I have been going to Touchwood lake for nearly 15 years now and I can agree that Pike fishing (walleye has always been 0) has drastically decreased over time. However, that being said I can tell you all that catching a Pike that is over 63cm was never an issue. Obviously some days were slower, but if we went out for the weekend, we would end up catching a minimum of 1 for dinner.
Considering the sheer size and depth of Touchwood, there are a lot of places for Pike to hide/sit during the day. I really do not agree with the closure of this lake considering how beautiful the campground and the clarity of water.
Like many lakes, there are gonna be spots where the fishing is better and the fishing is worse. Like here, I can tell you there are definitely spots where all youll catch are pistols and there are other spots where you will catch 80cm+. Its really a shame because we would come out to this lake to get away from the city and to catch and keep (to eat) some fish. Now theres no point in traveling 300+km to a lake that has no possession (burbot/whitefish are not possible to catch during summer and perch barely exist unless you know the right spots
), the fee of camping being 26$ per day and just last year you had to start paying for firewood.