Skinny fish are good?

[pikeman06]

Holy did you guys pick up the new alberta outdoorsmen and read that article about the walleye? I have never read such a left wing out to lunch article in all my life. Walleye walleye walleye. It's as if every fishery should be a walleye fishery at the cost of all other species. Like the walleye is the only fish on the planet. What a crock. "During the 80's and nineties catching a walleye or decent sized pike was a rare event..." what the hell are you talking about? Who are these people? Who signs their paychecks? Please pick up a copy or borrow one and read. I'm too blown away to comment any more without being banned for life.

[lakerman]

Information is knowledge and if history repeats itself, it explains a few things that I'm seeing at some local lakes and maybe now am a little bit more informed about, time will tell.

[pikeman06]

Show me your bucket of perch... Or is it all about 2 fish a year with a ten dollar tag strung thru it's gills? What a great system. In 8 years on lac saint Anne you put an extra ounce on a 45cm walleye. They fail to mention the perch stocks are wiped right out the pike are gone, beyond collapsed in a lake with a history of large healthy abundant fish dating back to the early 1900's. What a great success. We get to catch and throw back more wallies now. Right on. 30 percent of them die anyway after release. The catch rates are higher because they are frigging addicted to frozen minnows.

[pikeman06]

And ironically all these " incredible" fisheries are plagued with blue green algae all of a sudden. But that's global warming. "Minnow shoals blanketed the flats" now the minnows are gone and the algae is so thick you can't tell if it's a flat even. These alberta lakes with the exception of a few unique waterbodies in east central alberta were never meant to be walleye lakes. It's almost an invasive species type effect.

[Talking moose]

Haven’t got it yet. Who wrote the article?

[FlyTheory]

It should be “bull trout, bull trout, bull trout!” :)

[The Spank]

I’m fairly new here having moved here 5 years ago and spent limited time in Calgary in ‘80 & ‘81 working summer jobs during my last two years of high school. I fished every chance I got back then and experienced some great fishing for pike & trout within an hour and a half drive of the city. Word from co-workers and acquaintances back then was northern AB was THE place for loads of big walleye and jumbo perch. I never got the chance to experience it back then. Fast forward 32 years and I move to Lloyd. I buy my AB license, grab a regs book and start reading. Things changed in 30 years as most things do but did they ever change?!? WOW!! The restrictions on retaining a few if any fish are really something. Then I join here and read the discussions on fisheries management and it sure leaves me shaking my head. I know a walleye is gold coloured but geezus it’s not REAL GOLD??!!! I am all for maintaining a good fishery but there has to be some sensibility about it too. I’m no biologist and I sure don’t have the on water time most posting on here have but even I can see there is something very flawed in the current fisheries management, especially when certain species of fish with an abundant population reach some kind of status that tags need to be applied for to retain them. These aren’t ungulates that produce one newborn each season, these are fish that lay tens of thousands of eggs each season. It’s almost as if somebody in the upper echelon of fisheries management has their own personal agenda they want all their fellow Alberta citizens to conform to and in lieu of that will force it upon them?!
I’m glad I live on the AB/SK border. At least I have the option on my doorstep to fish SK waters should I wish to retain a few fish for a feed!

[Sammmy]

After attending the walleye and pike information meeting in St Albert, some of their points are quite valid. It all comes down to pressure in AB. Basically 375 licenses per 1 lake. Although I don't agree in over populated stunted walleye populations, local lakes would get wiped out quickly if they did open up walleye for harvest. One potential solution might be to rotate lakes for harvest while utilizing the local lakes. I know a local lake that has a lot of pressure for other species, yet walleye harvest has been denied for over 20 years. Guess what happened to all those 20 to 22 inch walleye? They all died in a summer kill 2 or 3 years ago.

[The Spank]

We used to fish areas in QC not far from my hometown in Ontario known as Zec Zones. Basically areas kind of like provincial parks but hunting was also allowed in them. You purchase your QC fishing license and if you wish to fish in a Zec zone you purchase a Zec license. The lakes within the Zecs are monitored and regulated each season on a lake by lake basis. For example Lake X in Zec 5 has walleye and smallmouth bass. It allows for a 3 walleye/3 bass daily limit. Reporting catches is mandatory on a log sheet you fill out and have at your disposal should you be checked by a CO in the Zec and then you dropped that fishing log off at a check station (trailer) usually on the main roads leading in/out of the Zec or at private outlets like gas station/tackle shop etc that are provincial license issuers. Once Lake X had reached what the QC Fish & Game dept had deemed that seasons retainable allowable harvest then Lake X would be closed either to the particular species that was affected or the entire lake would be closed, whatever they deemed necessary until the start of the next fishing season. The fishing in the Zecs was nothing short of spectacular. We (local fish & game clubs) used to push our local MNR office at public meetings to do the same but it never came to pass. It sure seemed to be a great management tool in QC. As I said fishing in the Zecs closest to where I resided was incredible and many of my own friends quit fishing at home and just camped all season in the Zec Zone and fished there all season. If memory serves though, its been a long time, lol, there was no ice fishing in the Zecs? It was an open water fishery only from May 1 until end of fall or when quotas were reached, whichever came first.

[SNAPFisher]

Holy did you guys pick up the new alberta outdoorsmen and read that article about the walleye? I have never read such a left wing out to lunch article in all my life. Walleye walleye walleye. It's as if every fishery should be a walleye fishery at the cost of all other species. Like the walleye is the only fish on the planet. What a crock. "During the 80's and nineties catching a walleye or decent sized pike was a rare event..." what the hell are you talking about? Who are these people? Who signs their paychecks? Please pick up a copy or borrow one and read. I'm too blown away to comment any more without being banned for life.

I don’t subscribe to AO magazine. Sounds like the article is similar to the one posted earlier here:

https://albertaep.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/alberta-fisheries-management-the-science-of-fish/#more-7317

If it is, please point to where it says skinny fish are good? Thanks.

Otherwise, I’m seeing a select few on here having a coronary on here over these recent pike and walleye discussions. All good but just pointing out they are all opinions. Good and bad. I’m seeing good information being shared and now a bit more with the public forums that are in progress. It’s a start and a good thing to see more information being shared. But nothing to freak out over. Relax pills are available to those that need them :)

[trophybook]

That magazine is on its last legs just like this forum

[Habfan]

Holy did you guys pick up the new alberta outdoorsmen and read that article about the walleye? I have never read such a left wing out to lunch article in all my life. Walleye walleye walleye. It's as if every fishery should be a walleye fishery at the cost of all other species. Like the walleye is the only fish on the planet. What a crock. "During the 80's and nineties catching a walleye or decent sized pike was a rare event..." what the hell are you talking about? Who are these people? Who signs their paychecks? Please pick up a copy or borrow one and read. I'm too blown away to comment any more without being banned for life.

I have been sending E- Mails to the ESRD for years with complaints about fishery management ! Heavily stocking lakes, then closing them down for retention, only to have them die of old age or eat everything in the lake so nothing else survives. A nudist swim night in a local pool gets 17,000 signatures to stop it, but X amount of fisherman stand by while the province ruins this fishery. I don’t know what to do about it, I think this government uses our money on things that don’t have a thing to do with resource development !

[pikeman06]

It's in the January issue. It's written by Dr. Michael Sullivan, Provincial Fisheries Scientist, alberta environment and parks, and Bill Patterson. , M.SC. , Provincial Fisheries Allocation Biologist, Alberta environment and parks. Absolutely the most wrong minded, poorly worded crock of you know what that I have ever read. Please take the time to read it a couple times. Especially you guys and gals that were born here. Holy smokes. It's like killing all the deer to protect the wolves kinda smart. Mind blowing.