I too have noticed a decline in really big trout along with it being harder to catch any size trout out of BL. Granted I don't fish BL year round but have been fishing there for over thirty years. I do believe there were far more trout of all sizes in the lake in those early years..including your 8-9lbers. Catching was far easier back then compared to what it takes to put a limit in the boat today. Why? Fishing pressure pure and simple along with reef destruction. The less structure you have in that lake the more fish will compete over them until the structure can no longer sustain that many fish. The more reefs, the more fish and with more fish the percentage survival rate of larger fish will increase.
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