Did there used to be more fish in rivers???

[LittlePineyAngler]

A question I personally do not have the answer to, but I want to share a theory that my grandpa truly believes. My grandpa has told me several of his old fishing stories. In most of those stories he tells me how they could easily catch 20-30 goggle eye in a day. Making countless trips myself I found that grandpa may have just been telling me a tale, or just lack of fishing ability on my part. Discussing this with him one day he tells me that he believe that "back in the day" when everyone had a prop motor on the river they generally ran the middle of the river. He explained that he believes now that Jet motors are the new thing boats are able to run closer to the bank in more shallow water. Where in the spring those areas are where these fish are on there beds. When the jet travels too closely to these beds it could cause the eggs to be blown or scattered, and maybe causing less fish being able to be born. I Would really like some other input on this theory, Is it even possible? Could it really effect the fish beds? 

[tomustang]

It is true that was a jet motor you can run in shallow water than you can with the propped motor, but that still doesn't make a jet motor the best option for driving too close to the bank, there's more vegetation there and would get sucked up by the jet drive.

[Scott F]

There were a lot fewer motors of any kind on the rivers back in the day. Jet boats don't just cause problems during the spawn. The wake they kick up when traveling at speed cause bank erosion. It makes the rivers wider and shallower than they once were. That extra dirt and sediment in the water causes extra layers of silt to collect in the eddies and covers up the gravel and bedding areas where bass want to spawn. The wakes also make it difficult for aquatic vegetation to grow. The destruction of the habitat lowers the amount of fish the river can support

[flyfisher]

how may jet boats do you see on the river?  I know i still see props way outnumber them.  I would also argue that a jet boat on plane gives much less of a wake than a prop boat so the bank erosion piece i don't believe to be accurate.

More people in any type of craft or wading will reduce the number of fish being caught but that doesn't always mean that there are less fish  
 

[Florida Cracker2]

Well on the river I live on (Caloosahatchee) the fishing is better than it was 30 yrs ago. Back then 90% of the boaters were fishing and now 90% are skiing or joy-riding. Lots of jetski's now. Also there were many more places for people to fish from shore (cane pole fisherman). A fish didn't stand much of a chance. I still get skunked...but I catch a nice one more frequently than I did then.

[LittlePineyAngler]

where im from i would say that 9 out of 10 boats on the river is a jet. and usually the prop boats you see are the 12ft jons with little 5hp props. I cant say that i have ever seen a prop motor much bigger than that on the river where im from. 

and to add to my last comment it could be very different in other places. I've grew up on one river so its hard to say what others are like. I do wish that i got to experience the river the way my grandpa has explained it be back in the day. 

[WRB]

There used to be more rivers before dams were biult to provide flood control, water storage, power and recreation. 

To claim jet powered boats are more damaging then propeller powered boats is simply naive. Boating in general can cause a river problems with wakes damaging banks, however boats don't create flooding, the major cause to river habitate environmental change, along with pollution and invasive fish and aquatic species.

Rock bass are extremely robust fish that are difficult to eradicate from fisheries where they are unwanted. If there populations are down, so are others in  sunfish family like smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. My guess is a very few anglers target Rock bass, they are very easy to catch using night crawlers, occasionally caught on smaller lures by anglers targeting other species.

Tom

[Scott F]

Just now, WRB said:

There used to be more rivers before dams were biult to provide flood control, water storage, power and recreation. 

To claim jet powered boats are more damaging then propeller powered boats is simply naive. Boating in general can cause a river problems with wakes damaging banks, however boats don't create flooding, the major cause to river habitate environmental change, along with pollution.

Rock bass are extremely robust fish that are difficult to eradicate from fisheries where they are unwanted. If there populations are down, so are others in  sunfish family like smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. My guess is a very few anglers target Rock bass, they are very easy to catch using night crawlers.

Tom

Missouri (and other states) have a good number of jets boats running in rivers too shallow for propeller driven motors. The wake from these boats is causing the damage. Nobody said the wake from prop boats don't do damage. The jet boats are going where no power boats ever went before.

[LittlePineyAngler]

I agree with you Scott F. something i never thought about when i first got a boat. Running up from gasconade into the mouth of big piney river it is much more shallow river. Sometimes the only options are running right along the bank. Some may say these boats cant do it but ive taken my boat through places not much wider than my boat. on the smaller rivers of course. Prop or jet. IF you are running a boat where these fish spawn it could a problem for these fish. Not saying jet boats or props are the only cause. But could be one of the many problems. 

[Airman4754]

I used to have a sled for a long time. On step I could run it in about 6" of water. 

Having said all that growing up in rivers, you would have to run an absolutely absurd number of boats on a river to compare with what a solid five days of rain does to the banks. 

Think about this in terms of common sense. You run by in your boat and a few 2' waves hit the shore. If you're in current it's even less and if you're in rapids it's zero. 

Now compare that to 300-500cfm on every inch of that bank, moving at a faster speed than normal 24/7. Boats aren't the problem. 30+ years of rain and high water is why your river is different. 

Pour a bunch of spices on a cutting board, now splash some water on it. Now just stick it under the faucet. See the complete and obvious difference?