TheRedBaron88 said:
As a longtime Susky fisher, I would say the Bass population is coming back over the past 2-3yrs. In those worst years, you could have a day where you caught only <3 bass bass in a 4hr trip. I was pleasantly suprised to haul in 12 in an hour or two this past Saturday and hit some very nice fish early in the spring this year.
However, I don't think anyone has a clue why it's coming back. Is it the regulations? Which ones? No keep or no Spawn fishing? Has the water quality improved? I've heard dozens of reasons for the comeback(If you want some good humor, just ask). If you don't know why it is better, it's not very wise to change the regs after just a 3yr PARTIAL rebound.
The reason for the rebound is very simple: Weather
The greatest loss to the smallmouth bass populations took place in 2005, a summer with extremely low water flows and very hot weather, resulting in very warm water temps and low oxygen levels.
The result was massive bacterial infections that killed huge numbers of smallmouth bass.
2005 was the worst year, but there were also some other years with very low flows and warm temps, which was also favorable to the bacterial infections, and bad for the bass populations.
In more recent years, we've been lucky in having more rain, better flows, cooler weather through the summers. Under these conditions, the bacteria does not thrive, and the smallmouth do.
So the smallmouth populations began building back up again.
But when (not if) we get the return of drought and very hot summer weather, I see no reason to think that the bacterial infections could not take off again.
Has anything really been done in regard to water quality on a scale large enough to make a significant difference, since 2005?
If so, what?
You can point to small changes to improve water quality here and there. But have there been any large changes, big enough to make a substantial difference in a watershed as huge as the Susque?