Cold lake open water season 2024.

[CBintheNorth]

Originally Posted by -JR-

I agree , as soon as a fish hits 65 cm its going to get taken,just like what happened a few years ago . I would rather see that lake full of 65 and bigger fish just so a guy can go to a lake and catch nothing but big fish all day .
That would really put Cold lake on the map .
Right now we don't need the smaller size fish 55-60.
In one year ,that lake will be fished out of lakers 65-70 .
All the bigger fish 70 and up will just get netted out .

The 65-70 was chosen as studies done show that lake trout of that size in Cold Lake have had an opportunity to spawn 1-2 times.

[-JR-]

Originally Posted by CBintheNorth

The 65-70 was chosen as studies done show that lake trout of that size in Cold Lake have had an opportunity to spawn 1-2 times.

This is why they should not remove them from the lake .
Leave the breeders alone .Take the much smaller fish as they taste better as 58thecat said .
I have been fishing this lake for over 40 years . Only 10% of the fish are over 65 cm .
My normal catch on a 8 hrs trip is around 50 fish . Only 4- 5 of those fish are over 65 cm . And now they want to remove them from the lake . I heard nothing about them doing a catch survey whats in that lake . They just asked the public to vote what size they would like to bring home .

They should not even take out the fish 60 and over .
The best slot size should be 55 -60 .
This way more fish will come up every year to be harvested and at the same time the fishermen will have more fun catching bigger fish all day that they can release.

[Mad_On_Fishing]

although i completely agree with taking the smaller fish for most species, i do somewhat agree with the larger limit size requirements on cold lake and now pierce lake.

The successful release rate for larger lake trout is quite low with many anglers not knowing how to properly handle them (i see all too many people picking up 15+lb's by the gills and weighing the fish by the gills as well, not knowing how to burp the fish and i see their fish belly up 4 minutes later 100' away from where it was released.

Education is definitely key in this matter to help increase the successful release rate of these fish and ensure they live 40+ more years breeding monsters.