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woodchip1

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Thompson lake
« on: Jul 14, 2019, 10:47 AM »
hompson Lake: Fish and Wildlife Taking a bunch of Salmon and Togue  (Read 64 times)

 BomoBrown
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Thompson Lake: Fish and Wildlife Taking a bunch of Salmon and Togue
« on: Jul 13, 2019, 04:35 PM »

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I get to Thompson Lake every summer for about one week.  I live and fish in VT the the rest of the year.   A couple of days ago my son and I took the canoe over to the Outpost and on the way noticed several red balls floating in the lake.  On the way back we saw Fish and Wildlife pulling them up.  Connecting the balls were long nets loaded with salmon and the random togue, a lot of salmon

We got back to the camp and watched them continue to harvest the fish.  When they caught any other fish they threw it back but they didn't seem to make it after having been in a net that long.

Some kayakers paddled over and asked what was going on, and they replied they were taking the fish for research.   

To my eyes that was way too many fish for research, and I am guessing they want less fish so those in the lake can get bigger.  It doesn't feel right to me.  Especially when I know you can not harvest salmon through the ice on Thompson Lake.  The little bit I have been able to fish it in the winter the bite is hot.

It seems if they want less salmon in the lake let ice fisherman harvest salmon.  If they want a lot gone really relax the limits.   I am okay with limits but if they are going to pull a bunch with out angling, let us do that work for them.   It also seems like a waste of tax dollars to send F&W out to do the work that we would love to do for free.

In the end it doesn't feel good.  Please reply and help me understand what I am missing and why this is a good thing.

I also wonder if this is a difference between those of us who harvest the fish and those who mount.   I love a lunker but I prefer a meal.

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 woodchip
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Re: Thompson Lake: Fish and Wildlife Taking a bunch of Salmon and Togue
« Reply #1 on: Jul 13, 2019, 07:25 PM »

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Some of northern they have taken off Salmon limit on a good morn in some of those lakes one boat can land 20+ salmon. after three years the salmon are getting bigger.  Thompson lake has an over population of lake trout also . some of the limit in lakes with good spawning areas have too many laws . some fishermen that like to eat their catch  a couple of fish limit makes it not worth it . they Take up GOLF instead. And the state can't figure why license sales are down...

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 rockhound57
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Re: Thompson Lake: Fish and Wildlife Taking a bunch of Salmon and Togue
« Reply #2 on: Today at 08:33 AM »

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It's my understanding that periodically IFW samples lakes to estimate the health, population, and variety of lakes. They do it with gill nets, to have measurable results. The sad result is that most fish caught don't survive. It is too bad they can't have a charity on hand to harvest the catch. I don't think it's done often, unless there are issues needing to be addressed such as over- or under-population, disease, or invasive species. I believe most states have some similar form of monitoring.


TightLinesMaine

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #1 on: Jul 14, 2019, 11:14 AM »
not being able to harvest salmon through the ice on Thompson is asinine.  It's an artificial salmon fishery.  Ice anglers are still keeping salmon from there/taking them out of the water even though they're not supposed to, i've seen it personally.  All it's doing is punishing the law abiding ice anglers who may not have the financial resources to afford a nice trolling setup.  Pure snobbery by Maine DIFW, playing favorites with the trolling crowds (yes, the trollers spend more $, that's why they get to harvest salmon from Thompson and ice anglers can't).  I'm sure this post won't be a popular one but i don't care.

seamonkey84

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #2 on: Jul 14, 2019, 02:11 PM »
I totally agree. It’s a put and take fishery and they exclude so many people. I can understand protecting Sebago, but why is Thompson included but not the other stocked lakes?!
"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something." - Mitch Hedberg

TightLinesMaine

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #3 on: Jul 14, 2019, 06:32 PM »
also, if this was recently, why is the DIFW (if it is in fact DIFW, maybe not?) doing trap netting in the summer when surface temperatures are almost 70*F?  I thought they usually do trap netting in the late fall when the water is cold and fish are on the move & in the shallows... :o something seems fishy here...

GasBlaster

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #4 on: Jul 15, 2019, 02:23 PM »
They do netting as a tool to find out fish population .

joefishmore

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #5 on: Jul 15, 2019, 05:56 PM »
Always entertaining to see greed and ignorance.

Sampson

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #6 on: Jul 16, 2019, 06:11 PM »
I hope your not calling me ignorant

TightLinesMaine

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #7 on: Jul 16, 2019, 08:28 PM »
I totally agree. It’s a put and take fishery and they exclude so many people. I can understand protecting Sebago, but why is Thompson included but not the other stocked lakes?!

Depends what your definition of "put in take" is.  Salmon do live long & grow very well in there, but cease all (salmon) stockings and say bye bye to Thompson lake's landlocked salmon fishery.  It's not like Sebago's salmon fishery, where there is a thriving population of native/wild salmon that actually deserve protection.  In most all cases, I don't see why stocked fish deserve special protections if you're looking at it through a non political/non economic vantage point.  I get it, the State has got to make $, but as an annual fishing license purchaser, it's disappointing that one can't legally keep (or even take a picture of a salmon out of the water) a stocked salmon that one catches through the ice.  And for people who tell you salmon only bite right under the ice, they are incorrect.

seamonkey84

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #9 on: Jul 21, 2019, 09:18 PM »
I wonder what they consider minimal by catch, if only 37 togue were caught. Interesting to read these reports either way.
I have to wonder though, how much would the new technology like the panoptix livescope help with the survey data. Using the panoptix with ps22 this past year has showed me how much fish we missed seeing using traditional sonar, and what depths they are actually at vs when the boat passes over them.
"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something." - Mitch Hedberg

TightLinesMaine

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #10 on: Jul 22, 2019, 10:02 AM »
thanks for sharing that stguy

I'm sure they know what they're doing but i'm a little puzzled why they're handling togue in the summer opposed to spring or fall?

zwiggles

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #11 on: Jul 22, 2019, 10:09 AM »
thanks for sharing that stguy

I'm sure they know what they're doing but i'm a little puzzled why they're handling togue in the summer opposed to spring or fall?

Possibly to try and get info on their locations during the summer when the majority of the fishing pressure would come from (just a guess)?

stguy

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #12 on: Jul 22, 2019, 10:45 AM »
thanks for sharing that stguy

I'm sure they know what they're doing but i'm a little puzzled why they're handling togue in the summer opposed to spring or fall?

IF&W is spread pretty thin and use summer help for the grunt work would be my guess.

stguy

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #13 on: Jul 22, 2019, 10:57 AM »
 
I wonder what they consider minimal by catch, if only 37 togue were caught. Interesting to read these reports either way.
I have to wonder though, how much would the new technology like the panoptix livescope help with the survey data. Using the panoptix with ps22 this past year has showed me how much fish we missed seeing using traditional sonar, and what depths they are actually at vs when the boat passes over them.

They used to have a boat with some fancy electronics and sonar but the software expired and was very expensive to update so they sold it, I think NH uses it on Winni now.

Using something along the lines of your panoptix rig has been mentioned, I offered to let them put it on my boat 8)

seamonkey84

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Re: Thompson lake
« Reply #14 on: Jul 23, 2019, 12:15 AM »
Man I need to check into the pantypix thing!
It has made locating any suspended fish and schools almost too easy.  I stuck a pvc pipe in a trolling motor Bracket, and mounted the transducer from my ice package to it. Now I can use it all year long, in my boat or my friends. Plus be able to turn the transducer and scan 360 as we troll or cruise. Problem is, I find myself watching the screen and scanning instead of just spending time casting. Bottom hugging fish are still hard to see with my unit unless your stationary (another reason I love ice fishing  :P)

thanks for sharing that stguy

I'm sure they know what they're doing but i'm a little puzzled why they're handling togue in the summer opposed to spring or fall?
I would think it’s because they’re more spread out, so their survey is has a better overall average. During the spring or fall they could all be congregated around the smelt run or the spawning grounds so the survey would be skewed as to depth and locations they inhabit.
"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something." - Mitch Hedberg

 



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