Newell update
 

Cannot specifically report on the whole lake, but stayed with a family friend Friday and Saturday night that have a cabin on the east side of Newell.
Has a great shack on Riddleback and set up Friday morning, saw a walleye, some little perch and couple of nice pike but were not intersted in anything we had to offer...BBQ'd some ribs, smokies...had a feast..LOL. Some of his buddies showed up and the Tequila made its appearance..LOL..Still no fish on the cam....Came out around 930am on Saturday....Saw 2 pike on the cam and they were again not interested....Thought I would see alot more fish on the cam in 2 days of fishing:sign0176:

The guys that came out are all locals on the lake and I had mentioned to them about the zero retention on pike and possibly no derby as well. They were telling me the lake has become over run by Crayfish and eating all the eggs. These guys are not youngin's (60's) but have lived there all their life and gotta believe what they think...These guys are hardcore fisherman there....

Interesting to hear Wayne's take on that but it makes some sense.

Crayfish yummy gonna have to get my hands on some of those traps they use for catching them. Nothing finer than boiled up craw dad's with lots of spice.

I cannot see crayfish as being the problem they seem to be a good source of feed for most fish.

X2

If a bass can eat crayfish im sure a 10lb pike can:thinking-006:

There were 5 locals in the shack and they were all in agreement on the crayfish....According to them, there are not just a few in there but a crap load....Most of them hiding in beneath the rocks around shorelines..

They also talked about commercial fishing as well...

It's not the feed...Cause there are big fish in there..It is the spawn and lack of eggs cause the crayfish are eating them

Interesting point on the crayfish.

I wasn't even aware that they were in there.

I am sure I will get a text from Wayne....:)

Honestly....I was out with my dad a few years ago and set up north of the boat launch and looking down the hole, seen a blue lobster crawling along the bottom....Never did I see a crayfish before...lol

Lots of lakes and rivers in western BC hold high numbers of crayfish. Trout are the biggest predator in most of these water. Trout feed on the crayfish but not near as much as pike and walleye will. Every species of fish in Newell will feed on crayfish at some point in time in their life cycle and they will not get too big for pike and walleye to eat.

Crayfish are a general scavenger that is low on the food chain they eats a varied diet ranging from vegetation to flesh. Yes, they will eat eggs but this would effect more than just pike.

If trout can hold their own with high numbers of crayfish pike should have no problem

In my opinion higher crayfish numbers are more likely do to less pike preying on them.


I could be wrong but to me I can't see crayfish causing pike numbers to crash. If it was crayfish I would expect an overall crash with all species in Newell and from the report that was posted before walleye are numbers are improving

Walleye numbers are probably improving cause there is zero retention..And only taken by tags....but pike...up to last year, was 3 over 63cm...Pike are the dominant species there, so of course, alot of people are taking there limit...And I know for sure, alot of them are not c&r....Sorry to say..But if they are legal size, they are taking them

Of course, this is my opinion only:0)

I can verify the amount of crayfish in Newell. I camped there this summer and my kids were catching them by the bucket full. Under almost every rock they rolled crayfish scattered. Would agree that they could be having an impact.

I find it amazing that anyone actually thinks ONE thing has caused the current state of Newell pike.
Commercial fishing
Recreational fishing
Introduction of walleye
Changing ecosystem....crayfish

Take your pick...im no fishery biologist but id wager its a combination of all.
And yes indeed there are a lot of crayfish in there

Personally I doubt crayfish have much to do with the decline and fall of the pike empire in Newell, they are a source of food for pike. Only fished it once so far this season, only got 9 pike so it looks like the population is well on its way to extinction. Maybe they managed to slip through the bio's nets, they were all pretty small. :thinking-006: maybe the big ones were elsewhere when the test netting was done, its a pretty big lake and the nets arent that big. If they are in danger there I would like to see a trophy license, say pay 20 bucks for a tag to keep one over 35 pounds or even bigger, so when the record gets broken the lucky fisherperson can keep the fish if they are so inclined.

Even though we do not agree on another thread....I have to agree with you here....As I mentioned in an earlier post.....Crayfish, commercial fishing for sure...increased pressure on the lake (known for large pike).Honestly, there are very few lakes in Southern Alberta that produce legal size pike constinately....

I was told that there are not regular check ups on the commercial fisherman..I am quoting here from a regular that lives on Newell " Whites go north to town, everything else goes south". Again...This is not my comment:0)

dude maybe for you :fighting0074:

Hey Buddy...

You said yourself you do not fish Newell very often anymore....And I know where you do to catch fish often.....and cause of your experience, you know what is working and not. If Newell was working, I am sure you would be there more often than not....We know that there are big pike in there but the quantity of fish has gone down substantially...Do you agree or not with this statement? Just Curious what you think Wayne....

Come on Wayne.....See all the updates on Southern Alberta...I have seen a few big fish....Caught my 9lber at Badger :sHa_shakeshout:but what have you seen on the forum for travers, Mcgregor, Pine coulee, CVR ETC...I am talking about Quantity here......

I dont think the quantity or the quality has gone down, I think people are just not catching them. fish dont bite all the time, or get used to seeing the same old same old all the time, sometimes it takes something different to catch a fish. maybe there are less pike, maybe there arent. maybe they are just somewhere else in the lake. havet fished it much this season only because of the snow, probably be out there tomorrow if I can get out of bed I need a rematch with Moby

and these are all honest people, Ive seen some big fish, maybe some fishermen are getting wise to posting everything for all the world to see, maybe they dont want another Clear lake fiasco :bad_boys_20:

YUP... I can see that happening....

Hopefully see you on the weekend.....Get your butt out there and don't be late......Yummy Sub Sandwiches...LOL

Lots of people around here have a hard time understanding that one.

Agree

Didn't no that clear lake was such a secret same as Newell my bad I guess u have to be in some sort of alberta outdoorsman club to catch fish out of these lakes I guess the only people allowed to fish these amazing lakes are good old boys! This forum is a joke stop crying about your secret lakes news flash there not I've lived in galgary all my life guess what people have been fishing them all my life amazing eh how did people fish these spots without the internet? Stop crying about little things and get off ur butts and go fish!!!!!!!

Welcome or maybe not back
 

Epic where ya been ....

Guess it hasnt been long enough to learn how to spell it eh Scott?:bad_boys_20:t

Clear Lake regs changed this year from 3 pike over 65cm to 1 only over 100cm.

Keep posting those pic's of the big hens and more and more guys go to that lake.

The result at Clear is obvious don't ya think.

:thinking-006: Welcome back:)

Just check a thread on any particular lakes, if perch are mentioned(just an example) see how many views they get.:sign0176: Have seen a few lakes decline because of popularity on the internet.

Maybe so, but it's ridiculous to compare Clear Lake to reservoirs such as Newell, Travers, McGregor, Keho, etc based on the size of said reservoirs compared to the size of Clear. I would venture a guess that only 5-10% of the reservoirs mentioned are fished during the year, so mentioning them on a forum such as this isn't going to deplete them like it did Clear.

if you hadnt noticed so did Newell, and next year you wont be able to keep any at all. who said my big fish are from Clear? havent bothered with it for a couple years