Here in SC things are starting to get really rough as far as shortage of water goes here. Has anyone else noticed that the fish they are catching are smaller not in lenght but mainly in gurth due to what I think is lack of things like hoppers and ants. I also have had to start fishing much earlier in the morning or almost after dark to catch much of anything. I know here the heat is finally starting to give way but will this long term drought and prolong heat have an effect on fishing in the next couple of years. Or is it just the circle of life doing its thing. What can we do as concerned ffishers in order it insure that there are blue gill to be caught in the comming years. Yes I know that some of you will say that the blue gill is like a roach and will be here long after we have gone but the places I am fishing there are much fewer of the over the last couple of years.
Is it ethical to fish when mother nature already has so much pressure on them. Or is the best thing to do is thin them out so there will not be so much pressure?
yeah that drought has gotten really bad up here in VA too. the water level is down 15-20 feet at some lakes. the last couple times i went fishing i noticed that the fish were skinnier but i didnt make the connection that you did about it. We are finally getting some rain (today actually) and im hoping that it will restore some of the water at the lakes, but if the water stays down its the ideal time to go scouting youre lakes to find out where the fish will be when the water does come back. as for fishing during the drought, its really two sided. fishing right now COULD end up doing a lot of harm to the fish and say you catch one to small to keep, end up depleting their remaining energy and cause a lot to die. or it COULD actually be beneficial because youre getting arid of some so there will be more food to go around. (im talking about catching and keeping fish btw) i would NOT however catch and release because it WILL deplete their remaining energy and cause them to die and you would be killing a lot more fish for no good. so if you do go fishing and let a fish go, id say just handle it gently and SUPPORT THE FISH before it swims away so as not to add any more stress.
but this is all just what i think. i could be right or i could be wrong. just my 2 cents
I gave local fish over a month off during the worst of the drought. Now that we have had some rain, I am back with a fly rod. Note that the tailwater fish, in the tailwaters that were actually getting water, would still be fair game to my way of thinking. Even with that, I avoided fishing where there were trout to avoid stressing them in the period of heat and low DO. Ultimately, it is a personal choice unless water is closed officially.
During periods of low water in lakes, ponds and rivers a host of predators are hard at work 24/7 whittling down the fish population. Herons, egrets, raccoons, water snakes, osprey, eagles, hawks, owls – all these and more will take their fair share of fish from your local waters.
Once the water levels return to normal, I suppose you could re-stock your favorite spots with bluegill or whatever, if you have the means to do that job.
After the drought breaks, the great thing about returning water levels is that the shorelines and lake beds have had time to become densely overgrown with weeds, shrubs and tree saplings. That dense vegetation, once it gets submerged, provides outstanding habitat for baitfish and insects, which in turn promotes rapid growth of the recovering game fish population.
I’m sure sorry that the southeastern U.S. is suffering a drought. I’ve been through two bad droughts here in Kansas, and they’re no fun.
Our drought just ended with about 4 straight days of light rain. We are still down on rain total but this sure helped things a lot. Ponds and lakes are filling up but it will be a while before they are back to “normal”(whatever that is on a planet that is ever-changing)