Pigeon Lake?

[Faststeel]

It is just recently that Pigeon Lake has become a great walleye fishery, or has it been good for 10 years? Thanks FS

[Rockymtnx]

In the late 90s Pigeon started to pick up. I would have to say that the best years would have been 2003 - 2004.
The size and quality of the Walleye have been going down hill since.

[-NDN-]

if you like catching huge numbers of eater sized walleyes, its your lake. Thats with a few decent ones thrown in.

[Rockymtnx]

The summer of 2004 one morning me and two friends fished for 4 hours.
We caught 383 Walleye. 5 over 7lbs and 2 over 9lbs.
There just isnt anymore days like that.

[209x50]

2000 was the best year ever for me. I had 4 days with multiples over 30 inches including this 13 pound plus monster my boy caught. Every year since it has slipped until a 30 inch eye is nothing but a memory.
http://www.theoutdoorquest.com/images/Jake%20walleye%2013.jpg

[Bear Ballz]

if you like catching huge numbers of eater sized walleyes, its your lake. Thats with a few decent ones thrown in.

I don't know but maybe to many of the big ones were kept for eaters as well.
:cry:

[sheephunter]

Pigeon was a catch and release fishery when all these big fish were being caught so other than a few being poached, I doubt the big ones were being eaten. I remember a day in 2000 when we had three fish between 10 and 11 pounds to the boat and numerous in the 6-8 pound range.

[Bear Ballz]

I use to live right on the lake and fished it every chance I got. But once all the media attention hit the lake about what an amazing fishery it was, there has been a steady decline in the size of the fish. The more people that showed up, the worse it got. The numbers are still there, but to catch a 5 or even 6 lber. now is an amazing feat. Maybe the big ones weren't being eaten but they've gone somewhere? I can remember days on the lake when my boat was the only one on the water, and this was only a few years ago. And now it's like the WEM parking lot. :sick:

[sheephunter]

No doubt the fishing pressure has gone through the roof but not certain what the demise of the big fish was. I have my thoughts and they have more to do with management than anything but not sure anyone can say for sure.

[Pikebreath]

No one can really say for sure but the odds are the big walleye are gone for a number of reasons such as (in no particular rank or order or magnitude):

1) The big guys come from the original first few years of stocking 10 - 15 years ago and filled a missing niche that allowed them to grow quickly. As overall walleye numbers increased with subsequent stocking, growth rates have likely slowed.

2) Poaching of the larger fish has no doubt removed many of the larger older fish.

3) Overall C&R mortailty may be low, but it' a number's game that eventually catches up with larger, older fish. A small fish is usually brought to hand and released quickly with minimal handlng and stress. Larger fish take longer to land, are stressed more and then kept out the water longer for pictures and weighing, often dropped a couple times to the bottom of boat and so on. Also as water temps and fishing depths increase, C&R mortality goes up as well. Keep recycling a fish enough and eventually someone will kill it.

4) Many of the larger fish may just be dying from an "early" old age caused by living life in the fast lane so to speak. Rapid growth can come with a price of a shortened life span. Happens with pothole trout all the time.

There may be a host of other reasons as well, but it is likely the conditions that caused the early walleye boom (a basically "predatorless" / "large gamefish less" lake with a tremendous forage base) may never be duplicated again short of removing nearly all the walleye and pike again only to reintroduce them. But I would rather not go there as boom and bust is not desirable managemant solution to my way of thinking.