Stocking Reports

[glen1971]

Not sure if this has been posted, but here is a link to the Alberta Annual Stocking Reports... It is interesting to see how some are not stocked annually, and how they stopped stocking some speices....

http://www.mywildalberta.com/Fishing/StockingReports.aspx

[nicemustang]

Yes its been talked about before. The only interesting thing in these stocking reports is how brutal the AB SRD manages the stocking program. Look back 3 years...they have only stocked one lake with walleye....no others.

[ssyd]

I've been hearing that they've stocked Wabamun with Walleye since the spill but I don't see anything on those lists...

[borchy]

I think they got those fish from a lake close by not from a hatchery. So it may not be listed.

[npauls]

Hey Stang,

I have heard that they don't stock walleye in southern alberta because the biologist wants to have natural spawning groups in the res. and want them all to be self sustaining.

[Willowtrail]

I've been hearing that they've stocked Wabamun with Walleye since the spill but I don't see anything on those lists...

Rumor has it that the Government and Trans Alta are paying for the restocking. They are removing Walleye from Lac Ste Anne and Lake Isle and talking them to a hatchery in Cold Lake and then releasing the fry back into the 2 lakes plus Wabamun. I'm not sure all the details or the length of the program but I hope it works out well in all 3 lakes.

[nicemustang]

Hey Stang,

I have heard that they don't stock walleye in southern alberta because the biologist wants to have natural spawning groups in the res. and want them all to be self sustaining.

One problem though...not all lakes are reservoirs. What about places that would do great for walleye stocking programs, Gull, burnstick, buffalo, etc and all the places close by that need more, Mac, CVR, Newell, etc that could use the help.

[chubbdarter]

i wish we could set up a exchange program with sask. and get some walleye stocks from them

[npauls]

I wish they would put in a stocking program and get the southern res. and lakes fishing better. But I think they are trying to stay away from having to put walleye stocking in the budget. Kind of stupid if you ask me since there is so many put and take rainbow and other trout lakes.

[nicemustang]

I love the SK program. They stock every lake every second year, no matter what.

[chubbdarter]

i think..and im no fish doctor...but i think they are a genetically superior species
i also think the alot of our southern res. need some sport fishing harvesting.
crawling valley has alot of eyes in it now...so does newell...i hate to see these lakes go the way of the pigeon.
ive even noticed a transistion happenig in travers that may benifit from more selective harvesting

[npauls]

The worst thing in place right now is having all walleyes lakes with the regulations that permit harvesting only spawner sized walleyes instead of harvesting 1 big gurl and a couple smaller fish. Keep the spawners in the lake is my opinion.

[huntingaddict]

Anglers in this province have to speak up. Ask where does the money go from your liscensing and fees . Does it go to new park, or does it go for upgrades to existing parks.
Did you know it only cost $0.003 cents to raise a walleye from an egg to a fingerling. It is more exspensive to raise rainbows and stock lakes. Walleye don't need to be fed like trout. the hatching ponds they use for walleye have lots of shrimp and aquatic insects to feed off of.
Every yr there cutting down the amount the lakes there stocking why?
It is are right to harass your local mla and ask them where our money goes

What is this so called fishery we have going to look like 10yrs from now.
Maybe it ( fishing) will be on a draw system. Because with the poor management we have it's not going to get any better.

If us as anglers don't speak up will loose what little fishery we have.

Not trying to offend anyone just stating my opioin, we all can't fish sask. They'll kick us out LOL

[Icefishin]

If you wanna ask a real question then ask your mla why primrose lake is stocked with walleye so frequently as it's closed to fishing because it's in the air weapons range!

[huntsfurfish]

" The worst thing in place right now is having all walleyes lakes with the regulations that permit harvesting only spawner sized walleyes instead of harvesting 1 big gurl and a couple smaller fish. Keep the spawners in the lake is my opinion. "

Yup, and after awhile there will be no spawners at all!

Most southern reservoirs have a fair amount of large spawners even with the 3 over 50cm or 1 over 55 limits. Again, if you start taking fish before they spawn (and people will keep them if they can) fisheries will crash!

Seen it before, and it takes a long time to recover!

And stocking is not neccessarily the anwer either.

[Bigtoad]

The reason lakes are stocked with trout and there aren't as many walleye being stocked is because nearly all of the trout lakes the fish can not naturally reproduce. Trout need current (inflow/outflow stream of some kind), gravel, and correct temps to naturally reproduce; however, walleye can do their thing naturally in a lake.

If we had less put and take trout fisheries in this province and tightened up how many trout we could keep (especially at aerated trout lakes) then we wouldn't need to raise as many trout and you walleye fishermen could push for more stocking.

But...... if a lake has the correct regulations, walleye # and size shouldn't be issues. In theory, if a walleye/pike/perch lake is managed correctly, we shouldn't need to stock it at all, with anything....

We don't bring in truckloads of deer from Sask and release them in Ab just before hunting season so we have more deer to shoot at??? The deer naturally reproduce and if we manage the tags correctly, we should have enough deer, and enough good sized deer to shoot at if the tags are managed appropriately. I see walleye/pike/perch fisheries the same way.

The solution is not to regularly stock them (perhaps stock once just to get #'s up if the fishery collapsed) but put the time, effort, and money into correctly managing those fisheries so they are sustainable.

Cheers.

[nicemustang]

Walleye also can't reproduce if the lake is over populated and there isn't enough food, example PCR. All around bad fish management.

[chubbdarter]

i believe we are just now starting to see the real benifits of the Spring closure regulation.
Yes walleye can be lake spawners and maybe arent as high maintenence as a trout but i watch walleyes spawn on 5 southern res. and some are more succesful than others. The res. with better spawning habitat definetly show a broader range of fish sizes. Some lakes with marginal spawning grounds are definetly lacking in young fish.
Lakes that have good natural recrutment should allow the harvest of 2 fish under 55cm in my opinion.
i think lakes which have marginal spawning areas should be managed with greater stocking programs and a reasonable sport fishing harvest. With 1 tag a year to harvest a large walleye for every fisherman , large being in the 5lb+ range. With that also allow a limit of 2 fish in possesion for fish under 55cm.
I have no scientific data but what ive seen in the last few years is a real change in a res. im very intimate with. That change being the biggest walleye ,over 10 lbs dont seem to be as heavily egg laden as they used to be and the 5-8 lb females are grossly huge with eggs and do attract more males on the spawning sites.
Im starting to think the old girls kinda dry up...But they still are genitically the super fish of the lake so they need protection.
The other thing ive noticed is the increase in size of the male fish....is that a indication of something?
Im no scientist , just my observations.

[spinerfisher]

Hey Stang,

I have heard that they don't stock walleye in southern alberta because the biologist wants to have natural spawning groups in the res. and want them all to be self sustaining.

True

[JohninAB]

Saskatchewan does not stock every lake every second year. Far from it.

Trout are stocked because they grow faster.

[lemmotlow]

I wish they would stock smallmouth bass or perhaps largemouth in some of the southern waters.

[chubbdarter]

not for or against the idea of Bass but im curious what lakes do you suggest?

[lemmotlow]

I think Newell,would be perfect for largemouth, with Cold Lake being ideal for a smallmouth fishery. If you look at bodies of water such as Mead for example, a man made fishery that has boomed with several spieces such as stripper ,bass ,trout etc all cohabiting why would it not work here? I think the real issue is money.

[huntsfurfish]

Actually the real issue is introducing more non native species - not money.

If they put bass in one lake (successfully) and with the all the bucket technologists out there they would soon be everywhere.

[npauls]

I am surprised that the bucket stockers haven't just caught a bunch from b.c. and transferred them to alberta already.

[cujo1969]

Wish they would let some walleye be kept in mcgregor and other lakes tryin balance out the fish poopulations dam hard catch a decent pike but can catch bunch of silly walleye.

[Levy]

If you wanna ask a real question then ask your mla why primrose lake is stocked with walleye so frequently as it's closed to fishing because it's in the air weapons range!

It's commercial fishing only. My grandfather used to commercially fish it, he had a commercial license, but now a days the only people i know of who have commercial fishing licenses around here are guys from the patch that are very well to do, and the metis. I think unless you inherit a license and equipment its unaffordable to buy a commercial license and try make money doing it. They are expensive and from what i have been told the work is very hard and doesn't pay very good.
As far as i know the only people who ever get a chance to do angling on that lake are the people who voluntarily put their lives on the line to protect this country (members of the canadian military). If you want to get your taste of your tax dollars going to work at that lake get a hold of cold lake commercial fishermen and you can buy some nice fat walleye, pike, whites, or burbot by the pound. They might even just give you the burbs from what i hear not many people buy them.

[JohninAB]

I was at Primrose Lake in 99 on fires and the only people allowed to fish it via nets were first nations Military personal were not allowed to.

[lemmotlow]

Primrose is stocked because the eggs that are used at the local hatchery come from there,when you take millions of eggs out you need a percentage of fry returned back into the mother body of water.Primrose should be opened to the public it would take the pressure off of many other lakes in the area, Marie lake for example, Sask has a huge commercial fishery there every winter i mean tonnes of walleyes coming out everyday. It was some knuckleheaded base guy who shut it down in the first place and yes we all know the dnd still fish on it , i have even heard of derbys they hold only for there personal. Typical Canadian dnd thinking only speical interests groups have the right to a resource we all own.:mad0030:

[huntingaddict]

I do help a commerical fisherman at cold lake but lasrt yr they caught to many lakers so it's closed for commerical for the next 4 yrs from what I've heard.
Commerical take way less gross weight out of a lake than angles do. The one thing that bugs me is you see the native's nets out there and they let half of them stay in all winter. We have pulled some old nets out and man the smell was unbelievible.

[lemmotlow]

Alberta has no commercial fishery on Cold Lake,the Sask side is the one that was shut down due to going over the quota in lake trout.