pymatuning thoughts......

stopped in the ohio campgrounds on the 4th to see old friends.  one of these is a snowbird who relocated to fla. a number of years ago but continued to spend summers at pymy because of the walleye fishing.  he informed us that this was his last year.  said the last three have been pretty bad, but this is the worst.  he is a better than average fisherman and he has yet to put a keeper in the boat.  have another friend who belongs to a local walleye club.  their group has pulled out of the lake altogether.  i have waded the lake (heavy in the spring) for almost 30 years, maybe more, but was unable to get up more than a couple of times this spring.  not only did i not catch a single eye, but saw very few waders out there at all.  the gang that i have fished with over the years disappeared entirely.  there were a couple of guys here who did good in the spring, but seems a lot of fishers were unable to find fish.  makes me real sad as far as the eye fishing is concerned.  will still fish for smallies, and crappies in the spring, but it won't be the same.  by the time pa gets this problem figured out and fixed, i may be too old to fish there anymore.  sorry for the negative musings, but i needed to spew.  if anyone has heard anything postive as to the resolution to the problem up there, please post.  sure would like some good news.  (did hear the amish were catching some eyes on crawler harnesses). 

There are still lots of 'eyes in the lake, just not near the numbers that there have been in the past.  I blame the turbidity, lack of stocking (there is VERY little natural reproduction), and alewives (real good move there PA Fish & Boat).  Why Alewife were ever stocked is beyond me.  A few of the finger lakes and some of the Great Lakes areas have eyes that are doing fairly well with them around, but most of those lakes also have King Salmon, Cohos, and/or at least landlocked Atlantics to predate them as well.  Pymy doesn't have predators big and bad enough to chase and predate schools of larger alewife (that eat young perch and eyes).  I am hearing similar reports of Mosquito, which used to be an eye factory as well.  Who knows what the "problem" is, but it has basically become a crappie (no pun intended) lake. 

My thought is the amish have over fished it reason im saying this is because...  I spent 3 days on the lake back in june and every day there were 14 to 16 amish boats out there pulling them in off of snod grass????  Then  i made a day trip up for a night and day and seen the same meat hunturs up there.   Then i made a final trip up for a day and the same old amish hitting it hard????  I think they are hammering it day and night and taking all fish if u keep doing this they will be fished out never seen pfbc, out checking no one which upset me i wanted to be checked so i can tell them to watch the amish they are crude operators when it comes to meat.  Im not prejudice they have rights too but i think they are useing there faith to get away with this crap.  It disapoints me to see this 12 amish on a boat women and children fishing theres where all the walleye are going over harvest im telling u guys.. Great lake to fish but not watched enough by the fish comm,

I do not care who poachers are ( overlimit and undersize fish is poaching in my book) I speed dial the game warden.
We all have cell phones so enter the gamewardens number into it.

A few years ago two guys were catching steelhead in connie with a runner taking the catch back to the car. I saw them a number of times and called in their description to the gamewardens. One day they were caught and they were hauled away with their 17 steelhead catch. We all applauded as these guys were hauled off.  I have never seen them since.

Watch for the pontoon boats on the north end  of pymy filled with fisherman and a  jon boat running the catch back/forth to the shore.  I can assure you that the smaller boat is not taking bait out but running the catch into the coolers.   I have called the gamewarden but so far no luck. I am very skeptical of the legality of what is happening. However, it takes all of us to take part in this.

ORIGINAL: STEALYS4ME

My thought is the amish have over fished it reason im saying this is because...  I spent 3 days on the lake back in june and every day there were 14 to 16 amish boats out there pulling them in off of snod grass????  Then  i made a day trip up for a night and day and seen the same meat hunturs up there.   Then i made a final trip up for a day and the same old amish hitting it hard????  I think they are hammering it day and night and taking all fish if u keep doing this they will be fished out never seen pfbc, out checking no one which upset me i wanted to be checked so i can tell them to watch the amish they are crude operators when it comes to meat.  Im not prejudice they have rights too but i think they are useing there faith to get away with this crap.  It disapoints me to see this 12 amish on a boat women and children fishing theres where all the walleye are going over harvest im telling u guys.. Great lake to fish but not watched enough by the fish comm,

 
I heard that the Fish Commision is stocking Amish to rid Pymy of all aquatic life.
 
 

Let's not "profile " the poachers! Just keep  the gamewarden on speed dial; again watch for the instances I mentioned and let's identify other situations and some obvious descriptions.

Im not going to get into the Amish thing.As far as game wardens go. I was fishing the stumps south of the causeway last year and one came flying up in a 16ft john boat.Never asked me a thing about fishing only if I had beer in my cooler.Showed him only pepsi and he took off without even a howdy.
  Now to the walleye.There are plenty of them in the lake.In the spring I can get my limit in an hour.Which I only keep my limit once or twice a year.But go out many nights to fish.Most nights I catch between 10-20 in a few hours.Best is 32 in 4 hours.Average fish 19-23"And the good news is this spring I caught many 13-15".Where as in the 3 years before I caught no fish under 17".
   I have not been on the lake this summer.But I will tell you that last summer and the one before I found them.And you might not believe it but they are in close,5-8 Feet of water.Look for weed edges inside of weeds.Say there are weeds in 7fow then a gap and then another line of weeds in 4-5fow.Hit that gap and you will catch eyes.Most of the points have edges like this(snodgrass,the orchard,stockers)
 
Oh and Rap,Im going to take you out next spring and get you some of those pyma eyes.

treefrog, i have seen your pictures and i have no doubts as to your ability.  russ williams at gateway bait and tackle parallels you in your opinion.  maybe so many of us had it so easy for years that to go out and not hit 4-5 fish is unacceptable.  one disturbing note is that lead core lenny has been so quiet.  we have mutual friends and they say that he even has had off days.  btw, if you want to add a hot spot to the spring run let me know.  be glad to pass this one on to you.  (really believe bush and the amish have a covert deal about limits.  bush also cut funding for stockings and the brothers limbaugh (ann and oxy rush) own the pa commission.........lol).  

Last year I learned that it's almost best to just fish at night during the summer months. We fished alongside a couple old timers who made it a habit to come out almost every night, usually at the causeway, and anchor along the dropoff. The thing to do is to get the submersible light(s) in the water to draw the bugs, then the baitfish and then the gamefish. The walleye would always move in, sometimes earlier in the night, sometimes not until 2 or 3AM.

I watched those guys pound em' every night jigging cicadas. Always a mixed bag (lots of crappie, occasional muskie) but the walleye always moved in right after the white bass. Once you get into the white bass, the walleye are not far behind.

Try it next time at the causeway. It's to my understanding (and from what I've witnessed first hand) that this spot can be highly productive with the gamefish trapping the baitfish against the wall or embankment. We had a night where we must've put close to a 100 crappie in the boat well before dawn. The key is the submersible lights and green cicadas (never had much luck with vib-e's or sonars personally).

Edit: Also learned that on a night with clear skies, the bug activity from the submersible lights would be extremely light. Best on a night with a little cloud cover from the moon.

tree, absolutely not.  again, your posts and pics show you know what you are doing.  also, thank you ronnie, also.  i asked for some positive stuff and you guys gave me some.  plan to start up again this fall.   again, thanks