04-09-2003, 05:37 PM
SoUtDuckHnttr,
When the guys are taking that one 18 incher, they are breaking the law. It is often just at sundown after the fishing day is done. They'll just take the last fish that they catch and head for home. That way if the fish cop isn't right there to catch them, they can say that they caught the fish in the Beaver river above or below the reservoir.
As for big fish, I've caught lots of 5lb fish since the artificials regs. As many or more than before. In the old system, the DWR would plant fingerling in there. They would take two years to reach the 16 inch size. Now they plant 10 to 12 inchers. They take 3 to 4 months to reach 16 inches. Now they don't have to avoid double leaders of nightcrawlers and powerbait to reach 20 inches or bigger.
The menu has changed, and it has a couple of times. When the water is low, there isn't alot of shallow flats for the damselfly nymphs. When there are lots of chubs, they eat alot of the zooplankton. But if there are fish in there, and people aren't taking them home, they have to keep eating and growing. The last two years have been very hard for Minersville. There hasn't been enough water, and they drained what little water there was to make the repairs on the dam. But the last time I fished there on the ice, I caught 14 fish in about 2 hours of fishing. 6 of them were in the 19 to 20 inch range. I have been busy with other things, and have probably missed the "spawn" there this year. They try to spawn, and some probably even lay eggs, but none of the eggs make it to the adult stage. Too much silt, too warm of water, and too much predation.
Anyway. it's a great fishery. If you can figure out what they are eating, you'll catch lots of big fish. i don't even get away from shore. I fish it from the bank.
Good luck.
Fishrmn
When the guys are taking that one 18 incher, they are breaking the law. It is often just at sundown after the fishing day is done. They'll just take the last fish that they catch and head for home. That way if the fish cop isn't right there to catch them, they can say that they caught the fish in the Beaver river above or below the reservoir.
As for big fish, I've caught lots of 5lb fish since the artificials regs. As many or more than before. In the old system, the DWR would plant fingerling in there. They would take two years to reach the 16 inch size. Now they plant 10 to 12 inchers. They take 3 to 4 months to reach 16 inches. Now they don't have to avoid double leaders of nightcrawlers and powerbait to reach 20 inches or bigger.
The menu has changed, and it has a couple of times. When the water is low, there isn't alot of shallow flats for the damselfly nymphs. When there are lots of chubs, they eat alot of the zooplankton. But if there are fish in there, and people aren't taking them home, they have to keep eating and growing. The last two years have been very hard for Minersville. There hasn't been enough water, and they drained what little water there was to make the repairs on the dam. But the last time I fished there on the ice, I caught 14 fish in about 2 hours of fishing. 6 of them were in the 19 to 20 inch range. I have been busy with other things, and have probably missed the "spawn" there this year. They try to spawn, and some probably even lay eggs, but none of the eggs make it to the adult stage. Too much silt, too warm of water, and too much predation.
Anyway. it's a great fishery. If you can figure out what they are eating, you'll catch lots of big fish. i don't even get away from shore. I fish it from the bank.
Good luck.
Fishrmn