what is happening to lakes where all the catches are dinks?

[Darth-Baiter]

we have a beautiful lake here.  Lake Sonoma.  i hear stories of giant bass, but none for me.  i have been known to fist-pump in celebration a 2lb bass, in this lake.   i have NEVER landed anything bigger.  

 

think it is a biology problem?  stunted fish?  over population?  bad genetics?  i dont get it.  the lake is amazing.  clean.  deep, lots of cover.  

[TOXIC]

Normally, overpopulated and stunted if enough of them aren’t harvested.  The bad side effect of too much catch and release.

[softwateronly]

@Paul Roberts has a recent video about stunted fish.  I think that term has specific meanings that might or might not apply to that water.  As for your specific issues, there's only 2 likely options in my mind; they don't exist in any meaningful quantities and/or you're looking in the wrong spots/at the wrong times.  I wouldn't know how to help, other than consistent time on the water during prespawn/spawn when the big girls have to show themselves eventually.

 

scott

 

 

[thediscochef]

Probably a combo of the above, just a matter of what the forage will support and why. I do think that changing how we harvest/practice CnR would change a ton.

If you're hearing contemporary reports of big fish from your dink zone though...might not be an issue with the fishery but more about where/how you're on it. I know my home lake has giants but from the shore I can only really present to them properly 5-10 times a year if I'm lucky. Going on two years of good luck and I'm really dreading it when that dries up.

[a1712]

A local bank fishing lake we fish is like this, if you looked at the fish my Bud catches. The problem is, this is what he fishes for. He throws baits in areas to catch as many Bass as possible. I, on the other hand, fish the places I believe to hold good Bass. 

He'll definitely outfish me and catch 20 Bass at 15-6. I'll end an afternoon with 8 Bass for 28-6. Some like quantity over quality. Brian. 

[Swamp Girl]

There is a lovely, little pond near me that I fished once last year. I caught 15 bass in short order, but all were small, so I went deep and caught nothing. I asked a friend if she's fished it. She has, but she too only caught dinks. Another pond has a LOT of 16-17" fish. Rarely smaller. Rarely bigger. Then there are the ponds with a chance at five-pound fish. My point is that genetics rule. 

 

However, I also think culling smaller fish might help free up some forage for other fish to grow bigger.

[Captain Phil]

I live near the Ocala National Forest.  The forest is covered with small lakes, some of them are pretty remote.  The bass you catch from these small lakes are generally small with a 3-4 pound bass being a big fish.   This does not mean there aren't big fish in those lakes.  Doug Hannon, The Bass Professor, was one of the first fishermen to discover this.  Small lakes are also more easily affected by changes in the water,   I suspect there are big fish in your lake as well, but the small fish get to your bait first.  You might try fishing it at night.

[scaleface]

I've seen big bass come from over-populated lakes. Fillet a bunch those little ones , you will be helping the fishery.  

[J Francho]

There are a couple lakes where you have to fish prespawn if you want any size.  I don't know anyone that knows where they go in summer.  The rest of the year it is a dink fest, and those dinks are very aggressive.

[casts_by_fly]

First and foremost, what is the biologist report on the forage base?  Nothing to eat means no weight to the fish.  Second, what's the biologist report on that bass?  Some lakes just don't carry bigger fish for a variety of reasons.  Some lakes DO for a variety of reasons.  Incidental catches are just that- one-offs.  They are good to know that at least there are some bigger fish there, but a biologist sampling will give you a structured take on what's actually there.  

 

What about tournaments?  Are there some on the lake and what are they producing?  

[Bankc]

We have a lot of lakes like that around here.  On my local lake, I've never caught a bass over 3lbs.  Catching one over 2lbs isn't that common, maybe one in ten.  I'm sure there are some bigger bass in there somewhere, it's a big lake.  But I'd doubt anyone who told me they broke the 5lbs mark there in the last 10 years.  Not saying it's impossible, but definitely improbable.  

 

Oddly enough, the problem isn't overfishing or lack of culling.  While the more avid bass anglers don't typically keep their catch, there are a ton of minnow anglers who show up once or twice a year that do.  But not so many as to hurt the population.  There are plenty of bass in that lake, yet they're far short of being overpopulated.  

 

The real problem is it's a water reservoir, and the city sprays chemicals to keep the vegetation down (I know, right?).  That prevents a baitfish from gaining a strong foothold, as they have nowhere to hide (the lake is mostly a muddy, featureless bottom).  Combine that with the overpopulation of white bass and channel cats, and it's hard to find any fish in the 3-6" zone.  Which means that while there's plenty of food for smaller bass, there's not much for bigger bass.  A big bass will have to spend a lot of time chasing down small fry to keep its weight.  There's a decent population of crappie and redear sunfish, but they grow fast and most are too big for a 1-2lbs bass to eat.  So it's just hard for a bass to get over that 3lb. hump.  But if they somehow managed to get big enough to feed off larger crappie and sunfish, they'd probably do alright, as there wouldn't be much competition there for them.  

[Vilas15]

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

There is a lovely, little pond near me that I fished once last year. I caught 15 bass in short order, but all were small, so I went deep and caught nothing. I asked a friend if she's fished it. She has, but she too only caught dinks. Another pond has a LOT of 16-17" fish. Rarely smaller. Rarely bigger. Then there are the ponds with a chance at five-pound fish. My point is that genetics rule. 

 

However, I also think culling smaller fish might help free up some forage for other fish to grow bigger.

Are all of those ponds the same size with the same habitat, nutrient levels, available forage, water clarity, fishing pressure, and harvest? If so I'd say yeah thats genetics. Otherwise that's mostly on their environment. They're the same species and no way separate ponds have differentiated themselves enough to grow different sizes with the same inputs. Individual genetics will tell you why an individual bass in the pond grew faster than another in the same situation or why the florida strain is larger than the northern strain but that's as far as it goes in my eyes.

[Swamp Girl]

8 minutes ago, Vilas15 said:

Are all of those ponds the same size with the same habitat, nutrient levels, available forage, water clarity, fishing pressure, and harvest? If so I'd say yeah thats genetics. Otherwise that's mostly on their environment. They're the same species and no way separate ponds have differentiated themselves enough to grow different sizes with the same inputs. Individual genetics will tell you why an individual bass in the pond grew faster than another in the same situation or why the florida strain is larger than the northern strain but that's as far as it goes in my eyes.

 

The pond with the 16-17-inch fish are nearly all fat. However, all that good eatin' doesn't seem to stretch them any longer. That's why I'm thinking genetics...at least for that pond.

[J Francho]

18 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

The pond with the 16-17-inch fish are nearly all fat. However, all that good eatin' doesn't seem to stretch them any longer. That's why I'm thinking genetics...at least for that pond.

Fat short fish with small mouths are usually younger fish that were well fed. It's possible the fish you are catching aren't that old. Mouth size is a somewhat reliable indicator. 

[WRB]

Lake Sonoma is rated in the top 10 LMB bass lakes in California for quality size in the 4# to 6# range. With Clear Lake, Berryessa and California Delta as neighbors Sonoma gets over shadowed but 15 lb tournament limits are common. 

Sonoma Lake LMB Record 15.75#, bass over 8 lbs are rare.

Tom

[T-Billy]

My #1 lake has a reputation as a dink factory. It certainly lives up to the reputation, but it also has a good population of big fish. They don't come easy though. The lake is small, roughly 1100 acres, heavily pressured, and has lots of cover in the form of laydowns, large pad fields, and weeds that grow out to 15' deep or so. Best odds for the big girls are in the cold, after dark, or deep in the slop. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

in the cold, after dark, or deep in the slop. 

 

All of the above is aka Tim Country.

[T-Billy]

52 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

All of the above is aka Tim Country.

Works for me. I like being there when other people ain't, and pitching gnarly stuff is my favorite way to catch 'em. Something magical about night fishing as well. When your vision is limited, all your other senses are heightened. Plus you never know when a beaver or heron is gonna make you jump out of your shoes and pee in your pants a little. ?

[Swamp Girl]

30 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Works for me. I like being there when other people ain't, and pitching gnarly stuff is my favorite way to catch 'em. Something magical about night fishing as well. When your vision is limited, all your other senses are heightened. Plus you never know when a beaver or heron is gonna make you jump out of your shoes and pee in your pants a little. ?

 

I'd like to work up the courage to fish at night. How many lights and what kind do you use? 

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I'd like to work up the courage to fish at night. How many lights and what kind do you use? 

None unless I have to tie a lure on which is rare because I fish maybe 3 lures at night and keep one on each rod. Once your eyes adjust to the light you don’t need any and any lights you do use will distort your night vision for a while. 

[WRB]

Sonoma Lake is typical steep rocky sparse aquatic plant cover with newly flooded brush do to heavy rain run off rising the level drastically.

Both Clear Lake and the Delta have heavy aquatic plant growth, not Sonoma Lake.

Swim jigs with or without under spin, Senko’s, jigs, T-rigged worms, spinnerbaits, chatter baits, drop and slip shot soft plastics are go to presentations.

Tom

[Columbia Craw]

Prey to predator ratio is too low

[LrgmouthShad]

12 hours ago, scaleface said:

I've seen big bass come from over-populated lakes. Fillet a bunch those little ones , you will be helping the fishery.  

My PB is from an overpopulated lake. My previous biggest fish from the lake was no more than 2.5lbs. Seriously. 2.5. 

 

However, there were and still are  rumors of near-DD and DD bass that hang around there. 

[WRB]

Sonoma fishery is in balance prey to predator.

Catching juvenile size bass is fishing where they live in lieu of targeting adult size bass where they live.

Tom

[T-Billy]

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I'd like to work up the courage to fish at night. How many lights and what kind do you use? 

Just a head light for landing fish, tying knots etc. I also keep a good flashlight handy.