Don’t be surprised if opening weekend is uncomfortable. The lake fishes small! 26 miles of shoreline sounds good until you do the math. 250 boats launched, 40 rental bass boats, 10 pontoon boats for a total of 300 boats. That’s 457 feet of shoreline for each boat, or 228 feet in either direction.

If there are 2 people per boat and each angler catches 20 fish, after 3 days of fishing the total fish caught for 300 boats is 36,000 fish. I have read the bass population is estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 fish (someone please correct me if the aforementioned numbers are wrong). It will not take long for these Florida strain bass to get educated.

Also, to get 70 boats launched on Saturday took approximately 1 hour. They had pontoon boats tied to the docks, which lessoned the number of available lanes. If this is the norm you can do the math and figure how long it will take to launch 250 boats.

Happy Fishing

Henry

Great insight, I like the way you think. I'm definitely expecting a cluster F#$% on opening morning. The way I look at the whole thing is will this lake be better or worse than the lakes I currently target for big bass (murray, dixon, poway, wohlford, etc)? I think in the long run it will definitely be better. The first year or so it will be pretty barrett style, but not many super big ones. In 3 or 4 years I think no matter how much that lake gets pounded (look at how much pressure casitas, murray, poway etc have taken over the years and years and years) in those couple years the big fish at that lake simply aren't going to be as smart as the ones I'm currently fishing for.

I'm no fisheries biologist but the way I understand it is that the super big fish in our current lakes got that big by dumber fish continually being caught and killed over the years and thinning out the gene pool until only the smartest of the smart are left, as well as the fish being exposed to boats and lures and becoming conditioned not to eat at times. Hense the difficulty of catching a 10lber today. You can read stories from back in the day of how easy it used to be to catch 10lbers at casitas and castaic etc. But years and years of education and thinning the gene pool lead to where we are today. I really don't think 3 or 4 years of pressure at DVL is going to equal 25 years (maybe even more like 35) of pressure at casitas, no matter how intense it is.

Of course this is coming from the perspective of "I am after the biggest fish, not the most fish".

The funny thing about discussing DVL is that nobody knows what's going to happen. It's all speculation. There's never been anything done like this in our state that I'm aware of. We're all gonna have to see what happens and C&R along the way to help the process.

I've heard that the first 15 years of a lake are generally it's best years due to the high amount of minerals and nutrients that come from the flooded plant life and what not. Much like the way fishing picks up when a lake that's been down for awhile fills back up and the nutrients from the new life that grew on the banks restores life in the lake.

Interesting topic, I can't wait to fish it and see what happens with that lake in the years to come. One thing's for sure, we couldn't have asked for much more as far as the planning of the fishery itself. This lake has a lot of potential, I hope it grows some real giants as predicted.
-Brian

btw- I did the math, at that rate it would take 4.86 hours to launch 250 boats, hahaha, let's hope they have a better system... I guess I'll get there early :P

there is no such thing as a magical lake...a lake where everyone catches fish every cast. Sometimes you just gotta admit that there are too many fishermen...maybe im wrong though

I think most will experience a serious change in the bite with all of the new pressure the fish will be facing. It will be a whole new world for them in the coming weeks. The bite will change and get tougher, but that may or may not have more to do with the fish starting to move into their deep, tighter lipped winter patterns over the course of the next month or so. The real test will be in the spring when the fish move up again. I would bet they are already starting a transitional phase.

Henry,
You're dead on I think. I was talking to Brian and CJ this week about how it seems like that place will fish small because there isn't that much shore and the banks are steep. I'm not saying I wouldn't go if I lived nearby, but it's already a recipie for a tough lake in the making. Pure floridas, clear deep water, fishes small with not a lot of flats and offshore stuff. I give credit to the guys managing it for setting it up nice, but humans are the experts when it comes to taking a good fishery and making it a tough one. That's just the way things are. It's too bad there aren't 5 Diamond Valleys opening, just to spread everyone around. That's what makes for good lakes. Low pressure.

There has been a lot of suspect numbers being thrown around about DVL. My favorite outdoor writer stated (in a recent WON piece) that the bass per acre at DVL is less than San V and other lakes from particular times. The instant someone starts talking about bass per surface acre, take into account the topography of the lake before panicking. A more suitable way to measure population would be to look at bass per shoreline mile, or even bass per acre of water that is 60 feet deep or less(typical bass supporting levels). DVL has 26 miles of shoreline, so a simple statement would be that it supports over 1,700 catchable bass(over 12 inches) per mile of shoreline. Of course there are structures that extend into the lake that bass will relate to, way off the shoreline, but this equation is a little more accurate than the bass per surface acre approach. Not many bass hanging out in 200 feet of water, a mile away from the bank.

As to the numbers of bass caught in the opening days, weeks, months etc. A figure like 78% of the bass population will be caught if every boat catches 20 fish is ridiculous. There are going to be thousands of bass who exhibit the "stupid" trait, and are caught ten times before another bass is caught once. Like Brian said, the smaller fish exhibit a more aggressive trait due to competiton for food. These fish will be the most likely to bite, and be taken away. Angling pressure will bear this out as many fishermen find out that in DVL, like any other lake, 90% of the bass will be doing the same thing(which usually isn't that easy for occassional anglers to figure out).

BTW- I'd love to give another boat my 457 feet of shoreline, as I back off the bank a little and hit the 90% of the bass hanging out in 30-40 feet. That was the primary pattern for those who fished the millionaires opener last week...LOL. things could change this week, but probably won't. Plastics, jigs and spoons. But of course my EFI is black-balled, so if I ever get out there it will be as a backseater.

Hey Chris, you can fish with me in my boat , in the front that is. Put me in the back so I can learn a little. Just remember the offer is always there; I can always stand to learn something from a pro.

>those who fished the millionaires opener last week

haha, nice. Come on now chris, you know your calfishing brethren wouldn't leave you in the gutters of Dominigoni Parkway, you got a spot on my boat, but I get the trolling motor :P
-Brian