Charleston Lake Lakers

[trexellunge]

Seems as though the Lake Trout fishing in Charleston Lake is not what it was a few years ago, at least for me anyway. Maybe it's due to my eroding fishing skills, but a few years ago it seemed much easier to consistently find them. I was there recently and did ok with Pike, but Lakers continued to elude me. Any Charleston Lake Trout action out there recently for anyone?

[tr21chris]

Lake Trout fishing on Charleston is definitely not what it used to be...over harvesting of 7-10 lb fish, coupled with alewife die offs in consecutive years, and stocked fish that weren't spawning or getting along with the naturals, all adds up to what it is now...Lakers were starving(big heads &skinny bodies)fish that guys have cleaned have had multiple soft plastic baits in their stomachs. It seemed like they were really scavenging...a lot of sculpins in their bellies...but no shad. Traditional areas that used to hold schools of shad and good sized lakers are barren of shad and lakers... this being said, there are still a lot of lakers there to catch, but nowhere near the numbers or size of what it used to be... 7lbers were very very common in the past, and very very uncommon in the last 5 years...It will take a few more years yet to come back, it is rebounding but very slowly!!

[RJ]

Sad state of what can happen and fast.

I'll pound it into anyones head I can that always consider the Lakers you take home. A 24 inch fish in Eastern Ontario can be as much as 20 years old.

RJ

[smitty55]

Lake Trout fishing on Charleston is definitely not what it used to be...over harvesting of 7-10 lb fish, coupled with alewife die offs in consecutive years, and stocked fish that weren't spawning or getting along with the naturals, all adds up to what it is now...Lakers were starving(big heads &skinny bodies)fish that guys have cleaned have had multiple soft plastic baits in their stomachs. It seemed like they were really scavenging...a lot of sculpins in their bellies...but no shad. Traditional areas that used to hold schools of shad and good sized lakers are barren of shad and lakers... this being said, there are still a lot of lakers there to catch, but nowhere near the numbers or size of what it used to be... 7lbers were very very common in the past, and very very uncommon in the last 5 years...It will take a few more years yet to come back, it is rebounding but very slowly!!

Very interesting info there Chris. Tks for sharing that. Being local you are obviously well plugged in. I was only there once last year (one smaller Grey), and I did notice a distinct lack of baitfish clouds on the sonar. Used to be you'd see lots of bait all over the lake. Have you any idea what caused the die-offs?

I admit I'm somewhat surprised. It was about four years ago I recall Irene telling me how the MNR netting was showing a good healthy population two years in a row.

Cheers

[trexellunge]

Thanks for the great info guys....or should I say "not so great." I've been going to Charleston for a week long family vacation for almost a decade now, always the last part of May for the opening weekend. I used to nail them just trolling a flat line and spoon, and there were some real nice fish to be had without killing yourself on the water.
A trusty portable downrigger did the trick whenever it was too warm. Only hooked one Laker the past trip, and didn't even land it. Thank God for a few good Pike.
It seems to me the decline happened during those first few REALLY HOT, DRY SUMMERS we had consecutively, starting about 5 years ago or so. Not sure how and if this could effect the Alewife\Shad population enough to cause this collapse? The last few summers have not been as bad, so hopefully this is a sign of recovery. Guess it may take some time. I release my fish, but I'm not so sure over harvesting was the main culprit this time around like it normally is. Would love to keep visiting Charleston, It's big and beautiful, with lots of natural shoreline. Was thinking of giving Lake Weslemkoon a try next time; it's also big with lots of natural areas. Not sure about the state of the Lake Trout fishery there now though; I heard it used to be good. I do know the Bass fishing has a reputation there.

[RyanW]

..

[smitty55]

They are few and far between now

Don't really agree. Still lots of fish there to catch.

It's just not like it was.

That I agree with. Still a beautiful lake to fish regardless.

Cheers

[tr21chris]

Smitty...this is just my opinion, but I do spend a few days a year on the lake, either trapping, hunting or fishing...I can tell you one thing for sure, I dont remember seeing any MNR activity on Charleston Lake recently...and I'm on Charleston all year long from ice out to freeze up, including the magical spawning times of the fall for lakers...I'm just not sure when they do all their work, but I've never seen it or heard anybody talk about seeing them and I'm all over the lake! Whitefish that used to be prevalent 40-50 yrs ago in the lake have disappeared as well...and I'm not sure about the cisco population either, been years since I've heard of anyone catching or seeing one...The lake now has a very stable and increasingly large population of bowfins that are from one end of the lake to the other presently?? I will tell you one thing about the laker habits in the last 10 years or so when you go perch fishing...and I'm talking perch fishing in 4-8 feet of water over weedbeds, you can't keep the small lakers off, and you never used to experience this on Charleston. They seem to have changed their habits a bit and probably the reason why theyre coming up with plastics in their bellies?...The last time I witnessed a stocking release on Charleston it was at the main dock in the village. Not out on the shoals away from predators like I would suspect would greatly increase the percentage of survivors and the chance of females returning to spawn in an appropriate location. Go down to the main dock in the village in late October and November and what do you see...lakers swimming around under the dock and in the streetlight lol.. Anyhow, I guess this has turned into a bit of a rant about how the lake is managed or not being managed and just my opinion, but I dont think im far off with any of my thoughts. For the record...Im an Aquaculture technician, and have boats and access to more boats to help out in any way needed if the MNR requested help, just in case anyone thinks i'm all anti MNR.. My family have lived in Charleston/Athens since the beginning of time and it really sucks to see the shape the lakes in I'm speaking for lots of locals as well...Better days ahead!

[orrsey]

This sounds strikingly similar to the state of Loughborough. When they opened Loughborough up for winter trout fishing again it was clear there were starving fish in the lake, huge heads and skinny little bodies, and also full of soft plastics. It was common to catch them up in 4-5FOW cruising around looking for perch and other pan fish. Now the trout numbers are down and the Smelt population has drastically gone up.

[smitty55]

Here's a link to a very interesting study by Carleton University on the effect of plastic baits that was done on Charleston Lake. It's a good read

http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/ ... S-Poll.pdf


Cheers

[tr21chris]

Hey Thanks for the link Smitty...glad to see they did some investigating and an actual study...but really, I don't think wacky rigs are going anywhere soon. I try and encourage people to use o rings with their rigs...you still lose them but not as often for sure. In a perfect world, it would be nice to see companys like YUM, and Yamamoto, Strike King, etc. step up and incorporate an o ring in their stick baits with a small tab on the outside of the bait for the hook to puncture through...this would eliminate alot of lost stick baits, but they also wouldn't sell as many either...double edged sword I guess...money talks, the lakes will suffer.