i fish a lake that was completely emptied about 2 or 3 years ago.... before they emptied it, you could normally catch 30-40 fish per day, and the average would be 3-4# with a couple 5# in the mix.... i went last weekend, and we got 74 fish, but the biggest one was 2#, the rest of them we didnt even bother weighting them....

 

so, im not sure if there arent any big, or at least medium sized fish in the lake, or its just so crowded with small fish that they are the first ones to bite....

 

how would you target the bigger fish?? im going again this weekend, and i know i can catch small fish all day, but i would like to focus on bigger ones even if i catch less.... we were throwing T rigged 5" senkos and creatures to the shore, which was about 8' deep....

I couldn't dream of catching that many fish in one day at any of the lakes around here... Sounds like a great fisherey

If I catch 5 fish around here in a day I'm a happy camper.

Were all the fish removed or killed when the lake was drained? If they started over by stocking fry or fingerlings, there would not be any larger fish in there yet.

Were all the fish removed or killed when the lake was drained? If they started over by stocking fry or fingerlings, there would not be any larger fish in there yet.

Ditto

If it was completely devoid of fish just 2-3 yrs ago and then re stocked, kinda surprised you have any 2# fish in the there let alone any thing bigger. Give it time.

Mike

Yea your lucky to have 2 pounders!!

it was drained by accident, they opened the dam and couldnt close it, it got stuck or broken, and by the time it was fixed, the water, and fish, were all gone... its a small lake, maybe 5 miles long and on some parts its only about 50 yards wide, its like a canyon....  

 

when they finally closed the dam, it filled with water in maybe 3 weeks, as the lake is always flowing, not much water but steadily... so i think the lake kept some of the fish, im not sure if they restock it or not, if they did its not known to the public.... 

 

so now i noticed an increase in numbers, but a decrease in quality... i know this was going to happen, and hopefully in 2 years or so it will be great again, but now, im struggling trying to catch anything over 2#.... or maybe there arent any around to be caught??

30-40 fish that average in the 3-4 pound range??? When they emptied the lake did the relocate the Locnese monster and heard of wild unicorns beforehand??

^^ he is in mexico.....  the promised land.....

A couple of things. One thing that gets me, and I am sure many of the northern guys- how do you know that you caught 74 fish? Do you really sit there and keep tack all day= seems tedious, but I am very jealous.

 

Additionally, 74 fish on senkos seems extremely expensive if your using GYCB.

 

Lastly, to target bigger fish throw A big Swimsbait. Savage or Hudd, and stick with it all day and wait for that one bite.

There may have been some deeper holes that didn't drain upstream from the dam and those were the source of the current bass population via a spawn. The predominate year class will be the 2012 / 2013 year class that you are now catching. If the lake has good prey to predator ratio, the bass can grow about 1 lb a year after reaching about 2 lbs. 2 to 3 more years and it could be back to where it was. The few brood stock adult bass could still be there!

Tom

30-40 fish that average in the 3-4 pound range??? When they emptied the lake did the relocate the Locnese monster and heard of wild unicorns beforehand??

 

you dont have to believe me, thats totally fine... these are some of the fish we caught in there, these two were caught within 5 minutes... 

A couple of things. One thing that gets me, and I am sure many of the northern guys- how do you know that you caught 74 fish? Do you really sit there and keep tack all day= seems tedious, but I am very jealous.

 

Additionally, 74 fish on senkos seems extremely expensive if your using GYCB.

 

Lastly, to target bigger fish throw A big Swimsbait. Savage or Hudd, and stick with it all day and wait for that one bite.

 

normally we dont keep the count, but these time we put $10 each on the pot, 5 to the biggest fish, and 5 to the most fish... i caught 31 and won that one, my friend caught the biggest one...  there were 4 of us in the boat BTW...

 

and i spent only one bag of GY senkos, the rest of my fish came out of senko-like lures from another brand... 

 

and im going again this weekend, ill try the swimbait and see what i can get....

 

 

repost...

just for the sake of it, here are 3 screenshots of my facebook album from a one day outing... too many pics to upload individually... that was some years ago, when we began fishing and yes, we took pics of basically every fish we caught.... 

The drainage pond at a mini mall had dinks. The wife was feeding them while at the gym. Four years later they were 2 and 3lbers. I havent been there in many years but I'll bet there bigger now. There is a healthy supply of panfish.

There may have been some deeper holes that didn't drain upstream from the dam and those were the source of the current bass population via a spawn. The predominate year class will be the 2012 / 2013 year class that you are now catching. If the lake has good prey to predator ratio, the bass can grow about 1 lb a year after reaching about 2 lbs. 2 to 3 more years and it could be back to where it was. The few brood stock adult bass could still be there!

Tom

 

hopefully!! i didnt know how much they can grow per year, hopefully in a couple of years we will begin to see 5# fish again...  meanwhile ill try to target the few 2-3# that may be in there... or enjoy catching numbers instead of size, which is algo good....