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Post by LipRipper on Jul 18, 2005 13:13:01 GMT -5
Marsh Creek is not a large body of water and with 80% of the weeds gone I wonder how all these exposed bass will handle all the fishing tournaments that are being held at this fertile body of water. First off I will tell you I love fishing tournaments although I don't get the chance to fish many of them due to family commitments. I've been a member in the past with local Bass Clubs and plan on getting back into when the kid is out of sports. Point is, I am not against tournaments. Fact is, Those Tuesday night tournaments could hurt this lake just like Pinchot got hammered (tues. tourny) and look at that body of water compared to what it had been. With the weekend open tournaments about every weekend along with all the club tournaments being held, then add a tourny during the week. I see clubs coming from De. and NJ to hammer our fish. I am not picking on any bass clubs, I'm wondering how the commissioner can issue so many permits. There needs to be regulations to protect small body of waters. I have nothing but praise for what the Marsh Creek Bass Club has done for this lake and don't want all the work that they have put into this lake to help make it one of the best fisheries in the state get destroyed. I think we have to better police ourselves and our waters since the state doesn't seem able to. What happen to the weeds PA fish and Boat commision ? How many tournament permits have you issued for the Marsh and how many is too many? Another thing, clubs should have limits on how many permits they can get for one body of water. Let's us, as Bass Fisherman and clubs, truely do what we are suppose to, that is CONSERVE as it is written as a function for Bassmaster clubs. We cannot depend on the state, I would hate to find out that we have a destroyed fishery after the fact. We can do something about it if you truly care about this Lake. Just my opinion right or wrong. How do you fellow fisherman feel, have anyone else thought about this?
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Post by TomM on Jul 18, 2005 16:19:24 GMT -5
LR,
The fish commission does limit the number of tournaments on a particular body of water. I was a tournament director for a number of years and have had permits denied because there were already approved permits for the same days as my request.
But, that being said, go fishing on MC on a nice weekend during the off season. The place is jammed. I was fishing with my son this spring and a super nice day during the off season. We were fishing just down from the park office ramp and I counted 46 fishing boats, yes 46 and there were no tournaments. That number was only what I could see on the main lake, no telling how many were down each of the coves.
I think the fish will be fine. I think the fishermen might get a bit frustrated because the fish won't be in the usual places. MC has been getting lots of pressure for lots of years and it continues to produce and I believe it will continue to do so.
Tom
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Post by tunnels on Jul 19, 2005 5:05:52 GMT -5
Where do we draw the line as to who can fish and who cannot? It's difficult, in part, because of where we live. It's the most populated area in the state. I think most of the people would be out there whether there was a tourney or not. It's a great sport and offers something for the whole family. It can be frustrating for someone who does not fish tournaments, to pull up one day and find 40 boats at the ramp. Everyone purchased their license, everyone pays their taxes. Who doesn't fish their favorite spot that day? It makes no difference where you go, this area gets hammered. Lakes, streams, rivers or "cricks". They all get crowded.
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Post by Bob Dole on Jul 19, 2005 6:50:58 GMT -5
Did anyone ever think about closing down a lake like Marsh to fishing for a whole season to help grow the fishery? What if there was some type of a plan in place where all PA lakes were on this type of a rotation; every couple years each lake is off limits to fishing for one full year. Imagine what kind of fish we would be catching after all the fish had a year to grow and reproduce even more....
just a thought, what do you guys think?
bob
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Post by Midnitebasser on Jul 19, 2005 7:22:50 GMT -5
bob, that really wouldn't be practical and in my opinion it probably wouldn't help a lake like Marsh Creek, as a fishery I don't think Marsh Creek could get to much better. I'm sure there are lakes that would benefit from such a closing but would have to be closed for several years before it showed any real benefits. Closing a lake for one year would make fishing better for maybe one or two months and then it probably would return to the same as before the closing. On another note, if I were you I would not say that out loud around the boat ramp at Marsh Creek, you just might get yourself tar & feathered LOL, ;D ;D ;D any other opinions.
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Post by teb67gt on Jul 19, 2005 8:55:06 GMT -5
What about reducing the tournament pressure during the dog days of summer, when statistically, the mortality rate of released fish is increased due to higher water temperatures. Warmer water results in a greater bacteria count but also resuces the fishes ability to eliminate the lactic acid built up in its system from a fight. When this same fish is caugt too often, it's survival chances greatly diminish when the temps. are high. Just some food for thought....
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Angler13
Full Member
SELECT fish.lmBass FROM Fish WHERE fish.weight = "10lbs"
Posts: 69
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Post by Angler13 on Jul 19, 2005 10:27:25 GMT -5
Maybe we could pour some protein powder in the lake to make the fish HUGE
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Post by Bob Dole on Jul 19, 2005 10:38:28 GMT -5
Good point, just an idea. I am sure there would be so many people opposed to it I can't see it ever happening.
hehehe
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Post by TomM on Jul 20, 2005 4:15:18 GMT -5
Teb, I hear what you are saying, but consider this. The lake is frozen for 3 months, off season is for 3 months, if it's closed for 3 months because it's too hot, that only leaves us 3 months to fish. Might as well sell the boat and buy a motorcycle at that point.
Tom
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Post by teb67gt on Jul 20, 2005 7:21:25 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong...I have nothing against tournaments and know that the various clubs do a whole lot of good things for the lake(s) they use. Just when it is has been so oppressively hot for so long, I wonder how much stress the fish can take. Are tournaments weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, at MC?
BTW, I fished MC last night. There seemed to be plenty of weeds - no different than what I am used to seeing there, at least in the part I was fishing.
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Post by teb67gt on Jul 20, 2005 9:37:43 GMT -5
IMO, three months to tournament fish is not really that bad. If you think about it, many other things have a much shorter window than three months. I don't even get a month to rifle shoot deer, only one month for spring turkey, small game is just a month ( in the fall ) waterfowl is <60 days, you see my point? I am not saying to not fish, but 6 months of tournament fishing, with a minimum of 1 per week at a relatively small body of water, does seem like a lot. If a weekly tournament is run for 6 months, that is 26 events held...not counting any extra ones. Just seems like a lot, thats all.
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Post by SebSkie on Jul 20, 2005 10:14:48 GMT -5
Just my 2 cents..
You are comparing tournament fishing to hunting. The big difference is that we catch fish to release alive. Shooting a deer doesn't give much option to releasing it alive.
I don't think that tournament fishing is that bad on MC and will not effect the fishery as everyone thinks. If you go out on Marsh Creek on any summer weekend when there isn't a tournament on the lake you will see 40-60 boats fishing anyway. Most of the weekend guys that fish end up fishing for a meal. If you get 40-60 boats out there for a tournament, those boats will be responsible and do whatever it takes to keep the bass in great shape and be released alive. You might get 1-2 dead fish in a 100 fish weigh-in but if you have 40 boats out there fishing for a meal at 3 fish per person, you are talking about 50 or so dead fish..and i have seen it plenty of times when guys have stringer of bass hanging off their boat.
Yea I agree the tournament pressure can make the fish move and sometime harder to find. But also take in account that most of the tournament angler also do tons for the lake and are part of the reason the lake is fishing so well. Well that is my 2 cents whether you agree or not just wanted state my opinion
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Post by teb67gt on Jul 20, 2005 10:46:41 GMT -5
Unless you get bonus tags, you can only shoot one or 2 deer per season, so once you get it you are done. Same with turkey..when you are done you're done.With fishing, you can obviously elect not to keep fish and keep at it, but if enough are caught, invariably some will die. Whether it is brought home or floats on the top, a dead fish is a dead fish. I know a lot of lakes suffer greatly from the weekend crowd taking home a fair number of fish ( Chambers is a prime example IMO ), but most of the "serious" fishermen ( those that fall in the 10% catching 90% category ) are strict C+R people. So if that is true, than I would think that most of the people who catch the fish home actually do not keep them. I just think quality is better than quantity. Which would you prefer...one month of great fishing or 2 months of average fishing? Again, not trying to rant, but I've been fishing MC for + 25 years, and it just seems to be getting more and more pummelled over the past few years. I'm not saying it is even the tournaments that are being held there directly, as I know the lake benefits because of the clubs contributions. Whether the lake is actually better because of the contributions, when taking into accoutn the added pressue, is subject to debate. Perhaps this, along with the combination with the population growth in the area along with the developmental sprawl, is something to at least keep in mind as a potential concern down the road. I don't think any of us want to be posting about a downward slide in the quality of fishing there in the years to come. MC is my second home...esp. since the closing of Springton.
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Post by Midnitebasser on Jul 20, 2005 12:27:42 GMT -5
teb67gt, the lake is as good as it has ever been, I have to admit that I would like to see them spread the weekend tournaments out a little more so that they're not all right in a row. As for the Tuesday Night tournaments they're only 4 hours long on a week night when the lake is not that busy and the guys seem to be taking pretty good care of the fish. As with any body of water open to the public, when the fishing gets good everybody wants to fish there, just like land open to the public, when the hunting is good and the word gets out, that's where everybody wants to hunt. I'm not trying to be a smart a__ but it sounds more like you are complaining about the lake being crowded. If I'm wrong I apologize.
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Post by teb67gt on Jul 20, 2005 12:58:44 GMT -5
I have not complained about a blessed thing...merely pointed out concerns. The original post asked for opinions and it appears that I may have made a mistake by voicing mine. As for being crowded, I agree..of course it is public water and all...everyone has as much right to be there as I do...I never said that they didn't.
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