Walleye in Wabamun?

[newfierefugee]

I thought there were walleye in Wabamun already or am I smoking something cheap???


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/07/13/edmonton-walleye-fish-lake-wabamun.html

[sickfast]

Yup it cheep stuff you smoking... May be a few still in the lake but in all the years i fished the lake i have never seen one ...I thought there were walleye in Wabamun already or am I smoking something cheap???


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/07/13/edmonton-walleye-fish-lake-wabamun.html

[mooseknuckle]

Yup it cheep stuff you smoking... May be a few still in the lake but in all the years i fished the lake i have never seen one ...

Look Harder!! Their in there!!

[mikeym]

heard rumours over the winter of people seeing them on their cameras. haven't actually heard anyone actually catching one.
my boss has fished that lake for probably 30 - 35 yrs and he has never caught one in all those years and he fishes that lake just about every weekend year round (except of course not when it is closed). but then again until 2 yrs ago he never caught a burbot out of there either. he mostly went after pike.

also heard rumors from the fish cop that some people have seen what they swear to be rainbows on their camera also. so who knows exactly what is in that lake.

rgds
Mike

[WillyP]

Definately used to be Walleye in Wabamun, we used to catch them in the Hot Water Discharge just outside town of Wab, was quite a few years ago, but we used to do quite well.

[-JR-]

say goodbye to the pike in about 10 years

[italk2u]

If you're willing to help out, I got this from a trout club member:

Stephen Spencer, the Fish & Wildlife Biologist responsible for the area/lakes west of Edmonton, is undertaking to re-establish Walleye in Lake Wabumun. He needs volunteer fishermen to assist in catching adult Walleye from Lake Isle and Lac Ste. Anne to be transferred into Wabumun.

He is undetaking this effort beginning this week, starting with catching/moving fish from Lake Isle. The weather over the last couple of days has not been particularly helpful to these efforts. The latest word is that he is arranging to have bait and live wells available for boats on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (July 14-16) at the Gainford boat launch on Lake Isle, starting at 9:30am on each of these days. I understand the fish will be transported over at about 4:00pm.

Volunteers need to provide their own boats, fishing equipment, food, etc. - the bait and the live wells (if needed) will be provided by Fish & Wildlife.

It looks like the weather is now turning better for the rest of the week. So if you can assist in these efforts, that would be most helpful and appreciated, and may end up also being a pleasant outing on the lake. The word is that some very large pike were also being caught!

Stephen is trying to move some 500 adult fish.

[hillclimber]

I know the intention is good, but at what cost? The population is vulnerable at Lake Isle, yet they are willing to try and transplant from there. I know the story is saying they are looking for 500 fish, but what is the actual number they will take? If there is enough response, how will they stop the guys on the lake that are taking part in the restock?

I live out there and know what the population is like. The overall quality of 'eyes has declined in the last few years, but that could be from water quality as well. But it seems to be a mimic of the population at pigeon.

There are other factors to consider as well, like the increase in recreational boaters ie: water skiing and wake boarding etc...

I talked with Mr. Spencer and he said one of the reasons they haven't introduced the tag system out there yet is the hook mortality from even slight pressure increase could be enough to deplete the population to its breaking point. So then what about the hook mortality in the transplanted fish?

These are just the ramblings of a citizen that craves the best 'eye fisheries possible!!

[smitty9]

say goodbye to the pike in about 10 years

JR:

Better brush up on your fisheries biology. Walleye and Pike have coexisted quite well in thousands of N.A. lakes for thousands of years before sportfishers and regulations came and messed things up.

If the pike disappear in 10 years, it will simply due to a combination of mis-management, poorly written regulations, and lack of enforcement.

Perhaps that was your point, after all.

Smitty

[smitty9]

If I remember correctly, in the mid-late 80's they stocked walleye fry in the millions at Wabamum. They didn't take. Wabamum still doesn't have a viable walleye fishery.

Wonder what's convinced Mr. Spencer what will make the difference this time around. Is there suitable spawning habitat? Will the change in warmwater discharge (no longer around) somehow make a difference.

Just like to hear the reasons for making all this effort.

Smitty

[LeonH]

I agree with Smitty. If they have no harvest on one and allow the other to be harvested then over time it is going to be screwed up (poor management, somewhat like Pigeon Lake). It would have to be c/r for both or some moderate size slot harvest for both pike and walleye.

[wildman]

im with you HILLCLIMBER.....
what a stupid waste of money.....
they want to take fish from an already endangered population and put them in CN disaster zone....Alberta Fisheries at their finest again!!!!!!

[-JR-]

Would love to have joined the the walleye transplant ,to bad it was not on a week end , keep us informed how it turned out.
Good luck

[gonefishin]

I don't know if I'm on glue or notm but I do think I have read an article (about 10 years ago) about walleye being in wabamun.

-JR- say goodbye to the pike in about 10 years

Just out of curiousity... and I don't know if it's accurate or not, but I have heard through the grapevine that the fish in Wabamun are supposed to be un-consumable for the next 10 years and if that's the case, is that going to be healthy for the fish? Won't they get stunted over that long of a period if none are coming out?

[ceedub]

I remember a stocking program in Wabamun years ago as well, fry stocked by the millions. I haven't been a big fan of Walleye management in this province for the past 10 years and I don't think we've done many things very well. I spend many, many days per year on Lac La Nonne and know the lake better than most biologists, and I can tell you for sure that the population is not "collapsed" and the protection of Walleye has affected the Pike and Perch population greatly.

If your "thing" is to catch a starving Walleye every third cast, with little or no effort in the "sport" aspect of fishing then you probably wouldn't agree with my views on the subject. I had more fun catching them when you needed to learn how to fish them, learn how to find them on the lake and catching them wasn't gauranteed. I didn't mind eating the odd one either.

So, with that rant over, let's look after the lakes that we've screwed up by overmanaging the resource before we try and create another new fishery. Just my 2 cents.

Craig

[live2bout]

I don't see what the negativity is about. Walleye stocks in both Lac la Nonne and St. Anne are far from sparse. Biologists may not support catch and keep because of the pressure that would be concentrated due to their proximity to population centres but if Wabamun could produce Walleye as well then maybe these three lakes (wabamun by far the biggest) could handle the pressure if split among them.
Wabamun will have changed conditions now with no more warm water discharge so why not attempt something like this and see if it takes. This is a very low cost stocking program and could be repeated numerous times if evidence is gathered that these fish are managing to reproduce. Removing 500 or 1000 fish from these populations that are already stunting will have zero effect on the fishery, if repeated consistantly it might even improve them as well as establish another viable fishery in Wabanum.

Crying about the wrongs done in the past isn't going to the improve Alberta's fisheries but trying some innovation might. The Calling Lake experiment took a lot of heat years ago but the fishery is still going strong years later. Calling was awesome this June.

[seahawkfisher]

i have a friend who used to work out at the sundance plant. they would find huge walleye stuck in the cooling intake screens. before 9/11, some of them would fish in the cool-down ponds out there and catch monster eyes there as well (damn terrorists took that honeyhole away tho...).

[smitty9]

...Just out of curiousity... and I don't know if it's accurate or not, but I have heard through the grapevine that the fish in Wabamun are supposed to be un-consumable for the next 10 years and if that's the case, is that going to be healthy for the fish? Won't they get stunted over that long of a period if none are coming out?...

Gone:

Short answer is no. Again, fisheries have existed for 1000's of years in a natural balance. Stunting occurs when the balance is out of whack. In other words, it does not depend on human predation.

Rather, it depends on fish and avian predation. And Wabamum has plenty of pike (and future adult walleye) to eat smaller fish. Shouldn't be a problem.

Perch will stunt however, where no pike or walleye exist to eat them. Like a lot of pothole trout lakes, where idiot bucket biologists have introduced them. Now that's problematic!

Smitty