[steelhead]

I really dont believe in this fishing pressure theory.

They may have alot of lakes, but 3/4 of them are virtually unfishable due to remoteness and lack of accessibility or get few visitors.

Have any of you ever seen southern Ontario and cottage country? I have never seen so many lakes with sooooo many boaters, anglers, industry, docks, cottages, farms, invasive species, peeing swimmers, and development. Lake Scugog, 45 mins from TO, ringed with cottages and trailerparks and boat docks. Shallow, sloughy, weedy, half of pigeon. I have never seen that many ice huts on a lake anywhere in Alberta, summer is a boating fishing madhouse. But you can still get a 50 inch musky or take home a mess of walleyes. I have never seen a lake in Alberta that comes even close to lakes in South O. Not even pigeon. not even lesser slave. Heck, not even Sylvan, and its full of boats and cottages. So why do the hard hit lakes in South O produce so well and have good catch and keep regulations?

All the lakes within an hour of Toronto are hit very very hard. With a few million people in in such a small area compared to Alberta, Some lakes take a beating.

But

Those lakes are all surveyed every year, population studies done, aquatic invaders identified, regs changed to suit the waterbody, great fishery results. Since these lakes are monitored and cared for they become great fisheries. If they find a problem, they change the regs, "the next year" to regulate the fishery. Many of the regs we have havent been changed in 10 plus years. Its not the fishing pressure, its the management! And all they came up with in 10 years waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas, the walleye draw on 4 lakes. Now thats management.

I would like someone to provide information on the amount of studies and monitoring a lake like, say, Pigeon get in a year from our government or its groups,( cause i cant find any). I can guarantee, it wont be anywhere near what other provinces spend on damaged and hard fished lakes. And our fisheries reflect that.


Steelhead



Cujo, Johninab,

Spawners are sizes 18" and up. There may be 20,000 fish under 18" and may be 200 over 18" due to mortality in the age classes as fish grow.

Taking a few hundred of the under 18" barely hurts the 20,000. Taking a few hundred over 18" kills the fishery as the spawners have been decimated.

Think about that.