a day at kahle lake - pre bass opening day

My buddy and I spent yesterday (6/12) on Kahle Lake throwing fathead minnows, creek chubs and crawlers (usually cut in half).  My observations posted on this blog in the recent past has been that this lake's characteristics have TOTALLY changed - and yesterday provided more confirmation.  What previously was one of the best panfish lakes in the state (jumbo perch, slab crappies and huge bluegills) has been pretty much decimated.  Also, a day on Kahle would previously produce numerous bucket mouths well over the 15inch limit - now it seems there's none left - as soon as a bass gets to legal size it is caught and kept.
 
Yesterday we caught 60 largemouth bass - not one over 14.5 inches and the vast majority at about 12-13.  kinda fun but kinda disappointing also.  We also caught 5 blue gills (4 of which were very nice), one 8.5 inch perch and zero crappies.  VERY disappointing. 
 
This lake calls out loud and clear for panfish enhancement status - placing a 9 inch limit on perch, gills and crappie would at least prevent fishermen from keeping everything they catch that's legal and grinding them up into fish patties.
 
I plan to write a message to this effect to the fish commission and encourage all of you who loved Kahle in the past to do the same.
 
phish

The key word being "BASS". Khale is no different from any other lake in PA that's been targeted as a "BASS" lake.

Blame the the Amish or the Menonites all you want but they ain't the reason Wilhelm, Arthur, Shenanago, Pymy, Khale, etc has soured, just like many other lakes in Penn's Woods.

Yes, limits should be imposed on certain waters for the time being but the 'key' to the depreciation of our fisheries as was once known, is the PennStateFishandBoatCommission misguided by BASS.

That's my story annnnnd I'm stickin to it. 🍻

BeenThereDoneThat.
The key word being "BASS". Khale is no different from any other lake in PA that's been targeted as a "BASS" lake.

Blame the the Amish or the Menonites all you want but they ain't the reason Wilhelm, Arthur, Shenanago, Pymy, Khale, etc has soured, just like many other lakes in Penn's Woods.

Yes, limits should be imposed on certain waters for the time being but the 'key' to the depreciation of our fisheries as was once known, is the PennStateFishandBoatCommission misguided by BASS.

That's my story annnnnd I'm stickin to it. 🍻

you may want to reconsider your story!  Kahle has been a big bass lake for decades and for many many years there was a terrific mixture of jumbo panfish and jumbo bass.  what changed was the number of Amish moving into the area in the last 6-7 years and their daily harvesting of everything legal - by everyone in the boat - irrespective of size.
 
that's my story and I would like to see evidence to the contrary.
 
phish

phishfearme




you may want to reconsider your story!  Kahle has been a big bass lake for decades and for many many years there was a terrific mixture of jumbo panfish and jumbo bass.  what changed was the number of Amish moving into the area in the last 6-7 years and their daily harvesting of everything legal - by everyone in the boat - irrespective of size.
 
that's my story and I would like to see evidence to the contrary.
 
phish

 
So has every lake that has suffered the same consequences from the PennStateFishandBoatCommission toying with the BASS programs and those lakes died well before the onslaught of Amish families to the areas.
 
Now, that being said, I do not disagree that many lakes are being over fished.  I have myself spoken of changes I've seen not only in fishing but hunting as well, related to the "over harvesting" by Amish, as well as others.
 

I agree Ice it kind of makes sense if they seem stunted to thin some out. Funny thing about small lakes and ponds big fish can still be around , just have lots of smaller natural feed so they don't eat as often.
 
Amish I've witnessed fishing don't just keep only big fish and toss small back ....they keep all ! So if they are keeping huge numbers of Blue Gill and smaller fish maybe that does hurt Bass populations but 60 fish in a day doesn't sound like a Bass shortage ! I highly doubt that Amish are tossing any Bass back.
 
Dump in about 10lbs. of fathead minnows in every year and get the baitfish breeding again.

That used to be a "secret" lake. The interwebs fixed that.
 

ICE NUT
Me thinks that if u caught 60 largemouth bass in a 251 acre lake and they are all stunted it screams there needs to be a thinning of the herd!!!!!!

how do you distinguish between being stunted and being caught and harvested once they get to 15 inches??
 
phish

CAPTAIN HOOK
If the 14" bass are all looking good then it appears the over 15"ers are being harvested steady, but one or two trips is not still enough to judge a lake or pond. 

the bodies of ALL the bass we caught were of proper proportion to their heads. 
 
one or two trips is defiantly not enough to judge - but we've watched this decline at kahle over the last 4-5 years (look at my previous posts) - and were not the only ones experiencing this - we chatted with a number of angler on the lake who all were catching bass - no one reported a legal one but all were catching them frequently.
 
if a 12 inch limit on bass were imposed, I would bet that you'd only catch 11inchers and the panfish would still be missing.  I still think a 9 inch limit on perch, gills and crappie would definitely help.
 
phish 

phishfearmeI think a 9 inch limit on perch, gills and crappie would definitely help.
 
phish 

That may become a standard in all of Pa. some day soon....won't hurt that's for sure !

I live not far from the lake and fish it a few times a year. I think a few things have led to it's decline. Even though this lake has been around awhile it started to get a lot of press after they began holding the ice fishing tournaments there. Reports of nice catches of crappie, perch, and bluegill brought more fisherman to check it out. Then the Amish started to move in and they hammer it. It's rare to go there and not see at least a group or two of them fishing it. They are noted for keeping nearly every fish they catch if legal and sometimes maybe not legal. The lake is just not big enough to handle the constant pressure it receives in my opinion. I used to be able to go there and catch nice sized perch and a few crappie but the last few times they are pretty scarce. Maybe size restrictions would help????

Been following this particular post for some time and it sounds like a common theme for a lot of our "smaller" lakes in western Pa. The fish populations are going down due to a number of circumstances.  There are more people fishing today. I can't tell you the number of times I go to lakes during the week and ask myself the question, " doesn't anybody work anymore?" Once I retired I expected to have the lake to myself during the week. Well so did the other dozen fishermen that retired. Last week at a local lake I frequent had no parking spaces open on a Thursday! Yes, the Amish are famous for taking their share of the fish. I also give credit that fishermen on a whole are much more advanced with all the electronics so therefore the success rate has improved. I think a lot of lakes get hit hard during ice season with its increased popularity. And again many of these fish are often full of eggs being harvested.
A couple suggestions I would make would be reduce daily possession limits to at least half of whatever they are  from Dec 1 through May 1st. That would leave additional fish during the spawning time. Secondly, a 9" minimum on panfish. And thirdly and probably most important, enforce these limits on everyone including the "Blue Army." Everyone should fall under the same regulations. Just a few thoughts on this rainy Monday morning. Good luck and have a safe year.   Lou

I fished pymatuning and Wilhelm a lot back in the 80's and you could literally walk from boat to boat and most were catching walleyes.The swimming area at Linesville was so packed with boat trailers it took forever to launch and load and u waited in line for bait!!!!! The steady stream of trucks and boat trailers coming up 79 was like a parade!!!!. The problem now is they don't put as many in as they used to for whatever reasons.
  As for ice fishing the local lakes should be loaded with fish for last 4 or 5 years the ice on most lakes has been very shakey or downright dangerous at best. even the bay at Presque isle hasn't had really good ice for last few winters. These are just my opinions im sure many will disagree

Mosquito gets pounded but produces easy limits of eyes and some real slab crappie......if I didn't work,I'd be there all spring......

Yea I know...lol My buddy is killing eyes and big crappie of Flicker shads on Mosquito...