01-06-2013, 06:23 PM
Your Wrong Your experience at Henrys amounts to what? Maybe a 100 hours and that's if you fished 20 days 5hrs per day. IDFGs survey results taken from the ice last year amounted to over 100,000 hours. IDFGs 100,000 hours of angling data says ice fishing had an almost 0% effect on the total fish population and a 0% effect on the amount of trophy fish in the lake. As tempting as it may be to look at your own experience and make a solid judgment its almost meaningless.
The amount of trophy fish in the lake has been slipping since the early 1950s.
INFO taken directly from IDFG
Average length of a 4 year old cutthroat in Henrys Lake
1950 20"
1977 18.6"
1986 17.2"
1994 16"
The average length continues to decline.
Clearly Ice Fishing is not the problem. The Lake had 0 ice fishing hours during the years above yet the size of fish continued to decline. Again you can argue with solid data all you want but IT DOES NOT LIE.
I dont KNOW why people are not seeing trophy fish like they used to but if I had to GUESS. I would say its a combination of water quality issues and over harvest due to increased pressure and land development. Anything we anglers with very little data suggest as a reason is just a GUESS. Nothing more.
I fished Henrys maybe 20 times this year including my time on the ice. Only saw or heard of three fish over 5lbs pulled out in my direct circle. Only one of these fish was through the ice and I didn't even see it. Just saw a pic which I've posted below.
Do not guess and assume ice fishing is killing all your big fish. Its not and its going to ruin all the ice fishing opportunities for all of us on Henrys. There is enough pressure to shut it down already. Cmon!
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The amount of trophy fish in the lake has been slipping since the early 1950s.
INFO taken directly from IDFG
Average length of a 4 year old cutthroat in Henrys Lake
1950 20"
1977 18.6"
1986 17.2"
1994 16"
The average length continues to decline.
Clearly Ice Fishing is not the problem. The Lake had 0 ice fishing hours during the years above yet the size of fish continued to decline. Again you can argue with solid data all you want but IT DOES NOT LIE.
I dont KNOW why people are not seeing trophy fish like they used to but if I had to GUESS. I would say its a combination of water quality issues and over harvest due to increased pressure and land development. Anything we anglers with very little data suggest as a reason is just a GUESS. Nothing more.
I fished Henrys maybe 20 times this year including my time on the ice. Only saw or heard of three fish over 5lbs pulled out in my direct circle. Only one of these fish was through the ice and I didn't even see it. Just saw a pic which I've posted below.
Do not guess and assume ice fishing is killing all your big fish. Its not and its going to ruin all the ice fishing opportunities for all of us on Henrys. There is enough pressure to shut it down already. Cmon!
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