The chu

[elevatorman]

Couple small rats to start out

[LENZ]

throw the dinks/rats into the woods
burp

[elevatorman]

throw the dinks/rats into the woods
burp

Lol we released them .

[Bass to mouth]

Elevator was that you with 2 others as I was walking out you were moving to a new spot. I said they didnt want metal and you got one on metal first cast?

[elevatorman]

That was us .that was my buddy you talked to I was in fullcamo . Picked up another one up on the move.

[taxid]

Lakers look like they aren't getting enough to eat. Are the smelt still available to them? Smelt will go in up and down cycles and lakers have been known to wipe them out during one of those down cycles in some bodies of water. Some states monitor the smelt and if they are down will try and bolster their populations by planting smelt eggs.

[elevatorman]

They are frail 

[CMD1987]

Lakers were fat 3-4 years ago. Skinny now. As you said, it is cyclical. Lots of rats will starve to death soon giving survivors the chance to fatten up again. Definitely in a down swing at the moment

[taxid]

Lakers were fat 3-4 years ago. Skinny now. As you said, it is cyclical. Lots of rats will starve to death soon giving survivors the chance to fatten up again. Definitely in a down swing at the moment

No effort by the state to bolster the coldwater forage base? I know some other New England states, and near me the state of Michigan does. Smelt are extremely important to landlocked salmon.

A lake in my state had a healthy population of smelt and cisco until the state planted lake trout. The lake trout most likely effectively wiped them out. State refuses to let us replant smelt at no cost to the state. Says they're an exotic species and will prey on the native fish eggs. But still plants rainbow and brown trout, which are exotic. Also the idea that smelt will eat bluegill, bass, yellow perch, and northern pike eggs has no merit scientifically. None of those species make up much of a fishery in the chain of lakes and other than northern pike and yellow perch, the smelt could not tolerate water temps when those fish are spawning. Can you picture a smelt in water in the 70's? And yellow perch eggs are repulsive to predators due to the gelatinous matrix.

[CMD1987]

No effort by the state to bolster the coldwater forage base? I know some other New England states, and near me the state of Michigan does. Smelt are extremely important to landlocked salmon.

A lake in my state had a healthy population of smelt and cisco until the state planted lake trout. The lake trout most likely effectively wiped them out. State refuses to let us replant smelt at no cost to the state. Says they're an exotic species and will prey on the native fish eggs. But still plants rainbow and brown trout, which are exotic. Also the idea that smelt will eat bluegill, bass, yellow perch, and northern pike eggs has no merit scientifically. None of those species make up much of a fishery in the chain of lakes and other than northern pike and yellow perch, the smelt could not tolerate water temps when those fish are spawning. Can you picture a smelt in water in the 70's. And yellow perch eggs are repulsive to predators due to the gelatinous matrix.

MA does next to nothing to improve fishing other than trout stocking. Sucks. Is planting smelt eggs an option?! why hasn’t this happened yet!!

[CMD1987]

I would add however that salmon are more plentifful now than ever. There were a couple small stockings. But there is a lot of natural reproduction - more than ever I believe. They are eating something.

Literally millions of banded killifish in there. An underestimated forage fish. Also plentiful crawfish (fat smallies).

My best guess is that there are simply way too many lakers. Start keeping the smaller ones people!

[elevatorman]

We did manage this bigger one

[CMD1987]

We did manage this bigger one

Nice opening day laker!

Got a seven pounder last year (C&R).
I know of two eleven pounders and two 30 inches caught last year. So it is definitely possible to get a nice one.

[taxid]

MA does next to nothing to improve fishing other than trout stocking. Sucks. Is planting smelt eggs an option?! why hasn’t this happened yet!!

Sounds familiar.

Planting eggs is an option along with fry.

Here's a source in Maine that can be shipped FedEx. He's listed as a baitstore, but he sells smelt fry to agencies and groups that get approval. At least he used to.

https://harmonbrookfarm.com

[CMD1987]

Sounds familiar.

Planting eggs is an option along with fry.

Here's a source in Maine that can be shipped FedEx. He's listed as a baitstore, but he sells smelt fry to agencies and groups that get approval. At least he used to.

https://harmonbrookfarm.com

Might be something worth harassing dcr over. Thanks for the information, I will keep it for further use.