Islamorada King

Anyone who tells you that the water quality in the lake hasn't deteriorated is full of sh*t. There are definitely not the browns or rainbows in the lake that there used to be because of the high phosphate and nitrogen levels in the lake. I understand that OWL is placing a buoy in the mouth of Dutch Hollow Brook to monitor the phosphate levels coming in to the lake. There are numerous dairy farms that surround Dutch Hollow and most believe it is the biggest contributor of phosphates into the lake. The stream fishing used to be incredible in the spring, however, now you'd be lucky to catch a rainbow by using dynamite. The watershed inspector that was hired (to the tune of $60k a year) to monitor water quality has done little to nothing in the last 4 or so years to curb the issues contributing to the decline in the lake. Pretty much all she wants to do is harass people who build homes along the lake and nothing to the farmers who spread tons of manure who are the real culprits behind a lake that is mostly dead.

Andy, Please don't put words in my mouth. I don't have an issue with trolling per-se all I was doing is pointing out a fact that trolling in general means a high mortality rate for caught fish. Plain and simple.

I guess you guys must have guilty consciences because I wasn't thinking of either of you when I wrote my post but so be it. As I said before trolling in general creates high mortality rates for fish. While I certainly agree that conservation is a good thing I sometimes have to question what the motive is behind it.

Rshubuck, I appreciate your concern about being a new poster here which I am only because I never felt compelled to respond to a post before. Generally, the banter is good with some good tips and suggestions about lures but for me, personally, figuring out what fish are biting on is half the fun. I am sure you are right about these guys (guides) being decent guys but I guess I find it a bit hypocritical is all since trolling in general has a high mortality rate on all species of fish especially during the summer months when people fish the thermocline and take fish in much deeper water. I just didn't agree with the pontificating some were doing as to how to fish especially since guides and their customers probably account for the most fish take on the finger lakes. There's a huge difference between keeping a few for the grill and keeping 6-12 fish per outing.

What's amazing to me about this post is that you have several guides more worried about themselves then sportsmen in general. How many fish do the guides and their clients keep over the course of a year? If the state stipulates that 18 inch LLs are legal than so be it. What right does anyone have on this forum telling someone else how to fish so long as the person is abiding by the rules and regulations? In addition I find it humorous that someone from out of state would actually admit they keep fish solely to give it away to friends, neighbors etc.