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Thanks for the update on Charles. I will be fishing it soon with some people who, I'm sure, have never caught a fish. I'm sure hoping to be able to help some of these "rookies" to catch some. I'll give a fishermans point of view of the lake soon.
Thanks.
As far as I know, the lake was not drawn down this winter due to high water in the river......if the size problem stays the same, I will agree that the draw down does not hurt the crappie population at Lake Charles.
Saugeye occurr naturally in water where sauger and walleye have spawning populations, Black river has populations of sauger and walleye. What prevents them from producing saugeye? I would think that would be a much more likely senario of black river sauger genes being corrupted than saugeye spilling from lake charles.....
Ross,
Lake Charles was drawn down during the winter. It was not drawn as much as usual because of all the rain. Th lake filled back up quickly. Water is released every year to go into Rainy Brake. This is a long standing agreement. Wildlife Division actually handles that water release.
Chuck,
The walleye and sauger actually make spawning runs at different times and places. This reduces the hybridizing between the two in the wild.
Chuck,
What about brush piles in Lake Charles? Is there any AGFC law that prevents someone from planting brush piles in the lake? This next statement that I am about to make is my own theory, opinion and belief and I stand to be corrected. I believe that a crappie starts out eating several different kinds of plankton and small insects but then has to change to a minnow/shad diet to be able to gain any size. I also believe that an adult crappie has to have a place to winter to survive. I have been on Lake Charles in the winter time during the draw down. The deepest water I can find during this period is about 5 feet deep and it is a very small area. The rest of the area of the lake is about 2 feet deep. I believe that depth and the ability to suspend is a critical factor. If we put brush piles in the lake, they would be completely out of the water during the draw down. These are just some of my thoughts.....look at Lake Poinsett. It maintains a good depth even at a rare draw down and it get pounded every year by crappie fishermen and still produces "keeper" fish with the occasional 1.5 to 2 lb'er. Just some of my thoughts and thanks Chuck for your interest in this matter I appreciate it.
I always thought that the small fish problem started with the minimum size limit reg a few years back. I know that crappie were put in some of the ponds that were made when new hwy 63 was built. The population is dense, but the size is very small and paper thin. The ponds keep good water year around, but there are just too many crappie per acre. Is this the problem at Charles? If so, people need to be keeping everything until the problem is fixed. Maybe one year with no limit on crappie, and against the law to release anything caught. How much fishing pressure does Charles get? It is a little "out of the way". Again, just a thought. If I had the solution, I would have a different job.