2010 regs are out and...

[diesel777]

there are now 8 walleye tag lakes in Alberta. I have to say I am a little upset because one of them is Pinehurst, one of my favorite walleye lakes. I always thought they only tagged lakes that were getting to a lower or crucial walleye level to protect them from getting to collapsed status. In around six visits over the last two years I have seen a nine pound walleye caught and heard of many more, not to mention the lake is full of walleye of all different sizes. I have also seen and heard of the effects of a certain species of fish becoming too great in number. We have all heard the argument, that fish will dwindle in size and grow in numbers when not enough fish are harvested, so why fix something that is not broken? On the other hand, let's sit back and try to look at the whole picture; this could be a win, win, win situation. First off, the sport fisherman wins because there are tons of walleye to catch in said lake, fish and game wins because they make a little extra money by selling the tag licenses in turn helping keep the cost of sportfishing licences and setting themselves up for the sale of commercial licenses in the future. Lastly, the commercial groups like the Hutterites and the natives win by having more lake options for netting without affecting the sportfishing. Only time will tell if this idea works well by not affecting peripheral species like the Northern Pike. What are your thoughts on this?

Tag lakes are:
Newell Lake
Baptiste Lake
Pigeon Lake
Long Lake
Pinehurst Lake
Garner Lake
Wolf Lake
Amisk Lake
Rolling Hills Resevoir

[BigRackLover]

Which lakes had 0 walleye harvest last year?

[silverbuck]

Just a thought, Was wondering where all the tag money ends up in the end dose it go to improving alberta fisheries, or what

[DANOMAN]

goes to the CEO's so they can fly on there jets and fish.........:mad3::mad3:

[Beazer]

Netting is crazy. I still can't believe we let the indig's and others do it without any cause or concern in Sask. Hopefully that's not the case here in Alberta.

[diesel777]

Which lakes had 0 walleye harvest last year?

Well off the top without comparing regs, baptiste has been closed to walleye for a few years, and Garner has been a zero walleye lake untill this year.
And one can only hope the money goes to programs that will further the study of (non) impact conservation versus making it harder and harder for the sport fisher to get out and do some good old fishing. I wish I could be sure that the tagging system was more for the overall benefit of everybody than the benefit of the Government and their big commercial netting license profit. (money grab). I would be willing to pay double for a license if it meant they would leave it alone or at least spend it on conservation education and not just a way around it all. Just my thoughts

[Oswald]

I'm thinking it might be a good thing to see tags on Pinehurst, at least a trial run anyways to see how the walleye numbers and sizes react.

That lake gets hammered every weekend during the open water months, every time I have been there it is a traffic jam/lineup to get your boat in the water and every single boat comes back with their limit.

You would think that the serious amount of pressure this lake faces every year would result in a devastating decrease in walleye numbers but its remained a solid fishery. I guess time will tell with the new regulation.

[diesel777]

We'll see, is right. Curious to know what's happening at Kehewin lake, I've never fished there myself, but it was a tag lake untill the end of season and starting at the end of this month it is a zero limit and not a tag lake. Basically closed to pike and walleye. I wonder if netting is the plan? Guess I'll ask around to people who have frequented that lake, also the condition of the eye's there, if there is too many now or if collapsing? If you have an idea, let us know.