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Post by vancleaver on Sept 4, 2017 16:44:41 GMT -5
No it wasn't Tequila; just a quick trip to Chambers. Place was more crowded than I've ever seen it; which was hardly surprising considering the weather and the fact it was Labor Day; late morning. Sunny with a breeze, and the water temp is dropping for sure with the cool spell we are in now. My usual close spots were all taken so I just waded out to the left of the dock and flung a Trout Magnet for about an hour. Landed around six gills with two being large enough to fillet. (all released) Also a small but well marked crappie. Not too bad considering the boat traffic. Talked to one yak fisher who did well on medium bass early on.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2017 12:49:55 GMT -5
I have not fished Chambers in over two months or so now; simply because that lake is receiving a ridiculous amount of traffic these days. It was never like that before (or rarely); but this year has been awful down there. I certainly had some good days on the lake but to go there now it's just crazy. Folks complain about BM and MC being so crowded; Chambers is really no different with it's small size and huge amount of boats on any given Saturday or Sunday. Give it another year or so; that lake will suffer from all of the pressure on it and it will take years for it to come back again.
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Post by duratechfa on Sept 11, 2017 21:25:09 GMT -5
I live a stone's throw from the lake and I used to love it. I used to fish it all the time. I have only been there twice this year and the fishing was sub-par, lake was packed and the ramp was a zoo. Such a shame
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Post by vancleaver on Sept 12, 2017 8:28:13 GMT -5
I moved back to Cheater Co. a little over a year ago and now live less than ten min. from the lake. Previously, I watched them fill Marsh Creek and used to fish it frequently but the numerous articles, the internet, and just the sheer volume of fishermen (maybe fish harvesting would be more appropriate) have reduced that lake to a shadow of it's former glory. The fact is we live in the most heavily populated area of the state and that is only going to get worse.
Personally I feel the pan fish limits are ridiculous(50)and even the Enhancement regs only serve to crop whole year classes of fish imo. Not a lot to be done about the crowding, but I find myself driving a lot more to find lakes that aren't getting pounded. Sadly the one thing that will really help the actual fisheries is more anglers being aware of their effect on them; in particular regarding the harvesting of prime breeders. Unfortunately I realize I'm preaching to the choir for the most part, and trolls looking for "the bite" so they can call all their buds and fill stringers will likely pay no attention.
Meanwhile, I will fish when I can and avoid the prime times and maybe even take a few pan fish for dinner when the water cools a little more. That said I'm already thinking about ice fishing. Tight lines!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 13:05:24 GMT -5
Good to see that I am not the only one that see's this down at Chambers. I used to LOVE that lake; I still might if I could ever get out there during the week. But as far as the weekends I will probably stay away until at least late Fall once the hunter's are off the lake and doing their thing. I'll keep putting up with the traffic at Blue Marsh since it's a little closer to my home and I can run the big motor there. Plus at BM you can always find a part of the lake that isn't crowded. I would imagine in another year or so Chambers will start to clear out though once the fish stop biting and folks have poor success there; and it will happen. Or once someone reports a great catch elsewhere; then everyone will head to that location. The worst thing ever for Marsh Creek was the article in the Lancaster Newspaper a couple of years back where they reported it was one of the State's top bass lakes for numbers and size.....it was pretty downhill after that (huge amounts of traffic). Somewhere along the line someone must have been too nice and started reporting good success at Chambers which brought all the people down there. I have had great success there for a number of years but always tried to keep at least a bit hush-hush about it. I don't mind sharing some information from time to time but I certainly do not reveal everything as some folks do.
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Post by icemole on Sept 12, 2017 18:41:30 GMT -5
Every lake in Pa has felt the affects over overharvest and misguided PFBC management. Van we are both hardcore ice guys but our fellow ice guys are among the worst I'm sorry to say. Gary you want to see pressure Ontelaunee after 3-5years(early 80's) of being written up in Outdoor Life/Field+Stream and Sports Afield(the "internet" back then) about the great ice fishing. It was nothing to see 500+ guys all fishing the Peters Creek area on weekends. Which sadly is the major spawning area for the lake --- Guess how poor the fishing is now!
None of the lakes I fish on a regular basis are anything like they were in the 80's(strangely before C+R became popular - still not popular on the ice although it's getting better). Big Bass regulations tend to promote numbers of sub legal fish(Hopewell, Kearcher, Leaser[middle fill-up], Chambers. Mauch Chunk and probably a few others) with few over legal size. Great if you want to catch little guys all day that barely fight back ! Yes you can find a big girl on a bed in the spring(the dumbest thing the PFBC ever did IMO). It does seem to work at lakes like BM... BUT don't forget that BM gets stocked with bass every year that have grown in the Izzack Walton League pond. ALL other lakes get minimal bass stockings from the PFBC(including BM). But even so there are not lots of dinks over there either - poor water quality/too much competition from alewives or both.
Panfish enhancement culls out the fish you want in the lake to do the spawning. A prime example of this was up at Bald Eagle State Park. Crappies were restricted to over 9" to harvest. Guys were catching hundreds of 8+3/4" fish but few over 9". So the PFBC changed the regs. up there last year. But instead of doing it right and allowing X number of fish under 9" to be harvested and only allowing 1 "trophy" fish over 9" - they split the difference you can keep X under and X over(Not sure what the limit is without looking - I think it is 10 of each)
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Post by vancleaver on Sept 12, 2017 20:22:13 GMT -5
Never been a fan of Pan fish enhancement regs. and have stated that in other forums because as icemole pointed out it often leads to harvesting a huge percentage of a particular year class of fish. Also agree that on the whole ice fisherman are among the worst when it comes to over harvesting. That said, the anglers that line the rip rap at the bridge on Little Conestoga (Marsh Creek) in the spring would give ice fisherman a run for their money. We can't count on the PFBC to protect our fisheries so we are stuck trying to preach c+r or selective harvest; often falling on deaf ears. Sadly, the only real alternative is to find quality private lakes; which fortune has allowed me to access a couple. There was a study done several years ago on a major bay of one of the great lakes. They reduced the limit on yellow perch incrementally finally down to 10 per day. Took around four years to show a real come back. Double the Pan fish enhancement limit; just saying....
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