what's up with the fish in calling?????

[junglejay7320]

i was @ calling on the long weekend,did very well....

but 70-80% of the fish,walleye & northern's were very skinny some almost 2-3 pounds under what they should be.....1 northern had a head on him like he should be around 7-8 pounds...weighed in @ just under 5lbs....
just curious if anyone else is seeing the same thing....

[buckmaster]

We caught over 200 walleye on sunday and they all seemed healthy.We were catching mostly in the 60cm to 63cm range.

[flames0000]

Where?

[great white whaler]

maybe there on a diet:sHa_shakeshout:

[Chris K]

We caught over 200 walleye on sunday and they all seemed healthy.We were catching mostly in the 60cm to 63cm range.

The fish in Calling are not nearly as healthy as they once were. They are getting skinnier each year, and there is very little forage left for them in the lake (at least for the shore structure oriented fish). I would bet that the fish that eat ciscoes and whitefish there are much fatter, but they are just too deep to realistically fish for during the summer months.

The smaller fish in the slot are the ones that they say have ravaged the lake and eaten so much of the forage, but I feel that this problem has been brewing for a lot longer than they have been alive. The Mike Cardinal experiment did little to help out the lake for constructive future management. Calling could of been a prime example of what may of been done to sustain a mix of quality fish / quantity fish, but sadly most of the larger fish have been eaten, and now we have an over abundance of small fish. The size of the larger fish and their weight is the most alarming to me right now. A few of the larger fish I have caught do not weigh up to what they should there anymore. A 31 inch fish weighing 9.3 pounds, or a 30.5 incher weighing just under 8.5. That is sad, and they keep getting skinnier each year. The exact same thing happened at Pigeon and is happening at Calling right now. Calling is showing the same signs that Pigeon started to in the early 2000's. Perch fishing has deminished to the point where it's not even worth fishing for them there anymore, and they keep getting smaller and skinnier each year. The small pike in the lake are also taking a huge toll on the forage in shallower water. I think that when the minimum pike limit size was brought into place, there was little thought as to what impact a ton of smaller pike in shallower water would do to the food chain in most of our lakes. Couple that with tons of smaller walleyes in the same territory along with very sucessful spawning and recruitement, and after a few years, they eat themselves out of house and home.

Calling is going into the crapper right before our eyes. Sure a lot of people who go there to keep fish and to catch fish think the lake is great. Their local lakes have been ruined, such as Slave. If I was always fishing Slave lake and then went to Calling, I would be amazed at the quality of fish there, but in retrospect, the quality of fish in Calling are on a serious decline. Calling is better than most anything else we have here in Northern Alberta that is a reasonable distance to drive to, but unfortunately in under 5 years, it will only exist as a shadow of what it once was.

Chris K

[crown royal 17]

Chris K has nailed it right on the head.The fish here in Slave Lake and the Slave river are also looking skinny I fished here and a lot of other lakes in Alberta and you see a big difference in body size over the last few years.I believe a slot size limit is needed.

[Walleyes]

They are eating themselves out of house and home.. Its time for a good cleaning.. Open it up for a year or 2 and lower the population a bit and you will see an increase in healthy larger fish.. This is going to be a wide spread problem in this province it is happening in many lakes in the northeast most actually.. This province is just never going to get it right,, no matter what..

[SNAPFisher]

Well put forth Chris. I respect your experience with this area. Do you think the current slot limit will have any positive impact on Calling? Or, too little too late?

Crown Royal, that is what is in place starting this year - slot size of 45-55 cm - 2 walleye.

Thanks.

[Chris K]

Well put forth Chris. I respect your experience with this area. Do you think the current slot limit will have any positive impact on Calling? Or, too little too late?

Crown Royal, that is what is in place starting this year - slot size of 45-55 cm - 2 walleye.

Thanks.

I think that this will help, but the fish that are overpopulating the lake that they want to remove are fish that are 7 to 10 years old. These fish date back to successful spawns in 2000 to 2003 and I believe the lake was closed for a period back then to retention. It will definately help, but I think the Mike experiment went on allowing big fish to be kept for too many years. If this slot had been brought forth two or three years ago, it would of been far more productive. It is too late, but it is better than letting the big fish slaughter continue. I also feel the whole lake should be opened up to spread out the angling pressure from the three main arreas that people fish. The slot is a good start, but with the larger fish, it just delays the day of their slaughter, when ultimately there is a decision to allow the keeping of larger fish. The balance of all species in Calling has been affected greatly, and all sizes and quality are on the decline.

At Slave something needs to be done to get the large quantity of small fish culled out a bit. There are fish in 2 to 70 feet of water, and they are all looking for food. Netting is also a big issue with Slave, and unfortunately the netters are making a huge impact on the populations of larger fish in that lake. All the small ones make it through, but anything larger, and they are caught in the nets.

A bigger question is what do we do about the lack of forage like shiners in our lakes?

Chris K

[warriorboy10]

It's got alot do with the way the lakes in Alberta are managed. Pigeon, Slave, Calling Pinehurst, Moose. The same thing is happening in all the lakes where the fishing pressure is significant and the management practices are poor and/or slow to react. These types of lakes cannot continue to have the larger fish removed and the smaller, much more aggressive fish remain and take the lake over. These smaller fish are far quicker to the feed than a larger slower fish. I've seen it on my Aqua-Vu.
Therefore you catch what should be, lets say 7 lbs weighs in at 4lbs. with a skinny body and a large head. We need some kind of slot. Those larger fish are getting choked out of some of the best fisheries we have in the province. IMO, I don't believe that our fish bioligists in this province have a clear picture of what is happening to these lakes. And if they do, are far too slow to react to the crisis or soon to be. JMO....
I would bet that there is plenty of feed for these fish. When the lake is overrun by little ones there is no chance for the larger fish to feed. Time to cull the small fish and implement a slot or some sort of size restriction in order to keep the spawners/larger fish in the lake!!

[wallycranker]

least at calling lake they cant blame the tournament angler!!!! I grew up fishing pinehurst everyone blames the tournament angler for wrecking that lake. IM a tournament angler and i have to disagree. Tired of being finger pointed 2. Chris k is right a 100 percent. I understand evryone is allowed there own opinion by all means. Everyone has a right to catch and release or take up a little bit of initiave to help the lakes out as well. If you know you are doing the lake harm then y keep all 14 walleye that your allowed cause there is 7 people on your boat! I just dont understand. Yes i know we got to live with the fact that our SRD are a bit slow! But at least the people can help them out a bit 2.I have never eaten a walleye in my life by the way!!!!! I will never know how it tastes cause im deathly allergic! Hey maybe im just jealious. hahaha. I live around 5 beautiful lakes not more then half hour away. id rather travel 4 hours to saskatchewan to fish. fishing is way more fun. EXcept for delaronde lake little hard on the fuel. chris k knows what im talking about haha.

[Son of Sniglett]

Is anyone here planning on voting for a party OTHER than the incumbent Progressive Conservatives, or the Wildrose?

It seems to me that one of the likely reasons that outdoorspeople get 'dissed' by the government when it comes to managing the resources of this province is that fishermen and hunters tend to vote as a solid bloc, usually on the right, and usually for the Tories.

And if all the fisherman continue to, by and large, vote PC, why would the government ever want to really care about properly managing sport fisheries in this province if they do not right now?

And if we all jumped ship and supported the WA, one doesn't have to think to hard to be able to figure what kind of worsened state-of-affairs this new right-wing oil industry front calling itself a political party would leave our lakes and rivers in if the managed to form the next government of Alberta.

[Kim473]

I noticed that the eyes we caught lately are a little fatter than in the spring. There just is not enough feeder fish for them. I wonder if there is a conection between less stocking of perch and shiners in the lakes in the past few years to this problem. We catch about 10 times more of the bigger fish than in the slot size there. I think they should have opened this year with one fish in the slot size and one over size. Just my opinion. I think there will be too many larger fish there in a few years and this will create a bigger problem. On a good note, we have caught a few that were only about 10 inches long. At least they are reproducing. There is definatly too many walleye in that lake, when you can catch 100 of them in a day per person and not a single pike. I too have caught a few that were about 78 cm were about 6 to 7 lbs but they should be a good 10 lbs. Is ever fun tho catching a 7 lb eye in 35 fow and your rod is bent str8 down and in the water. First time I ever went to this lake is this year and I would have to rate it as the best fishing lake i have been to in 30 years. Its a shame that with the fishing presure its getting that in about two years it will be like all the rest in Alberta.