Talking with the biologist…it sounds like they are pulling the plug on efforts to make this lake a brood stock lake for the GL strain. Spring netting efforts proved futile and they have had very little in angler reports. Anybody have an experience to say otherwise? I saw a few little guys a while back but have not had any luck other than monster smallies in my attempts.
Are any of the fish in there even sexually mature yet? I would guess netting would have better results once more fish are actually looking for spawning areas.
I would also guess that the very few angler reports is because most guys are probably waiting until the fish get big enough to justify the trip. I know that is what I am waiting for…
Not sure what the forage base is like in Big Bear but how big "should" those 2011 fish be by now assuming average growth rates? I am assuming Big Bear probably has an average or below average growth rate due to the size of the lake and it appears to be a mostly panfish lake, but I could be wrong on that. I would guess most males are probably mid-20s with the females in the low-mid-30s by now but does anyone have any hard data on this? All I can find online is average growth rates and it doesn't differentiate between males and females.
"MattG_braith" said:
Not sure what the forage base is like in Big Bear but how big "should" those 2011 fish be by now assuming average growth rates? I am assuming Big Bear probably has an average or below average growth rate due to the size of the lake and it appears to be a mostly panfish lake, but I could be wrong on that. I would guess most males are probably mid-20s with the females in the low-mid-30s by now but does anyone have any hard data on this? All I can find online is average growth rates and it doesn't differentiate between males and females.
an older survey i found shows basically that. decent pike, small bass and bluegills, but it day say good numbers of medium sized perch. so theres something for food. they also have dumped a ton of walleyes in it for what thats worth. theres a bunch of marsh and swamp drains going in but doesnt appear to have any major flows in or out so im not sure what the sucker population could be like???
But again like you said, the first handful of fish are only 4y.o. now, and would max be in the low to mid 30's and probably smaller. also i recall the first year class averaging about 7" when stocked, and the dnr not being thrilled about the first years survival rate.
It would be nice to get more frequent updates on these lakes tho… but obviously someone has to pay for that…
If they went in at 12" I would expect the first stocking to be 30-38. First year classes are usually super fast growing because they have zero competition for forage. For instance, the first year females in Murray were 40" @ 4 yo. However, since they went in small they likely experienced very high mortality. To judge the effectiveness of the stocking should really be after the third year class is 4 yo this is much too soon to make any judgement.
"Will Schultz" said:
Curious which biologist said that they were discontinuing Big Bear??
I was talking to Neal Godby about it. It is by no means official but it looks like it may be proposed. He is a good buddy of mine and knows I'm interested in the lake. I've talked to a couple fish techs about it as well and they had the same take on the success of the lake. I was hoping maybe someone was seeing something different out there.
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