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Post by lazydrifter on Jul 13, 2015 20:47:30 GMT -5
For those of you that missed it the Roanoke Times had a recent article about the affect the musky have been having on the smallmouth population (link at the bottom). I have heard a lot of griping about musky at the landings this year and it seems you either love them or hate them. According to the article Big Z is on the hate train and that may explain why his musky lure selection was extremely weak. In my opinion the river is having an off year and it is causing a lot of people to question musky as the culprit. One thing I have noticed this year is the lack of bluegill in the river. Most years I have to fight them off my poppers but not this year. Roanoke Times Musky article |
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Post by uncross on Jul 13, 2015 22:23:59 GMT -5
Everyone has an opinion. I seem to listen more to the biological studies. they did a population study last year, and compared to the same study years ago, they concluded that the musky were not having a negative impact on the small mouth. The last few years I have been throwing larger baits trying to focus on size and not numbers of bass. last year was by far my best year for small mouth, in 20 years or so fishing the new. 4 over 20 and a few more close. There are lots of reasons in my opinion why sometimes it's tough. I would say fishing pressure has to be up there near the top, I have noticed a lot more people out fishing the areas I fish. Most of my big fish last year on nasty rainy days when hardly anyone else was out on the river.
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Post by rob0w on Jul 14, 2015 11:20:19 GMT -5
I'm obviously a big fan of the muskie. I think it something that really makes the New so special. I also can't tell you "how good the fishing was 20 years ago", but someone at the boat ramp will. I have only fished the New for the last 10 years and the first 7 were for smallies and the last 3 for muskie. I felt like the smallie fishing was really good when I was after those. Go to Parrot, catch a ton of fish, rinse and repeat. Most people in the area know and do that. I personally think that is the biggest reason people aren't catching as many fish. Their favorite spots aren't a secret anymore. Not to mention the guide/rental businesses on every stretch of the New. There are a ton of reasons why people don't catch fish. I think blaming another fish is easier than blaming fisherman. Just last week I saw two teenagers sling a smallie off of their line because they didn't want to touch it.
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Post by hokiefisherman on Jul 14, 2015 12:37:58 GMT -5
I personally have been working in the lab identifying stomach contents of both Smallmouth Bass and Muskie, and have to say that the statement claiming they eat the same thing is not true... The have minimal overlap Smallmouth Bass have diets comprised mostly of Madtoms, Crayfish, and a few "shiners" whereas the muskie are mostly eating Rockbass, shiners, shad, suckers, and a few sunfish.
Like Jeff said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and although I'm not saying they don't eat Smallmouth, because our study has shown that they do, it's not a primary staple in their diet. I've seen Flatheads in the James take swipes at 18 in Smallmouth, and Smallmouth eat other Smallmouth. In my opinion when you have a predator whether native or introduced they are going to eat what's available to them, but will show a preference towards prey that's easiest for them to target. I believe the increase in fishing pressure is more to blame than the "musky predation"
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Post by lazydrifter on Jul 14, 2015 20:40:18 GMT -5
Great stuff guys I agree the science shows otherwise. I love reading the studies they are very informative, but the ones I have read all took stomach samples from November to May which is the time of year that the smallmouth are not as evenly distributed through the river as they migrate to and from their wintering holes. All of the reports I have found online so far are from 2005-2008. Does anyone know if the 2013 report they were working on is available?
As for the fishing pressure I agree it is affecting everything in the river and does not look to be letting up. I have never seen so many kayaks on the river as we did on Saturday. Every time I turned around there were large groups. The outfitters were raking in the money that day. It will be interesting to see if the new slot limit will help bring the citation count up over the next few years. How many of you guys actually register your citations? I never have but I have caught a few that qualified. Maybe the catch and release mentality that is spreading is also causing the citation number to drop.
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Post by uncross on Jul 14, 2015 21:05:24 GMT -5
I have never registered a Citation fish either.
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Post by rebelyaker on Jul 14, 2015 21:12:11 GMT -5
Last year it was 20 Inches, I caught 4 Over 20 last year. I was told all you need is a measurement and and pic for proof for a citation.
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Post by hokiefisherman on Jul 14, 2015 21:16:13 GMT -5
Great stuff guys I agree the science shows otherwise. I love reading the studies they are very informative, but the ones I have read all took stomach samples from November to May which is the time of year that the smallmouth are not as evenly distributed through the river as they migrate to and from their wintering holes. All of the reports I have found online so far are from 2005-2008. Does anyone know if the 2013 report they were working on is available? As for the fishing pressure I agree it is affecting everything in the river and does not look to be letting up. I have never seen so many kayaks on the river as we did on Saturday. Every time I turned around there were large groups. The outfitters were raking in the money that day. It will be interesting to see if the new slot limit will help bring the citation count up over the next few years. How many of you guys actually register your citations? I never have but I have caught a few that qualified. Maybe the catch and release mentality that is spreading is also causing the citation number to drop. The recent samples that I referenced earlier were ones we just got done looking for both smallmouth and musky came from the same time during the 2014 New River depletion sampling. I usually register my first citation for a species and only register others if they are bigger. Otherwise I just take a picture and frame it (pictures look cooler anyways). |
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Post by hokiefisherman on Jul 14, 2015 21:16:56 GMT -5
Last year it was 20 Inches, I caught 4 Over 20 last year. I was told all you need is a measurement and and pic for proof for a citation. You don't need a picture if you have a witness |
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Post by rebelyaker on Jul 14, 2015 21:28:18 GMT -5
Last year it was 20 Inches, I caught 4 Over 20 last year. I was told all you need is a measurement and and pic for proof for a citation. You don't need a picture if you have a witness I thought I saw that in the paper work but couldn't remember. I was going to fill it out one day but never did. |
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Post by bigd7400 on Jul 15, 2015 7:47:12 GMT -5
If musky were that bad then up north where they are native and widespread in a lot of lakes they wouldnt have the great smallmouth fisheries they enjoy. Lake of the Woods produces 5lb smallies and 50" musky daily. I think pressure in general is to blame for tough fishing and not just fishing pressure. There has to be an impact when hundreds of boats float over fish in clear water spooking them and making them less apt to bite. Kayaking and canoeing has boomed in popularity putting more human presence in the fishes territory so there has to be some negative impact to that not just the fact more folks are casting lures.
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