Quote:
Originally Posted by wind drift
A short open season was tried at Long Lake a couple of years ago. The walleye kill was excessive. A horde of anglers showed up, as would be expected. Does this have to be repeated occassionally to remind us how vulnerable our fisheries are? If the choice is tags and great fishing or open lakes and lousy fishing, I'll take tags, thanks. To me, good fishing doesn't mean I need to be an expert to find the few fish left, it means my kids can catch a bunch. 90% of the fish being caught by 10% of the fishermen isn't something to be happy about. Alberta's walleye recovery is a big success. It would be really easy to undo that success. I'm much happier with fish per hour than hours per fish.
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I don't buy that argument at all. This topic has been discussed on many other threads about Alberta's walleye management and it is viewed by many that walleye management in Alberta is a disaster. We have many lakes that have been closed to harvest and the walleye population has boomed to the point that the walleye are stunting and are even affecting the other species.
I can go to lakes such as Elinor, Slave, Moose, Long, Calling, Pigeon, Pinehurst, etc. and catch walleyes until my arms hurt. I fished Elinor Lake lots over 25 years ago and I will tell you the walleye fishing is way better now but the fish are smaller. If SRD chooses to only open a couple of lakes for limited harvest opportunities they are funneling all the pressure to those lakes. I say open the opportunities on a time managed basis and slot sizing to a much wider selection of lakes and the pressure will be spread out and a balance will be created that will be better for the lakes as well as allowing some harvest for us anglers. The harvest can still be managed on a time slot basis without implementing a bureaucratic and costly tag and draw nightmare.
This is my opinion and I am sure it will be criticized but if I don't offer alternate ideas I will be critisized as well if I disagree with the current management strategies.