter. Less than 10 years ago getting a limit of whitefish in half a day of fishing was pretty much guaranteed.

[richyb]

Canal lake by kirkfield. When my grandparents moved there 10 years ago you could go out for a couple of hours and sometimes have fish counts in the 20's. Now if you go out for a day you might get a couple of hits and even skunked sometimes.

[bigugli]

Some fisheries have seen amazing improvemts as well. By the late 70's, lakes like 6 Mile, Muskoka, and others in the region, had just about hit rock bottom.A good weekend was 1 or 2 respectable pike and a 1/2 dozen bass for the entire weekend. That was back when everyone still fished and kept most of what was caught. Thirty years later, the cottagers don't fish, and most anglers C&R There is a lot more boat traffic on weekends, so what. Hit those lakes during the week and enjoy some great fishing.

[trophyfish]

Some fisheries have seen amazing improvemts as well. By the late 70's, lakes like 6 Mile, Muskoka, and others in the region, had just about hit rock bottom.A good weekend was 1 or 2 respectable pike and a 1/2 dozen bass for the entire weekend. That was back when everyone still fished and kept most of what was caught. Thirty years later, the cottagers don't fish, and most anglers C&R There is a lot more boat traffic on weekends, so what. Hit those lakes during the week and enjoy some great fishing.

 

 

Binbrook slowly dying.

[livinisfishin]

Some fisheries have seen amazing improvemts as well. By the late 70's, lakes like 6 Mile, Muskoka, and others in the region, had just about hit rock bottom.A good weekend was 1 or 2 respectable pike and a 1/2 dozen bass for the entire weekend. That was back when everyone still fished and kept most of what was caught. Thirty years later, the cottagers don't fish, and most anglers C&R There is a lot more boat traffic on weekends, so what. Hit those lakes during the week and enjoy some great fishing.

 

The weekend traffic is probably a killer for me and one of a couple reasons I haven't been catching much this year. I should really try and get out there after work or take a couple days off.

[blue pickeral]

The policies of the MNR aren't helping, as far as I'm concerned. Our camp is on a small lake about .8 of a mile long and average 12 feet in depth. Someone bought a cabin there and started renting it out. There is another property for sale and rumour has it they want to buy this one to rent out as well.

 

In the past, renters who are just there for a week and don't care, have over fished, keeping every thing they catch. I have tried to ask MNR to declare the lake a catch and release lake only, but have been turned down as they want 'rules to be consistent' with various species and other lakes.

 

So according to them, there are no special circumstances that might apply to a particular lake in need of attention.

[blaque]

Blaque,

 

I talked to the DEC this year just prior to the NYS opener (was trying to find out if they closed the lake because of flooding) and was told the walleye population in Oneida is around 498,000 compared to 1 million in the 80's and early 90's....half as many fish in the pond means you catch about half as many each outing.

 

On Chautauqua...the DEC has made MANY MANY mistakes mismanaging this lake from walleyes to crappies....they never wanted walleyes in Chautauqua Lake and were removing the breeders (I personally witnessed this) years ago to hopefully increase the muskie population...the gross mismanagement of allowing Diaquot and then Aquathol K to be sprayed into the lake to kill weeds still gets my blood pressure up...

 

Really? Maybe the Cornell research group should put down the work on the sturgeon and get back to the bread and butter of that lake. THE WALLEYE!

 

As far as chautaqua......ive given up on that lake. Used to make a long weekend trip there for years and stopped going there years ago. The jet-skiers can have it lol

[Billy Bob]

Really? Maybe the Cornell research group should put down the work on the sturgeon and get back to the bread and butter of that lake. THE WALLEYE!

 

As far as chautaqua......ive given up on that lake. Used to make a long weekend trip there for years and stopped going there years ago. The jet-skiers can have it lol

Back in 1979 I built a cottage about 1 mile from Long Point State Park on 2.5 acres of land....had great deer hunting right on my own property.. The walleye fishing was VERY good and the crappie fishing was FANTASTIC...never used bait for the crappies....just my hand tied bucktail jigs....this year I caught 2 crappie in 4 trips there...

 

Now the Chautauqua Lake Cottage Assc, which are mostly rich residents from Ohio cut the weeds via permission from our DEC...gee where do you think the young of the year crappie hide.... .....I can't remember the last year I caught a walleye on that lake....and the fall walleye run in November use to be FANTASTIC..