ive never fished elkhorn, probably never will so i cant even begin to speak with any knowledge of that creek. but i can relate to the destruction of a top notch smallmouth stream due to overfishing and the negative impact of a lot of foot traffic. ive watched a southern kentucky smallmouth stream go from unbelievable days where you would catch 40+ smallmouth anywhere from 10" to 15+". ive NEVER kept a single fish from this creek....not one. and then the Amish found it (and no im not an amish hater lol), in 2 years this creek had been hammered to the point where catching a single smallmouth of any size was a small miracle.
obviously the amish assault wasnt a result of the internet, but the assault had the same negative impact as any extreme pressure would have on any body of water.
i wont quote or paste an article by the state of maryland dnr but a study on small stream smallmouths revealed that it takes approximately 6 years for a smallmouth to reach 12+ inches, the flyers in the study population were credited to cyclic food sources.
its unfortunate that we have to be so careful about sharing our success with others, i love seeing other peoples fishing or hunting photos, but when i look at the pics all i do is congratulate them on their good day, i dont run to the house as fast as i can to grab a pole and run straight to the "spot" where they caught those fish, i dont think most people do.....but i do think there are enough that do just that , and sometimes thats enough to ruin it
just my $.02, put another $.73 with it and you still dont have enough to buy anything
