Anyone with time on the water would probably have made the same assessment—or else they would get very discouraged by a lack of success. I’m talking about the Lake Elsinore (click here) black bass population. Some very good anglers came out in the last six months or so and struggled at times. What I expressed to them was, “It’s not you.”

The numbers (just from a fisherman’s perspective) don’t match up with the amount of shallow cover you find out there. A good area can be pretty darn good. But it can also be sitting between two miles of “empty.”

Fortunately, the DFG is watching and checking. One thing, there is no shortage of bait…

(Left) KENT SIMMONS, parking valet guru to the stars, goes Robo drop-shot at the north end.

…likewise, crappie seemed to have entrenched themselves and even reproduced. Bluegill numbers (playing several roles in the environment) are also doing better.

So, the real issue is how to increase bass numbers. Spawn survival, in my view, is lacking. The city and DFG, to that end, are looking for a source of hardwood (orange trees would be nice) to expand habitat—especially in that depth range which now sits at 8 to 12 feet. That would make the cover viable much longer, even if the lake level declines significantly over the next two years due to evaporation.

The DFG’s previous electro surveys suggest the bass population makes up around 10 percent of the total. However, the data is thin, and that’s why there is no actual estimate. We may know more after the May 19 survey, and I’ll be out seeing the results first hand.

So catch and release will continue to be very important. I know you agree. But in a lot of lakes I don’t. Too much of a good thing (release) usually leads to a bad thing (stunted, stressed fish). But not here.

The weight of bass conservation will be heaviest on you guys who can catch them best.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 2:07 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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