06-08-2015, 05:00 PM
Years ago I had a long conversation with Del Canty. He has done controlled studies for years on harvest effect on lakes & reservoirs.
If only the largest fish are kept by anglers, then the size of the general population will diminish. I know this seems obvious for a number of reasons but my fingers don't have the ability to review all we talked about. If the pan sized fish are kept, then the size and overall health of fish will improve, dramatically over just a few years.
The recent gill net studies at flaming gorge seem to validate this. People have been encouraged to release the larger fish and keep the pups for the grill. It is complex but it works.
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If only the largest fish are kept by anglers, then the size of the general population will diminish. I know this seems obvious for a number of reasons but my fingers don't have the ability to review all we talked about. If the pan sized fish are kept, then the size and overall health of fish will improve, dramatically over just a few years.
The recent gill net studies at flaming gorge seem to validate this. People have been encouraged to release the larger fish and keep the pups for the grill. It is complex but it works.
[signature]