Oroville

[CBoat]

Most likely I missed the boat with this subject and you are all aware of this. I just found out last month as I was watching fisherman after fisherman cleaning what I thought was undersized fish. You all should know that the slot limits for the following lakes have been removed and now you can kill any fish over 12 inches... And people are doing this at an alarming rate. In the 3 days I was there, there was a lot of fish killed. If what I saw happens daily on these lakes, it is likely within a short few years, the great spotted bass fishing at Oroville will end.

Lake Oroville, McClure Reservoir, Millerton Reservoir, Orr Lake and Siskiyou Lake.

See the article below and please help me send letters. I sent one off to director@wildlife.ca.gov

We really need this changed back asap. If we stick together, we can possibly make it happen. Oh and if I am missing something please let me know. Maybe it will not be as bad I am forecasting but I saw at one launch ramp in a one hour period for 3 days in a row roughly 25 spotted bass killed per day per in that one hour as I was loading the boat. Multiply this by numerous fishing days, you get a slaughter house. I don't think it will take long to notice a significant decline.

http://www.norcalfishingnews.com/storie ... kes?id=770

Love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

[mm]

DFG says theres lots of em in all these lakes and need thinned out and the reason for changing the size limit is because people weren`t taking fish smaller than 12" and can`t catch the fish over 15".
Can`t say I blame them.....have you ever tried to have a fish dinner with 11" fish? Afive fish limit of those little guys wont`t feed a family of four.
We`ll find out what effect it has in a few years. Maybe it will be good.

[Larry Hemphill]

Actually - that may be good news. Deep canyon lakes like Oroville and Shasta are the perfect lakes for spotted bass as they spawn deeper while the survival rate of the young is amazing. One can't pick them off beds very easily. They were largemouth and smallmouth lakes in the beginning years. These two species did fairly well unless there was a drastic drawdown of water during the spawn. I saw that happen about 20-30 years ago at Oroville. One week largemouth were bedding, next week, nests were dry. Lost most of the largemouth spawn. Since that can't happen with spots - there are zillions of them now. And - do they ever eat!! Ever heard of a 60 to 100 fish day of largemouth?? You will with spots. Why is Clear Lake the largemouth capital of the west and #2 in the country in spite of 364 tournaments a year? (I don't think there is one on Christmas Day - I could be wrong). Natural habitat and 3 to 5 foot average water level change per year. The other loser in many of our favorite lakes is the smallmouth. I watched the smallies disappear at Oroville, Collins, Bullards Bar, and I guess to some degree - Shasta. However, the flatland lakes like Berryessa and Folsom do continue to support the smallie population pretty well. Finally, how many large spotted bass do you hear about at Oroville? Shasta does produce some nice ones. Oroville has produced only 4 spotted bass for clients and myself in the 4 1/2 to near 5 lb range, and three of those were at night. Tournaments usually do produce a few nice ones in the spring. Collins Lake however has produced about 12 or 13 spots from 5 to 7 lbs for clients and myself and 3 from 7.1 to 7 1/2 lbs. They aren't over populated because the lake doesn't feature steep walls and very deep water. And now, the issue of cover. When Oroville was filled in 1968, all the trees in the coves were either flooded or cut down and chained to their roots. The state did a fabulous job that lasted for years. Now - most of that is gone and so are most of the largemouth - except at the north end. In 1994, I caught a 10 1/4 lb largemouth in a late afternoon trip to Oroville and felt like King for a day!!! Those were and are - rare. My second final thought is this - reducing the population of spotted bass somewhat will enable future anglers to hold a fat 4, 5, or 6 lb spotted bass for a great photo! Isn't that better than a photo of two 15 inchers?? Just some thots!

[g-man]

Oroville needs harvesting of the little guys...

[CBoat]

Actually I find that for every 10 fish caught and we do catch a lot of fish in Oroville, most of the fish are in the slot and about 10% are over ( roughly ). But this ratio I find depends if you are fun fishing for numbers like I do most of the time or fishing for larger fish hence the ratio would be higher but the numbers would be less. Nevertheless, the question will be if you are able to keep all fish over 12 inches, what will it look like down the road. It would seem to me at the rate that people are now keeping fish, it can't possibly be better. We will see much smaller fish and likely less bigger fish too as very few will now be given a chance to reach even 15 inches like before. I believe this is a bad decision and the lake will pay for it and so will we.

In regards to the comment about 11" fish, I am no sure there will be much difference between an 11" fish and a 12" fish. It is much better to keep a 15" + fish as you get at least 2 smalls fillets out of it. So this argument actually supports the 15" limit.

Again, the lake was not broken, it didn't need to be fixed. It is a lovely place to catch a lot of fish and over the day of fishing, you will also catch some larger ones to. I tend to catch at least one spot in the 19" range every time I am up there and several at 15" to 17" range and this is great.

The only reason it was changed was because of a 30 year law that expired and now they want it at 12" so that, and this is a direct quote... "to streamline regulations". I really don't think DFG should be making these kind major decisions for a reason like this... Read it yourself. This was the only reason I could find...