HB2

I have tendonitis in my elbow for the last 6 weeks from all the kings I landed . No joke .

Yeah , that would go over in this lake real big . The lake trout are a huge success story . they use to grow faster in LO than any place in the world . The savior of the day many times for me and a lot others including charters . Even when king numbers were we high. So they put a bunch of Lakers in and there Is pushback because they will eat all the bait . Now we have to keep all the Steelhead to keep the bait population from exploding . Trib guys want bigger steelhead . And as a guy that does both , me too ! DEC put forth a plan to try and do it . I say let them try .

And why do they stock less? Because the bottom of the food chain is less and can't sustain the bait fish population to sustain the amount of stocks that once was and maintain the size of fish we want . See Michigan. Took 25 years to straighten that out . But you know that .

One of the problems , if you can call it that , is we have become too good at catching these fish . There are less fish than there,were 30 years ago but we know the when / where / what of how to get them . Trib wise , a,pin outfit in the right hands is deadly . Those fish C&R have a high percentage of survival . Look at the boats and equipment we have now . But some of the long line methods used are not conducive for C&R . Hook a fish on a rigger and you can get him in the boat fast . Dipsey , lead core or copper , not so much . They are supper or seagulls treats . The DEC has a tough job of balance to provide a,good sustainable fishery to all that demand it . I don't envy them . I'm not going to be an armchair quarterback considering the fishery I love and live for . And how great it is . Also , as I recall didn't they say at the state of the lake that when they changed the trib limit on steelhead that numbers improved ? And that's their reasoning for the proposed change , thinking the same thing will happen ?

Unfortunately there are a lot of financial interests in this fishery . That is what drives it . We all love to go but it All comes down to dollars and cents . I'm sure when it's time to divvy up funding the higher ups in the DEC have to justify what they are asking for . That's where the politics come in . Representatives from the LO shoreline counties fight for that funding to continue or improve the fishery to maintain the flow of licence sales ,yes out of state, and sales tax revenues . And an awfully lot of that is from trib guys . The Pulaski region would be dead without it . Every bridge on Sandy has a bunch of out of state plates parked . I'm sure the Oak , 18 mile the Salmon and every major trib is similar . I hate it, and we all know what's going on down there , but it's a good thing . A necessary evil . Back when the whirling disease was going on , Ron at Orleans. OUTDOORS said guys were staying home because there were no fish in the creek . And he was feeling it . The DEC is charged with making sure the fishery is good . Their jobs kind of depend on it . I can't believe these guys are making a knee jerk decision on this . From what I hear from the state of the lake meeting and other stuff , they seem pretty smart about the fishery to me .

If not for the DEC , we would not have this amazing fishery we now have .we would be fishing for bass and pike . It's their job to manage it . So I say let them do it . They have maybe made some not so good decisions in the past but this fishery is less than 50 years old . So there is learning curve for them . And the lakes ecosystem has changed dramatically in that time . They don't a great job . And I appreciate their efforts.

I seem to recall somebody on here saying we would make a great 51 st state . Now who was that ?

As I said , great fishing under less than ideal circumstances . Courtesy of the DEC. But I must say I have landed 2 nicesteelhead this past week . On hen maybe 11# . One nice buck maybe 13# about 15 minutes ago .

Considering the fact that we have had spectacular fishing the past few years , and many more under less than ideal circumstances, I do trust them . Especially when many on here were MFing them for amounts of stocks etc. And it seems to me from my personal experience , steelhead numbers are down on amounts and size .and have been for years . So let them try and fix that . 1 less fish to take seems like a small price to pay for bigger and more fish later on. It's not like the Steelhead or any of these fish other than Lakers , are exclusive to lake or trib . Everyone has a chance at them sometime during the year . And if the Senator , if that's who still owns,it can get guys to pay 20 k to have brandy ,( I personally like bourbon ) and cigars a catch a fish or two , God bless him .

I will miss this place My go to for hard to find items But all good things must sometime end I wish him well

Was there a pay off on this ? Do tell .

I thought that the new limits were to be up to 2 ft higher and 1 ft lower . So what's the fear of letting to much water out ? After all ,this will help the wetlands and lake ecosystem. Which was why 2014 was passed in the first place . I wonder how much more revenue has come from the higher water levels from the hydro power ? I also would like to know if the maximum amount of water is being released now as it is higher than normal for this time of year . This would be a,good indicator of them being serious about the situation.

At the DEC state of the lake meeting last year I listened to on line the DEC stated in an attempt to increase the Steelhead average size that this Reg change would be a good option . We have a world class fishery . And the DEC are the ones mostly responsible for it . So if they feel this will help , I say go for it .

I went thru this same thing I had a 12 ft row boat / 5 horse . Nice boat but a pain to put in and out of the truck and set up each time When I started going to the ADKs I got a square stern and put the 5 on that . Nice but small and unstable to stand up and fish which is what I like . I lucked into a 16 ft side console w/ 35 horse and love it . Easy to trailer and best you don't have to hand launch the boat car top and put the motor on and off . Which takes a lot of time and effort . I see a lot of 14 or 16 ft tillers for sale on Craig's list for not a lot of money . I love my 16 . It tows easy and goes on and off easy .