Stifler:
Maximizing Bass,Walleye,Perch,and Spiney Ray opportunities is what too many
self appointed Okie biologists have always had in mind. That's how our
lake fishing got in the sorry state it's in now.
Your goal of mazimizing opportunity for all types sounds nice, but it's simply not possible.Trout
fishing and Spiney Ray are pretty much mutually exclusive. That's why lakes are Rehabed in order
to reestablish a trout fishery without the horrendous cost of planting "Catchables" a brand of
trout that no one loves anyhow.
If you take a serious look/ study of the ecology of most of our lakes you will see that the
food chain and temperature regeme is not suitable to sustain viable populations of the
large preditor fish necessary to keep smaller spiney rays in balance. If it were we'd have the
same quality of spiney ray fishing as Georga or Texas for example.
So a pattern emerges that you can find repeated in many lakes that used to support fine
fishable popluations of trout.
The pattern is this: a few large Bass or Walleyes, NOT constituting a resource worth wasting the
lake for abd not capable of keeping the lake balanced,a huge stunted population of 2-5" bluegill,sunfish,etc.,and if any, a stunted population of trout that cannot compete with the spiney ray population or a put and take planter population that is sustained only at huge expense of liscense money.
If you read the F&G recent survey of spiney ray" infested"waters you will see this pattern repeated over and over except for a few waters where an adequate foodchain for a mixed species water exists,such as Silver, Banks,Sprague,'Sullivan Dam (Mar Don) that ones trout sustained by planting pen reared at great expense, and a few others.
In most trout fishermens opinion the lake is ruined. In most spiney ray fishermens opinion the lake
is ruined.The bass fisherman is a breed akin to Steelheaders and think it's great to spend all day fishing for one large Bass.
My comments about ruining the fishing down South were in jest. But I'll make ya a deal. I'll stop
badmouthing spiney ray fishing and gladly give ya the places where it works well if you start educating your own that it's not feasable to make every water in the state a spiney ray lake and
make it socially unacceptable for assholes to plant Smallmouth Bass in the greatest remaining
trout flyfishing lake in the state....Chopaka, and every other small lake they feel they would like
to have hold bass and bluegills.