[Rippinlips]

This question came up last year at one of the Game & Fish roundtable meetings. Who prioritizes which lake and what improvements? At the meeting last year, there was mention of a new ramada being built at Canyon. I asked who decides on these things? I said Canyon already had all the best stuff... primo campgrounds, ramps, docks, etc., and that Saguaro had broken docks, dock bumpers, etc.
Last year was a tough year for AGFD. If you remember, our gov was thinking about taking money from the Heritage Fund. AGFD at one time had a little surplus left over from the year before. It wasn't really a surplus, it was monies allocated already to projects that had been in the works for a couple years. If the gov took the Heritage Fund $$$, that'd also wipe out the surplus. At that point, the only other cutbacks AGFD would face would be cutting people. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
If I have this straight, AGFD allocates funds to the Forest Service to maintain the docks, ramps and create improvements. The improvements are based on lake usage. When asked who is the biggest contributor of the monies allocated (boaters, picnickers, campers, etc.), there was no definite answer. I don't think they know who uses the lakes most. As a result of that meeting, AGFD put the pressure on the Forest Service to get the broken docks fixed at Saguaro and gave them a reasonable deadline to have the repair done. Unfortunately, it took a kid stepping into a broken board at ramp 2 and hurting his ankle to step up the pressure on the Forest Service to do the work.
In reality, how would you put a 6 lane ramp at Saguaro? I don't think it could happen. Number one: where would they put it without cutting into a mountain or parking (which is already lacking)? Number two: where would the funds come from? That would be a very expensive project. Number three: to extend the ramps, water has to be released. Saguaro is the last lake on the chain, so that water would basically be flushed down the toilet into the river system and eventually the canals (unless SRP pumped the water back into Canyon and Apache during the construction). There was mention about putting synthetic boards on the docks at some point to eliminate the rotting wood boards. I don't know if that's still a thought or not.
I totally agree with you though! Maybe this would make an awesome agenda item at the next roundtable meeting in December. In the meantime, if you have issues, contact any AGFD office and ask for the person to contact regarding your concerns.
By the way, did you happen to launch yesterday morning about 5:30 and have a black & silver bass boat? If so, we launched around the same time.

 

[Rippinlips]

I agree 100%. And I also believe Saguaro should get major attention at the next roundtable. Saguaro always gets skirted and never gets on the agenda. Since it seems like 90% of the posters fish Pleasant and Saguaro, and all the issues (and the focus of AGFD surveys) at the meetings deal with Pleasant, it's time Saguaro's issues get addressed. I'm not for upgrading and extending the ramps either. Let's just fix what's broken. Just my opinion.

 

[Rippinlips]

Delw, I really could care less anymore about the skiiers and boarders. Some of the no-wake areas that were added last year worked wonders to keep the hostilities down. I've even found a couple great ways to use em to my fishing advantage.
Enforcement's still an issue, but that's separate from what I'm talking about. People will always push things because they know they can. I still won't drop the enforcement issues though. Somebody's going to get killed out there someday.
The things I'm talking about are what Denny mentioned. That fishery has been ignored by AGFD for years. They have no idea of the fish populations or size in that lake. And like Denny said, it's getting tougher by far to catch those big fish. Is it the fishing pressure the lake is getting or is it that people unknowingly take the big fish home for dinner and are taking the big genes out? I personally believe that within 2 to 3 years, there won't be many big fish left. Saguaro is a lot smaller than Pleasant, so yes, it's only because of the pressure and the lake size that everyone fishes the same spots. It almost can't be helped!
If there was to be a "trophy lake", Saguaro should be it. The big bass in Canyon have water a lot deeper with structure that's a lot harder to fish. The big fish there will survive. The bass in Saguaro won't. I've talked to a lot of people in the last few months that had no clue about big fish/big genes. What about the guy in the paper last year? He caught an 11 and two 10's in one morning. I saw the Polaroid he took to Liar's Korner holding them on a stringer in his backyard. When he went to Liar's, he asked how much Richard thought they'd cost to mount. When Richard told him about $500 apiece, he left. He'd killed 3 big fish. Unless some regs are put into place, or until AGFD starts conducting surveys on Saguaro and not just Pleasant, Saguaro is in danger of becoming another small fish lake where you'll be happy to catch a 2 pounder. I've never caught as many dinks in that lake as I've caught this year. And they're slamming big bass baits!

Denny, I'm all for those meetings. Just tell me when and where.