Wabamun Lake: Where are the big fish?

[mrluke1]

I’ve been fishing Wabamun a fair amount this summer and all I seem to pull out are small pike and walleye with the odd medium sized walleye. I’ve heard from many people that there are still big pike in this fishery. Does anyone know what kind of structure I should be looking for? Is there a part of the lake that they like best?

[Fishwhere]

Uh oh - danger zone question...

Lots of previous posts on this same type of question here and then it leads to rants - myself included.

[RavYak]

There aren't that many big fish anymore. You can probably find the odd one but not like it used to be. To increase your chance you need to target them. Big pike are usually a little bit deeper and stick to structure more then small pike, they also prefer bigger meals so don't be afraid to throw larger lures.

[thorne]

Or just save yourself the hassle and go fish Sask. Still some nice pike there!

[kayaker]

The recovering population is mostly younger fish form the reestablishment efforts.

The FIN assessments graph age class distributions:

Wabamun: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/85cef93b-f377-4f38-8a00-efc006c02601/resource/6ad38fe8-4ee6-4f15-8d0e-49858101da34/download/wabamunlake-fallindexnettingreport-2015.pdf

[mooseknuckle]

I’ve been fishing Wabamun a fair amount this summer and all I seem to pull out are small pike and walleye with the odd medium sized walleye. I’ve heard from many people that there are still big pike in this fishery. Does anyone know what kind of structure I should be looking for? Is there a part of the lake that they like best?

If you've been fishing it a fair amount.... then keep exploring. Not a huge lake. I've had some decent success this summer, when the small walleye aren't stealing the hook. Best this summer was 19lbs 4oz, couple in the 15lb range and half dozen over 10. And 8,000,000,000,000 walleye!!

[HookedOnKokanee]

-- the big pike are still there, they didn't jump out on the Jasper Highway and hitched a ride somewhere

-- previous posts are on the money, BIG pike live in the deepest part of the lake during the summer, they can't stand warmer water, except to eat in

-- deep drop offs to great feeding locations are a place to start

-- pike from 10 to 20 pounds eat one or two Big meals and then sit and digest

-- many anglers do not realize:confused: home deep pike will go in the summer months, depths to 40 feet and consistently from 20 to 30

-- if you want some great tips, just go to the 2019 Albert Guide to Sport Fishing Regulations, that's the magazine that no one ever looks at?!

-- pages 102 to 103:test:, written by Wes David, you don't have one it is online or go to Canadian Tire and pick one up

Tight Lines

doyle

[RavYak]

-- the big pike are still there, they didn't jump out on the Jasper Highway and hitched a ride somewhere

No but they have died from handling and natural causes while the stunted younger pike fail to replace them.

Ever since the walleye introduction the pike population has been struggling. A bunch of younger pike died off and the population is now recovering.

[pikeman06]

It is a textbook example of a gene pool that goes back to the days of the gold rush that produces large pike that grew fast because of the whitefish population and available forage. When that gets disrupted by the introduction of millions of secondary predators that instantly wipe out any fry of the pike and whites and perch not to mention the minnows and basically anything that swims, your fishery collapses due to the gross imbalance. Where and when in our alberta lakes would our existing walleye have 10 MILLION offspring that make it thru to fingerling or beyond in a single years spawn? Never. When the minnows were thick in our fertile lakes next thing you know the perch would have a couple good spawns....okay lots of small perch around all of a sudden... whammy...every where you go on shore there's baby pike darting out of the shallow weeds. Walleyes never were super abundant for a reason. Not overfishin, it was because the lake could only handle so many, so mother nature decided if our lakes could handle the ultimate predator (walleye). Not many could which was why we had good pike, whitefish, and perch lakes despite the large limits. You had year classes that were strong and weak for obvious reasons. Drought etc. Someone way smarter than mother nature took it upon themselves to introduce a huge amount of fish at the wrong time and plain and simple the fish are starved out. That's why they don't reproduce worth a dang because the fry dont have a hope in hell. I've been booted off this forum for voicing my opinion on this matter. Saskatchewan fishery managers claim higher limits actually boost recruitment because of abundant forage....if there's a bunch of food then mother nature will balance herself with strong year classes. Either you get it or you don't. If you weren't here in the 70's and 80's to see what wabamun and pigeon and sylvan and gull never mind the bonnyville area was like, you don't have a horse in this race.

[mrluke1]

-- the big pike are still there, they didn't jump out on the Jasper Highway and hitched a ride somewhere



-- previous posts are on the money, BIG pike live in the deepest part of the lake during the summer, they can't stand warmer water, except to eat in



-- deep drop offs to great feeding locations are a place to start



-- pike from 10 to 20 pounds eat one or two Big meals and then sit and digest



-- many anglers do not realize:confused: home deep pike will go in the summer months, depths to 40 feet and consistently from 20 to 30



-- if you want some great tips, just go to the 2019 Albert Guide to Sport Fishing Regulations, that's the magazine that no one ever looks at?!



-- pages 102 to 103:test:, written by Wes David, you don't have one it is online or go to Canadian Tire and pick one up



Tight Lines



doyle



Thanks for the response. Very helpful. I just bought my first little boat and have have been fishing and learning a lot this summer. Any recommendations for lures or bait rigs? Do you use big still baits? I don’t know how to get my lure down deep enough to target them. Feel free to send me a PM.

[SNAPFisher]

Thanks for the response. Very helpful. I just bought my first little boat and have have been fishing and learning a lot this summer. Any recommendations for lures or bait rigs? Do you use big still baits? I don’t know how to get my lure down deep enough to target them. Feel free to send me a PM.

MrLuke, glad you received some good responses. Personally, I just ignore the out of context and wall of text responses. :)

I don't target pike much anymore but when I did I most often used a spinner with a decent sized weight on the rig. It worked like a charm at Seibert lake. Sometimes I nailed big pike alone but many times I would have a walleye on with a big pike latched onto the walleye. With the decent sized weight, say 3/4 to 1 ounce, you can definitely get down there. Tipped with a minnow or something larger if you are keeping to targeting larger fish alone. 20-40 FOW is no problem for a spinner setup. I typically run it inches above the bottom and make the odd contact with the bottom. To do this you run a bit slower on the troll so an electric motor is more versatile. If you have gas only, no problem. Troll at the slowest speed, increase the weight and let out more line. For this setup, a braided line as your main line is better. You can feel every tick of a rock and hit.

I'm not sure if you've tried this technique before but I would recommend it if you haven't.

[mrluke1]

MrLuke, glad you received some good responses. Personally, I just ignore the out of context and wall of text responses. :)



I don't target pike much anymore but when I did I most often used a spinner with a decent sized weight on the rig. It worked like a charm at Seibert lake. Sometimes I nailed big pike alone but many times I would have a walleye on with a big pike latched onto the walleye. With the decent sized weight, say 3/4 to 1 ounce, you can definitely get down there. Tipped with a minnow or something larger if you are keeping to targeting larger fish alone. 20-40 FOW is no problem for a spinner setup. I typically run it inches above the bottom and make the odd contact with the bottom. To do this you run a bit slower on the troll so an electric motor is more versatile. If you have gas only, no problem. Troll at the slowest speed, increase the weight and let out more line. For this setup, a braided line as your main line is better. You can feel every tick of a rock and hit.



I'm not sure if you've tried this technique before but I would recommend it if you haven't.



I just bought some spinner rigs the other day so I will have to give them a try. I also have an old trolling motor that I use when I’m out there. What would you say is the ideal speed to troll at? Do you just slide the weight on above the spinner rig swivel?

[SNAPFisher]

I just bought some spinner rigs the other day so I will have to give them a try. I also have an old trolling motor that I use when I’m out there. What would you say is the ideal speed to troll at? Do you just slide the weight on above the spinner rig swivel?

Yep, weight above the spinner. If I'm fishing pike I usually have a metal leader with the clip so put the weight on the clip then the rig. Weight will hit before the rig almost 100% of the time. Especially if the ones you bought have a floating part which most do. I'm trolling to stay in contact with the bottom so it varies but 1 to 1.5 km/hr on average.

Good luck!

[Smoky buck]

I lack experience on Wabamun but do target pike

Want big pike think musky style baits big crankbaits, big swimbaits, big bucktails and big spinner baits. There is big crankbaits that will get down to depth on their own but weights or dipsy divers/jet divers work. There is also heavy swimbaits that can get down if worked right

You need a rod/reel set up to handle this gear as most of these lures will start at 3oz and up to one pound if you want a work out

[-JR-]

They are all still there. Your must be fishing at the wrong time of day.
I find the big pike eat very early in the morning before the sun comes up as they need to digest their food all day long. They are also feeding on large bait .
Mostly walleye . I caught a reg size walleye this summer just to find a large pike decided to hang on to the side of the walleye. he let go as i was going for the camera.

[cube]

-- the big pike are still there, they didn't jump out on the Jasper Highway and hitched a ride somewhere

-- previous posts are on the money, BIG pike live in the deepest part of the lake during the summer, they can't stand warmer water, except to eat in

-- deep drop offs to great feeding locations are a place to start

-- pike from 10 to 20 pounds eat one or two Big meals and then sit and digest

-- many anglers do not realize:confused: home deep pike will go in the summer months, depths to 40 feet and consistently from 20 to 30

-- if you want some great tips, just go to the 2019 Albert Guide to Sport Fishing Regulations, that's the magazine that no one ever looks at?!

-- pages 102 to 103:test:, written by Wes David, you don't have one it is online or go to Canadian Tire and pick one up

Tight Lines

doyle

Just wanted to point out that Wab has a large fetch compared to depth and hence is iso thermal. That is to say the water temps, out side the very shallow areas are the same from top to bottom.

With a large fetch and shallow lake no stable thermocline forms. At the fist bit of wind the lake mixes from top to bottom and goes iso thermal except in the winter when ice stops the wind from mixing the water column.

[Alberta Bigbore]

Is there plans on opening walleye to a harvest limit or a tag system at least?

[RavYak]

Is there plans on opening walleye to a harvest limit or a tag system at least?

I asked bios about this during meeting a couple years back because I was hoping they would open it up to help pike population from further collapse. They said Wab would never be open to normal regs, maybe an outside chance of tags at some point but that won't happen until there is a good population of larger fish and from what I understand they are still mostly stunted.

[Alberta Bigbore]

I asked bios about this during meeting a couple years back because I was hoping they would open it up to help pike population from further collapse. They said Wab would never be open to normal regs, maybe an outside chance of tags at some point but that won't happen until there is a good population of larger fish and from what I understand they are still mostly stunted.

I dont see large walleye happening. Bazillion walleye sized right for the pan

[last minute]

I’ve been fishing Wabamun a fair amount this summer and all I seem to pull out are small pike and walleye with the odd medium sized walleye. I’ve heard from many people that there are still big pike in this fishery. Does anyone know what kind of structure I should be looking for? Is there a part of the lake that they like best?What is a big pike to you !!!!

[Bushleague]

I’ve been fishing Wabamun a fair amount this summer and all I seem to pull out are small pike and walleye with the odd medium sized walleye. I’ve heard from many people that there are still big pike in this fishery. Does anyone know what kind of structure I should be looking for? Is there a part of the lake that they like best?

The big Wabamun pike are back in 2002 ish. When the power plant gave those pike a 12 month growing season they got big, now that's over and the lake is just like every other over pressured lake in central Alberta.

Under normal conditions Pike this far north grow slowly, the only reason they ever get big is due to low fishing pressure.

[expedition]

The big Wabamun pike are back in 2002 ish. When the power plant gave those pike a 12 month growing season they got big, now that's over and the lake is just like every other over pressured lake in central Alberta.

Under normal conditions Pike this far north grow slowly, the only reason they ever get big is due to low fishing pressure.

Well said

[does it ALL outdoors]

I've had some decent success this summer, when the small walleye aren't stealing the hook. Best this summer was 19lbs 4oz, couple in the 15lb range

A 19 pounder is pretty impressive, didn't think they still got that big in there since all the plants closing and the introduction of Walleye's, nicely done! :happy0180:

A little ff topic but at Lac St. Anne today and was really surprised at the number of big & fat Walleye's in there. The big fattys seem to be growing in numbers quickly.

[HookedOnKokanee]

-- instead of writing about it, I went and proved it this weekend

-- I am 60 years old now, but when I was 10 to 25 I chased nothing but big pike

-- started with my Grand Father talking me out in all the reservoirs around the Hat

-- during that time we caught big, I mean big pike, we were using braid back then but it wasn't called that, and many, many big pike were caught and the numbers

-- once I was fishing on my own, my attentions turned to walleye and kokanee, for the next 35 years:snapoutofit:

-- so I found myself down on Newell on the long weekend

-- most of the weekend was spent chasing the monster walleye in Newell

-- then on the last two hours of fishing before heading back to Red Deer (Sunday), I remembered this thread

-- so I looked at the wife and said, "we are going to fish for pike" she thought I lost my mind

-- anyways it was non stop for pike, using my own advice, as my grandpa taught me, as stated above and using the biggest Len Thompson lures you can get

-- I tried hard to stay another day but the wife said no way:fighting0074:, even though so had the time of her life, anyone that fish for pike know how hard they hit when you are trolling, I forgot what a rush that is/was!!

-- Newell has as many walleye as any other lake, perch, whitefish and ling and this lake is fine:love0025:

-- so the big pike are still in any lake, just have to know where to fish based on the time of year

-- at Newell, I found the drop that went from 50, to 40, to 30, to 20 and trolled in 17 to 9 feet of water adjacent to these drops, s-turns, speed up and down and snapping the rods ... just what grandpa taught me so many years ago

-- I think I am hooked again on pike:sHa_shakeshout:, it was time to give the walleyes and kokanees a break anyways hahaha

[RavYak]

Um Newel isn’t Wab and no the big pike aren’t always in a lake...

I love how there are always random people on the internet that have never fished a lake that will argue it is probably as good as it used to be when all the people that used to fish the lake almost every weekend argue otherwise. You guys should go work for fisheries if you don’t already, you would fit in perfectly...

You can see the beginning of the decline when comparing 2015 netting, https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/85cef93b-f377-4f38-8a00-efc006c02601/resource/6ad38fe8-4ee6-4f15-8d0e-49858101da34/download/wabamunlake-fallindexnettingreport-2015.pdf

To 2013 netting, https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/a273931e-17ca-4439-b8b6-aa60d8fc15e6/resource/2701dd98-dd0a-4ef5-b2c7-e5519f046c51/download/wabamunlake-fallindexnettingreport-2013.pdf

I wish they would hurry up and net it again, guess they are waiting until the lake has a chance to recover.

[HookedOnKokanee]

-- it is comments like yours, makes other people not wanting to post anything:fighting0074:

-- it appears that you have never, ever fished any real fishing tournaments except some kayak thing on the coast and locally:test:

-- if you fished both the northern and southern walleye tournaments you would know the facts about fish populations and the density of the fish

-- at one of the southern reservoirs just after the tournament had concluded, fish and game were doing test netting in only ONE area of the reservoir

-- at the camp ground they were question, they said, "based on today's results they "government" will make a decision about this reservoir, and the netting numbers were lower than the year before"

-- the tournament anglers had no problem catching numbers of everything during the tournament, even though it was a walleye tournament, jumbo perch and healthy pike

-- want to guess where they were test netting?

-- prime spawning areas for pike/walleye/perch, not surprising they said the results were way down based on the netting that day, spawning took place months previous, any surprise?

-- don't believe what you read!

-- and I have fished Wab, do you think I post and make up stories, and yes I have caught big pike, you just have to know what you are doing

-- my best pike lures are between 6 to 10 inches long, about the same size as your kayak

-- next time you what to insult someone,:fighting0030: do it in person, unless you are one of those keyboard warriors, continue on

-- save your words this is a rhetorical comment:bad_boys_20:

-- thank you

[wind drift]

-- it is comments like yours, makes other people not wanting to post anything:fighting0074:

-- it appears that you have never, ever fished any real fishing tournaments except some kayak thing on the coast and locally:test:

-- if you fished both the northern and southern walleye tournaments you would know the facts about fish populations and the density of the fish

-- at one of the southern reservoirs just after the tournament had concluded, fish and game were doing test netting in only ONE area of the reservoir

-- at the camp ground they were question, they said, "based on today's results they "government" will make a decision about this reservoir, and the netting numbers were lower than the year before"

-- the tournament anglers had no problem catching numbers of everything during the tournament, even though it was a walleye tournament, jumbo perch and healthy pike

-- want to guess where they were test netting?

-- prime spawning areas for pike/walleye/perch, not surprising they said the results were way down based on the netting that day, spawning took place months previous, any surprise?

-- don't believe what you read!

-- and I have fished Wab, do you think I post and make up stories, and yes I have caught big pike, you just have to know what you are doing

-- my best pike lures are between 6 to 10 inches long, about the same size as your kayak

-- next time you what to insult someone,:fighting0030: do it in person, unless you are one of those keyboard warriors, continue on

-- save your words this is a rhetorical comment:bad_boys_20:

-- thank you

Fish and Game doesn’t do the netting. The methods section of the survey reports indicates that the net locations are randomized within depth zones. The timing of the surveys also coincides with the fall season and the breakdown of thermoclines and avoidance of events like spawning periods, etc. that create seasonal fish concentrations. Not being argumentative, just pointing out some relevant facts as I see them.

[RavYak]

The first insult was your original post discrediting the people that actually know what has happened at Wab...

-- so the big pike are still in any lake, just have to know where to fish based on the time of year

I cut out the rest but it was a long spiel about how if you are a hotshot fisherman like yourself then catching big fish anywhere isn't a problem...

Anyone that knows me knows I disagree with the netting procedures, especially for pike. There are tons of posts on here to back that up... In Wab's case they are indicative of what happened though(most significantly the drop in middle sized fish).

Fisheries argues the decline shown in the 2015 netting was within statistical error. They also claimed the primary cause of pike mortality at Wab is due to C&R fishing which to them was clear by the dead fish that were washing up on shore. Part of that may be true since the fish were starving at that time and they didn't even fight let alone have energy to recover... Here are just a few starving fish caught in a single day of fishing when things were crashing. I have a few hundred more photos from both before the crash and during if you would prefer to see some actual data rather than arguing hypothetically based on your fishing trip to a different lake...

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140003.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140007.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140010.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140015.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140020.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb267/murtyl/P8140026.jpg

[Kim473]

Catch and release kills fish. introduction of walleye = not enough feed for other fish. IMO neither are good for any and all fish. JMO.

[elk eater]

It is a textbook example of a gene pool that goes back to the days of the gold rush that produces large pike that grew fast because of the whitefish population and available forage. When that gets disrupted by the introduction of millions of secondary predators that instantly wipe out any fry of the pike and whites and perch not to mention the minnows and basically anything that swims, your fishery collapses due to the gross imbalance. Where and when in our alberta lakes would our existing walleye have 10 MILLION offspring that make it thru to fingerling or beyond in a single years spawn? Never. When the minnows were thick in our fertile lakes next thing you know the perch would have a couple good spawns....okay lots of small perch around all of a sudden... whammy...every where you go on shore there's baby pike darting out of the shallow weeds. Walleyes never were super abundant for a reason. Not overfishin, it was because the lake could only handle so many, so mother nature decided if our lakes could handle the ultimate predator (walleye). Not many could which was why we had good pike, whitefish, and perch lakes despite the large limits. You had year classes that were strong and weak for obvious reasons. Drought etc. Someone way smarter than mother nature took it upon themselves to introduce a huge amount of fish at the wrong time and plain and simple the fish are starved out. That's why they don't reproduce worth a dang because the fry dont have a hope in hell. I've been booted off this forum for voicing my opinion on this matter. Saskatchewan fishery managers claim higher limits actually boost recruitment because of abundant forage....if there's a bunch of food then mother nature will balance herself with strong year classes. Either you get it or you don't. If you weren't here in the 70's and 80's to see what wabamun and pigeon and sylvan and gull never mind the bonnyville area was like, you don't have a horse in this race.


Welll now !!!! If you don’t have lots of small walleye how do you sell tags and make profits. Here’s a question. If Lac ste Anne and Lake Isle have walleye populations that were strong enough to allow for walleye to be transported to Wab. And the C class tag is never sold out for LacSte Anne then why are these lakes not open to general catch limits of walleye? Answer cause that don’t make profits !!! Honestly how long do we think it will be till pike tags come into effect ? The 70s and 80s are gone. They found a way to make make profits above and beyond license sales. I bet Wabamun is the first lake to be slapped with pike tags and walleye tags. I’m guessing 2021. Brace for impact people.

[pikeman06]

Welll now !!!! If you don’t have lots of small walleye how do you sell tags and make profits. Here’s a question. If Lac ste Anne and Lake Isle have walleye populations that were strong enough to allow for walleye to be transported to Wab. And the C class tag is never sold out for LacSte Anne then why are these lakes not open to general catch limits of walleye? Answer cause that don’t make profits !!! Honestly how long do we think it will be till pike tags come into effect ? The 70s and 80s are gone. They found a way to make make profits above and beyond license sales. I bet Wabamun is the first lake to be slapped with pike tags and walleye tags. I’m guessing 2021. Brace for impact people. Bahaha. It's the same ol stubborn dyed in the wool supporters of "how to roast a good fishery 101" Sheesh you'd almost think they had a vested interest in this mess or something....🤔. Pretty sure they do. If feeding starving stocked walleyes frozen minnows is their idea of walleye angling then let them wallow in it. Yard a hundred a day out of 23 ft of water if that's what a good healthy fishery means to you and if you think that's the ethical thing to do to a collapsed population of fish. Fill yer boots. Just need a winter kill to clean these lakes right out. They'd never be stocked like that again.

[riderprider]

I’m not saying it’s like the glory days of the early 2000s but last night we had a 20+ Lb northern (and I’m for sure being modest) tbone a 1lb walleye. It held on for about a minute then let go. Plus two other 10+ take swipes at other walleye. It’s obviously a body of water that produces big fish and it will eventually balance itself.

[EZM]

Rav has fished that lake alot and what he says about the populations of larger pike is bang on. I saw him out there all the time - so like him, hate him, whatever, he speaks the truth.

I, too, fished that lake for 20 years, probably 50-60 days a year and it is not the same in terms of quality of pike nor size of pike period. This is inarguable.

I didn't forget to catch pike, I didn't all of a sudden change what I know - the fishery just changed by the hand of man with the introduction of millions of competitors for food.

It is known that even large pike get a significant portion of their food from smaller forage fish, they don't JUST eat big fish, they eat anything as an opportunistic feeder. Yes, they do eat big meals and sit at the bottom of drop and don't expend energy like smaller fish, but they still eat forage.

The bottom line is the introduction of walleye added to the decline of forage for pike leading to more starvation, stunting and a decline in population.

Not 10 years ago, literally, 1 in 10 pike were over 5 lbs and 1 in 20 around that 10 lbs size.

You would catch 100 pike a day.

If you fished for a couple days, you definitely caught a few pike in the 15-16 lbs range and an occasional one at or above 20 lbs.

That isn't the lake anymore.

Sure, there probably a few big pike, but the age/size class is different.

You now catch 100 walleyes, a dozen pike, and 11 of those pike look like they need another sandwich or two.

Not the same. period.

[JohninAB]

Rav has fished that lake alot and what he says about the populations of larger pike is bang on. I saw him out there all the time - so like him, hate him, whatever, he speaks the truth.

I, too, fished that lake for 20 years, probably 50-60 days a year and it is not the same in terms of quality of pike nor size of pike period. This is inarguable.

I didn't forget to catch pike, I didn't all of a sudden change what I know - the fishery just changed by the hand of man with the introduction of millions of competitors for food.

It is known that even large pike get a significant portion of their food from smaller forage fish, they don't JUST eat big fish, they eat anything as an opportunistic feeder. Yes, they do eat big meals and sit at the bottom of drop and don't expend energy like smaller fish, but they still eat forage.

The bottom line is the introduction of walleye added to the decline of forage for pike leading to more starvation, stunting and a decline in population.

Not 10 years ago, literally, 1 in 10 pike were over 5 lbs and 1 in 20 around that 10 lbs size.

You would catch 100 pike a day.

If you fished for a couple days, you definitely caught a few pike in the 15-16 lbs range and an occasional one at or above 20 lbs.

That isn't the lake anymore.

Sure, there probably a few big pike, but the age/size class is different.

You now catch 100 walleyes, a dozen pike, and 11 of those pike look like they need another sandwich or two.

Not the same. period.


What he said!

[cube]

Rav has fished that lake alot and what he says about the populations of larger pike is bang on. I saw him out there all the time - so like him, hate him, whatever, he speaks the truth.

I, too, fished that lake for 20 years, probably 50-60 days a year and it is not the same in terms of quality of pike nor size of pike period. This is inarguable.

I didn't forget to catch pike, I didn't all of a sudden change what I know - the fishery just changed by the hand of man with the introduction of millions of competitors for food.

It is known that even large pike get a significant portion of their food from smaller forage fish, they don't JUST eat big fish, they eat anything as an opportunistic feeder. Yes, they do eat big meals and sit at the bottom of drop and don't expend energy like smaller fish, but they still eat forage.

The bottom line is the introduction of walleye added to the decline of forage for pike leading to more starvation, stunting and a decline in population.

Not 10 years ago, literally, 1 in 10 pike were over 5 lbs and 1 in 20 around that 10 lbs size.

You would catch 100 pike a day.

If you fished for a couple days, you definitely caught a few pike in the 15-16 lbs range and an occasional one at or above 20 lbs.

That isn't the lake anymore.

Sure, there probably a few big pike, but the age/size class is different.

You now catch 100 walleyes, a dozen pike, and 11 of those pike look like they need another sandwich or two.

Not the same. period.

X3

Fact is we have seen this now in what 40 different lakes. Always the same results, manage for walleye and see the pike and perch numbers crash. Other forage fish numbers also down. I guess they must have all had secret power plants on them that were shut down or something.
Sad thing was many people were indeed telling them that what they were doing was having horrific consequences on the ecological balance of the lakes but at least one person was more interested in his PhD and fisheries award than running a good well balanced fishery.