Cybassman

Many fish are still alive there (bass, carp, roach, mullet, tilapia, etc)but it is next to impossible to rescue them. The area around the water is full of deep mad. The fisheries department tried to use nets but again there are many obstacles in the water making the use of nets impossible to use. I believe that the mistake the fisheries dept did was not to try to save some fish when there was more water and they could use boats. Now it is too late. And being August with such high temperatures, most (if not all) of the fish will die before the rain comes.

Next one... See the fish? It is what is left from a 3-pound bass. There are fish scattered everywhere :'(.

Another one....

Bass fishing in Cyprus is almost history. Most bass lakes have been destroyed by the government officials in an efford to persuade people that we have a water shortage problem and make money from desalination plants and importing water from Greece using vessels. In 2004 all but one of our dams were overspilling (the only one not overspilling was about one meter below its max capacity). The water would be enough to last for approx 7 years without any rain at all. Since then we had 3 years of almost normal rain and 1 year (last winter) of really low rainfall. We have 8 large reservoirs of which 5 are almost empty and thousands of dead fish creating an unbearable smell. The biggest dam (Kouris) has only 1 million cubic meters of water our of the 115 capacity. In 2004 it was overspilling for the first time in its history. The other 2 are in a somewhat better position with about 10-20 % of their capacity. Yermasogia dam, my favorite lake was one of our best places. It offered superb bass fishing. I have great memories from fishing there including my personal bass record and an unforgettable fishing day of catching 92 bass in 5 hours. Unfortunately the lake was sacrificed for the reasons explained above. Out of the approx. 220 acres and 100 ft deep lake, there is now a small pond of about 0.5 of an acre and max 3-4 feet depth. See the photos below.

Good job Lavrakos! A day to remember

Beautiful fish my friend. Well done!! I don't have the time to go fishing myself lately, but at least it is good to see that there are still some beauties left in our "little" dams. Again, bravo! Waiting for the next one!

We had some rain the last couple of days but it does not change anything. We need a lot of rain. The government has already imposed running water restrictions. We have running water for 8 hours every 48 hours. The situation is tragic. We have to import water from another country (possibly Greece) if we are to have enough to go thru summer. As far as the lakes are concerned... what lakes? Most of them are little ponds. And the "fish collectors" are taking care of whatever fish are left in them. :'( :'( :'( Anyway, I hope you enjoy your holidays here (and don't worry about the water in the hotel. There are no restrictions for tourists. Just use it sensibly please).

Are there any fish left in that puddle? The oxygen levels must be real low. It really is a shame! Suprisingly, yes, the remaining fish seem to be healthy in this particular dam. Many fish were killed by the "fish collectors" we mentioned earlier (maybe in this case they did us a favour), but the ones left in it are healthy and are our only hope for the future. Of course being winter, the water is still cold. I believe though that they will not survive the coming summer with air temperatures in the range of 100-110 degrees F and strong sunshine. The deepest point I could measure is about 15ft.:'(

The surroundings are green. The forest is not affected by the drough. This is normal for the island. We can have 3-5 years of low rain and then 1-2 rainy years. The dams are used for water storage only. the real problem is bad water management. In the beginning of 2005 we had all our dams full (best year in the last 20 years). The water should have been enough to last for 6-7 years. It was all bad water management from the government. Or was done on purpose for somebody to get another 3 licences for desalination plants and sell water to the rest of us. In other words a crime was committed !!! > By the way, this is what the dam looked like in 2005:

The following photo shows what is left from Dhypotamos dam (one of our best bass dams). It was taken by Cybasser during a recent flight to Athens. Water storage 0.8%. Most of our big dams are like this one. :'(

I hope you catch it soon. You just need to be patient. Everybody talks about the one that got away . It will just make you happier when finally the time comes that it does not get away !

Good job Lavrakos. The one I caught had a strong green colour (and a small size ;D - less than a 1lb !!!). At least they are healthy despite the bad conditions in our dams.

Beautiful fish!! I have to agree with you MaxDal. Bass have a protective layer of slime. It protects them from germs and bacteria. This layer can easily be removed by touching the fish let alone placing it on the ground. The chances of a bass dying from infection are considerably increased unless it is handled properly. If you are going to release the fish, then you do not want it to die in a few days from infection. Always hold it from the jaw and not the gills and don't let it touch the ground, especially during the hot days of summer.

[quote author=537F661E0 link=1123079176/70#73 date=1204366591

Don't worry my friend, there is no misunderstanding here. Just let me explain how the situation goes. Until a couple of years ago, catch & release was something unknown to us. As I said earlier, not many Cypriots fish for bass. Imagine how it was 6 or 7 years ago. I remember going to the dams often for fishing and not seeing a single soul for hours. I believe that appart from a group of friends (me, Cybasser, Charis, Michalis, George) and a few visitors, nobody else was fishing for bass. Catching and removing bass from the lakes was not a problem at all. The lakes were overpopulated with bass. The real problem begun in 2005. The water level started dropping dramatically and the officials were not doing anything to support the lakes. Even then, bass was not in any real danger. The government started emptying two of our big dams for unknown reasons (I believe they did it to build desalination plants and get rich selling water). The last two years the water level has been very low. We are now in the 4th year of almost no rain (it rains about once every month during the winter period - imagine that!) and although we have 2 desalination plants (and another 3 on the way), we are facing a huge water shortage. All those foreigners we mentioned earlier are fishing every day killing thousands of fish. In the mean time bass fishing is becoming more and more popular here. So you see, catch & release is now becoming essential for the future of our freshwater fishing. That is if there will still be any fish left after the next hot summer.