I don't think that a couple of guys fishing for crappies and being limited to 20 or so would have any affect on the local businesses as opposed to those same two guys keeping 50 or 60 each. The local businesses are pretty much, a restaurant or two, bait shops and a marina or two.
Very few boats are rented as opposed to twenty years ago Many more boat owners. And anyone who fishes that lake with any regularity usually doesn't frequent the gas stations that have a tendency to be a wee bit higher in price as compared to their local stations at home.
I don't usually see a lot of business at restaurants, except he McDonalds in Andover which I swear is ALWAY busy.
And thirty years ago I could probably have named Thirty bait shops. Now there are just a select few, but their demise was more because of plastics and not fishing opportunity.
The lake survived the Crappiethon days, and will survive being named in Bassmaster's top 100 bass lakes and the influx of bass tourneys.
The bigger threats to the lake were probably the over fertilization of nearby fields, inadequate sewers, red spot disease, etc.
All in all it's a terrific fishery and I hope it stays that way for a looonngg time. Personally, ten or so crappies a trip is fine with me, as many times that I go. I wouldn't know what to do with more!
As far as the keyboard vs the lake, I'm with you and I thought really hard about it today but I couldn't bring myself to freeze again. Of course my next day off is Saturday and... nvm, it's going down to 18 degrees Friday night and 40% chance of snow Saturday!! Someone else can have my twenty that day! lol