Marsh Creek Tournament

[MCHammer]

How did the tourny go today...........I fished the Tues. night tourny but was unable to fish today..........I'm concerned over the pressure this lake gets and was wondering if Tues. low amount of fished weighed in was a fluke..........It seemed like an awesome day to be on the water, I figure there should be some nice weights coming in, at least thats what I want to hear. Hope all that fished had a good day.

Thanks,
MCHammer

[senko de mylo]

There are way too many Tournaments on the Lake. These fish are being bombarded far too often. Don't get me wrong, the Tourneys are fun & a great way to monitor what the Lake is producing, but what good is it when so few fish are being caught & weighed in, does that not defeat the purpose? As for the early Tournaments, altho all the fish weighed in are released, the beds they are caught on are destroyed within minutes of being caught by the Bluegills, this tends to lead to fewer hatches & a decline in the Bass population.
Sure it's nice to have bragging rights & the money from winning a Tournament, but don't let the money diminish what this Lake is noted for- Great Bass Fishing!

[Midnitebasser]

First of all please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to start an argument, maybe a good debate though. If by early tournaments you mean the ones that are held in late March and early April, the bass are not spawning at that time of the year, bass generally spawn in May and early June when the season is closed. Also you will have a better survival rate during the early Tx's when the water is cool. During the summer I think they hold the Tx's to close together but I'm not sure there's anything anybody can do about that, here in the North Eastern part of the country summer time is tourney time. Another thing to consider is that lakes go through cycles where the fish population declines then rebounds, I think most lakes go through these cycles now and then weather there are Tx's being held there or not. I've seen other lakes that don't get near the fishing pressure that Marsh Creek gets go through good and not so good cycles. I think there is still a good bass population in Marsh Creek but they are getting harder to catch. JMO

[MCHammer]

One thing that is different this year compared to last year is the water clarity. Last year it was more stained, this year it's ultra clear. That will have a direct impact on the # of fish caught also. If you fish Raystown lake, You know it's easier to catch those fish in the upper end (stained) vs. the lower end (clear). My opinion is if you can't adjust your fishing method, or your just learning to fish find another body of water to fish. I like it tough as it will make us all better fisherman but can get discouraging to beginners.

The Marsh Creek Bass Club has done a tremendous job making this lake what it is. I think we all need to thank them personally for all their hard work. I've fished this lake before they adopted it and let me tell you, they made this lake what it is. Please pick up after yourself especially those who fish around the bridge. I can't wait for that solar light to get installed. THANK YOU MCBC.

HELP, I still cannot find any results from yesterday.

[Midnitebasser]

Results from Saturday (06/24/06) are posted on the tournament board.

[MCHammer]

Midnitebasser

Thanks........You make some valid points about lake life cycles, which all lakes do go through. Marsh Creek was not a great lake for keepers back in the early to late 90's. It has peaked the last few years and we hope that the work MCBC has done will prevent it from going into that low cycle sort of speak. There has been some things that worry us all that call this lake our home lake........pressure, more pressure and many tournaments. I wish there was a way to see all the tournament permits that are issued per body of water. PFBC could have a link or search engine on their site where we could see this. I think there has been as many as 3-5 tourney's a week on this lake during the Summer for 3 yrs now. I've talked to some very knowledgeable people with direct contact with the state that claim the lake is healthy which I do believe, but we usually find out there is an issue with a lake after the fact not during the decline, where it can be prevented. That is a fine line. I've caught many keepers in this lake this year, but I had to change up location and technique from what I've done previously.