Lake Crystal (Blue Earth County)

[walleyehunter80]

Was down at the landing last night watching people fish off the docks. The dock fishermen were thick to! I only saw 4 fish cought and all 4 were under 8" in length and all were kept. Wont be long and the dock fishermen will have the crappies fished out of the landing area. They have been pulling limits out of there for 2 weeks now.

14 days 50 fish a day = 700 less fish to catch the next 2 weeks, will have to see what the fishing is like over the next week.

[KTapper]

From what I have heard from a local it is like that every spring.

[mnhunter79]

It wont get fished out

[DLV]

Can't get fished out, fish will move from loon into crystal every year after the fish kill.

[zepman]

I agree, plus the intown bay doesn't hold as many fish as other parts of the lake.

[Team Otter]

It wont get fished out

Perhaps this is not the thread but what does it take to fish a lake out?

[Mr. Kronkite]

Team Otter-

I think what he means is that there won't be any fish left after over-fishing an easy bite? Am I wrong DLV?

[BezD40]

how do you stop people from taking there legal limits? Some people just can't throw fish back. I pretty much only C&R, so i don't why people need to keep their limit everytime.

[Morneau132]

Maybe they eat them?

[Willy]

how do you stop people from taking there legal limits? Some people just can't throw fish back. I pretty much only C&R, so i don't why people need to keep their limit everytime.

And some people can't stop giving them a hard time about it. If people want to take them and they are going to eat them, who cares? Especially if it is a good sized lake that produces year after year. Panfish are like bunny rabbits, you take them out, they come back the next few years.

I agree going day after day after day to the same spot and whacking out a limit doesn't help anything and I am 100% against that, but I will never give a guy a hard time if he wants to keep a limit of fish to have a fry. It is the day after day raping that hurts the lake.

[BezD40]

I don't mind people taking their limits, but the everyday until the fish don't bite (or aren't there to bite) doesn't make sense, but its their right.

[Willy]

I agree with you there. Pounding a spot day after day and keeping a pile from the same lake is not something I like either.

[mnhunter79]

Originally Posted By: mnhunter79

It wont get fished out

Perhaps this is not the thread but what does it take to fish a lake out?

All i know is that this spring bite has been great for the last 3 years since iv'e lived there. and there is always this many people fishing it.

[DLV]

Mr Kronkite. No I was being a SA. referring to actually the claim that it might have froze out this winter. No matter how bad the winter kill the DNR cannot prove how much or how bad it was with the fish moving between the two lakes once yhou get a rise in the water levels between loon and crystal.

[Team Otter]

Day to day pounding by a handful (or more) of fishermen and women during a vulnerable time of the year can't be enough to damage the overall population of a fishery when considering the actual volume of fish present and their length of vulnerability. Perhaps I'm way out of line...

[PDOGG]

I think the larger fish in the population can be affected by this kind of fishing. But it is all relative to the body of water in my mind. If you have a lake that consistently puts out say 10"-11" crappies year after year, then I feel these fish are the "eaters" and taking these fish will not hurt the population much. But if all of a sudden everyone is catching 12"+ on the same lake and this is not a common thing. Well then with that much pressure you can probably kiss those size fish goodbye for a while. Just my theory.

[Morneau132]

If people are pounding the "spot" day after day, the fish aren't getting fished out the fish have simply moved to a different part of the lake. This "spot" is just a small portion of the 379 available acres for the fish to swim. Also, if you are there to notice that the same people are keeping their legal limit day after day, you must be there driving the fish away also?

[rushing]

Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't a legal limit also pertain to what they have in the freezer? So if the same people are there day after day keeping their limit are they eating their limit every day or stocking their freezers?

[NTW]

With what I've witnessed and heard about the quality of that water, I hope nobody is eating them daily

[KTapper]

With what I've witnessed and heard about the quality of that water, I hope nobody is eating them daily

I concur

[zepman]

I would have a hard time eating fish from that lake too. There are others in the area that fit in this catagory too.

[Morneau132]

Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't a legal limit also pertain to what they have in the freezer? So if the same people are there day after day keeping their limit are they eating their limit every day or stocking their freezers?

Let's assume they are eating the fish they keep and are following the regulations....

[Walterw]

I think alot of it would have to do how well the lake naturaly reproduces like for instance, lake sarah, in murray county i have fished it for 5 or six years straight. from opener to three weeks in and you see lots of people taking limits of walleyes each day im there and talk to alot of people that do for the first three weeks and that lake is still great with a trophey to be had once in awile

[jhanks50]

I agree with you zarnbucks, however sarah is one of the rare lakes in southern minnesota that is able to reproduce naturally. Around here the vast majority of the lakes rely on DNR stocking programs, I beleive Lake Crystal is one of them, as I dont think there is any natural reporduction in that lake.

[riverrat56]

Most panfish populations are naturally reproducing, walleyes are mostly stocked, especially in this area.

I too have to agree with PDOGG's idea that the biggest fish in a system are vulnerable to being "fished out" this can lead to stunting and smaller fish overall. But to acctually catch every fish in the lake when there is only an easy bite for 3-5 weeks seems impossible. If the school of large fish parks in that area then many may be taken, but there are fish using the entire lake right now, not all are in specific areas.

[Team Otter]

Great discussion gang.