Fishing Prospects for 2020
Hi;
I have been fishing, snorkeling, and scuba diving the lake for over 55 years(all species). With that number of years, I have seen a lot of changes...most, not good ones. The rapid(last 5-6 years) down-turn of both the Smallmouth and the Salmon fishery is tragic. Believe me, I know my craft.
My preferred method of fishing is drifted, or "slow-trolled" smelt or shiners .
I have had days where me and a buddy have caught and released close to 25 Salmon in 4-5 hours. One day in Center Harbor we caught and released 28 Salmon. we could only use 1 rod each. We had 3 "double-headers". For the last 5 years, we average, only, 1-3 per day. This year we have fished almost every day, so far, we are averaging 1-2 day. The 2 Lakers that we caught were both "Grossly" misshaped. The tails were bent....they looked like snakes.
I used to get all my "crayfish", for Smallmouth bass bait, amongst the many shore-line rocks. Well, there are, almost no crayfish anymore. As a result, the bass fishery is, also, way off. This was their prime food. The size of the bass that are left, is much smaller, and far fewer than past years.
I am heart-broken. I was hoping to spend the rest of my life fishing the big lake, I no longer keep any fish, and have developed the quickest, and most effective methods to "safely" release all my fish. Yes, I use that 8" plastic red hook disgorger" for deeply hooked fish. It takes practice to use it, but I can release over 80% of caught fish with no bleeding or damage.
The pics, attached, were taken when the fishing was better.
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