Newell Pike

[WayneChristie]

Looks like it will be a catch and release lake for pike for the next 5 to 10 years at least. also looking like the derby will be no more.
http://www.brooksbulletin.com/defaul...contentid=2303

[TROLLER]

You really have to wonder how much poaching has been going on as well. Newell is the largest in the whole irrigation district and it is hard to imagine the kill rate so great that they would close fishing for pike in that large body of water. Pike!!!!!!!! think about it. Used to catch them in the canals.

Traverse for walleye and now Newell for pike.

Both lakes I fished as a kid back in the 60's when no one ever thought such a thing could ever happen.

I don't know if it is population growth, internet bragging, immigrants not understanding the rules or choosing to ignore them or what.

I am sure of one thing and that is we have not seen the last of the closures of many fine lakes in Alberta.

[lone wolf]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

You really have to wonder how much poaching has been going on as well. Newell is the largest in the whole irrigation district and it is hard to imagine the kill rate so great that they would close fishing for pike in that large body of water. Pike!!!!!!!! think about it. Used to catch them in the canals.

Traverse for walleye and now Newell for pike.

Both lakes I fished as a kid back in the 60's when no one ever thought such a thing could ever happen.

I don't know if it is population growth, internet bragging, immigrants not understanding the rules or choosing to ignore them or what.

I am sure of one thing and that is we have not seen the last of the closures of many fine lakes in Alberta.

This year’s limits on the lake were about 80,000 kgs of whitefish, 200 kg of pike and 900 kg of walleye. However, the fishery was closed in three days once the first yield was reached. At Lake Newell, Christensen said “very significant tolerance restrictions” were put on pike forcing the fishery to close in three days. “The take they had this year compared to previous years has been much smaller,” he said.
Historical annual harvests have been as high as 225,000 lbs (102,000 kg) of whitefish and over 20,000 lbs (9,071 kg) of pike.

Maybe it was also removing over 20,000 lbs annually in past commercial harvests.

[longrange1000]

The obvious first move should have been eliminating the commercial fishery.

Big FAIL on SRD's part!

[WayneChristie]

definitely the commercial fishing hurt the pike population. Im not sure why they have to consult with first nations over the closure, since newell isnt anywhere near their land . Im not too upset with the closure, since I rarely keep pike anyways, and there are so many other lakes around if one needs a meal of pike. Im just thinking that there are going to be some real monsters after 5 or 10 years, I know there have been some over the record netted. guess if I want a skin mount of the new record I better get her this winter!

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by longrange1000

The obvious first move should have been eliminating the commercial fishery.

Big FAIL on SRD's part!

only problem eliminating the commercial fishing entirely is the whites would overpopulate the lake without some form of control, and they were stocked for the commercial fishery in the first place. I know they were trying out traps as well as the nets, the traps let them release the bycatch species. guess it wasnt going to be enough. with a zero limit for pike wonder if this will apply to the commercial guys as well? catch one pike and the season is over? kinda doubt it

[hunted]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

definitely the commercial fishing hurt the pike population. Im not sure why they have to consult with first nations over the closure, since newell isnt anywhere near their land . Im not too upset with the closure, since I rarely keep pike anyways, and there are so many other lakes around if one needs a meal of pike. Im just thinking that there are going to be some real monsters after 5 or 10 years, I know there have been some over the record netted. guess if I want a skin mount of the new record I better get her this winter!

I was wondering about the First Nations thing as well. They let the Bassano Dam get built way back when, then complained for decades about it so the gov wrote a check for 50 million to them for it. Now they own the fish in the reservoirs as well??? Not saying they are the problem here at all just seems funny.

I do believe commercial fishing is to blame. I have noticed the fishing has declined a lot in the last 10 years. I welcome the closure.

[all canadian]

It's very sad state our alberta lakes are in. Why don't they, fisheries act proactive instead of reactive.
Every time we go out fishing we are spending money;licence, bait, gas, hotels, equipment etc
Commercial fishing should have been stopped a long Time ago. I'm sure sportfishing generates more then commercial fishing does per fish harvested. If Newel had too many whitefish they could increase limits. Not a bad problem to have.
No more gill nets! All fish should be trapped to avoid un targeted species.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by hunted

I was wondering about the First Nations thing as well. They let the Bassano Dam get built way back when, then complained for decades about it so the gov wrote a check for 50 million to them for it. Now they own the fish in the reservoirs as well??? Not saying they are the problem here at all just seems funny.

I do believe commercial fishing is to blame. I have noticed the fishing has declined a lot in the last 10 years. I welcome the closure.

They have been commercial fishing there for a lot longer then that. Last 10 years coincides with the population growth of AB. Don't underestimate sport fishing!
Typical not wanting to take responsibility and blame everyone/everything else!

That said there are other factors as well.

[Gators]

A zero limit for Pike for Newell sounds like a good idea if the fishery has indeed collapsed as stated in the article. What concerns me is that several smaller lakes in the area will see increased fishing pressure and a substantial increase in the number of fish harvested. Perhaps the time has come to decrease the pike possession limit to 1 fish of legal size in all lakes in PP1 or even C&R to prevent further pike population collapse.

[pinelakeperch]

Good!

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

I know there have been some over the record netted. guess if I want a skin mount of the new record I better get her this winter!

Shes in there Wayne. Good luck!!!!!

[Kokanee9]

I would support this lake going to catch and release. After a couple years, it would rival Wab. and has lots of potential to surpass it after a few more years.

[fish99]

the collapse of pike years after heavy stocking of walleye is normal it has happened in lots of alberta lakes over the years. pigeon lake still has not recovered after a walleye population explosion.

[slough shark]

There are 3 things that caused this IMHO which is a shame as newell is one of my favorite lakes, the biggest culprit is the favoring of walleye in harvest regs. If one predator is given a free ride and the other is targeted of course the walleye are going to be doing well and the pike not so much... The commercial fishery BETTER be stopped if they are closing harvest of what is argueably the primary species of fish out of the lake. Of course the other one is simply increased pressure over the years due to there being more people around, every year there are more and more shacks out there, since I haven't been out there this year I wonder if EID's decision to not allow storage of the shacks on the shore in the summer will cut that down as it was getting full out there. SRD needs to realize that they are DRASTICALLY changing fisheries and directly causing the collapse of especially pike,hurting perch a lot,denting whitefish a fair bit all by stocking millions of walleye and not allowing any harvest of them for over a decade and then marginally opening harvest via tags... It has killed the pigeon pike/whitefish, really hurt sylvan's pike/whitefish (also haven't seen a perch there for years and I used to see massive schools of them there). Crawling valley hasn't had a pike over I think 12 pounds caught at their tourney for the last 7-8 years anyways and now Newell... SRD STOP FAVOURING THE WALLEYE AT THE EXPENSE OF EVERYTHING ELSE IN OUR LAKES

[fish99]

Originally Posted by slough shark

There are 3 things that caused this IMHO which is a shame as newell is one of my favorite lakes, the biggest culprit is the favoring of walleye in harvest regs. If one predator is given a free ride and the other is targeted of course the walleye are going to be doing well and the pike not so much... The commercial fishery BETTER be stopped if they are closing harvest of what is argueably the primary species of fish out of the lake. Of course the other one is simply increased pressure over the years due to there being more people around, every year there are more and more shacks out there, since I haven't been out there this year I wonder if EID's decision to not allow storage of the shacks on the shore in the summer will cut that down as it was getting full out there. SRD needs to realize that they are DRASTICALLY changing fisheries and directly causing the collapse of especially pike,hurting perch a lot,denting whitefish a fair bit all by stocking millions of walleye and not allowing any harvest of them for over a decade and then marginally opening harvest via tags... It has killed the pigeon pike/whitefish, really hurt sylvan's pike/whitefish (also haven't seen a perch there for years and I used to see massive schools of them there). Crawling valley hasn't had a pike over I think 12 pounds caught at their tourney for the last 7-8 years anyways and now Newell... SRD STOP FAVOURING THE WALLEYE AT THE EXPENSE OF EVERYTHING ELSE IN OUR LAKES

well said ,the over all fishery is collapsed because of walleye protection.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by fish99

well said ,the over all fishery is collapsed because of walleye protection.

No, but it is one of many factors.

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

No, but it is one of many factors.

I would argue that it is the biggest factor, catch rates on everything else are down significantly however walleye is up... Sure other things are factors (more people=more harvest but the regs have gradually become more restrictive with pike (used to be 10 pike, open year round, more tip-ups) so in all likelyhood actual pike harvest used to be at least comparable to what it is now. The introduction of walleye and the subsequent favouring of them is the biggest new factor that was introduced...

[lesw]

way more poundage of fish is harvested by sport fishing than by commercial fishing by far. i remember as a kid nobody wanted to catch the jack. people used to club them on the head and chuck them back in. slot limits that are on most species is also a big damage to the population. they are starting to realize this for trout.

[lesw]

our family used to go to Fawcett lake alot and we would catch 60-70 pike a day. most boats had long stringers of pike. we were all greedy. go there now and you catch 12" walleye and the odd small pike. go figure. when the pike are too easy to catch no one wants to catch pike

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by slough shark

I would argue that it is the biggest factor, catch rates on everything else are down significantly however walleye is up... Sure other things are factors (more people=more harvest but the regs have gradually become more restrictive with pike (used to be 10 pike, open year round, more tip-ups) so in all likelyhood actual pike harvest used to be at least comparable to what it is now. The introduction of walleye and the subsequent favouring of them is the biggest new factor that was introduced...

You could argue that all you want. But that still wouldn't make it the biggest factor.

[huntsfurfish]

Kinda odd, that most of the water bodies that are in trouble, are closer to large cities. Says a lot right there.

[pinelakeperch]

Newell is my home lake and I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've personally seen and seen pictures of people with between 5 and 10 pike lying dead on the ice. Hardly anyone eats them, they just seem to like to kill them for the sake of killing.

[lesw]

Originally Posted by jhutter

Newell is my home lake and I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've personally seen and seen pictures of people with between 5 and 10 pike lying dead on the ice. Hardly anyone eats them, they just seem to like to kill them for the sake of killing.

well said . that is the reason for all our fisheries.

[pikester]

I know this will tick some people off but the reason the fishery has collapsed once again at Newell is because of the commercial netting. In order to grow a large, healthy population of pike you need a large volume of water made up of diverse depths & substrates (since pike use different depths & seek certain temps depending on season, spawning, & food they are after), which Newell has in abundance. The next thing on the list is massive abundance of soft finned, oily bait fish which Newell also has when the netters haven't ravaged it year after year.

I remember almost a decade ago the fishing for large, & medium sized pike was awesome! It wasn't unusual to catch 6-8 little guys, another 8-12 in the 6-12 lb range, & usually at least 2 or 3 @ 15lb+. Can't speak for everyone but we never kept more than 1 per trip, or just catch & release. There were huge schools of whitefish at that time, on a calm evening you might see 50-100 of them swirling the surface. Almost all the bigger pike we caught in the fall had 10"- 16"whitefish in their bellies or sticking out of their mouths, & still they'd hit crankbaits!!

Majorly reduce the top prey item from any trophy pike fishery & see what happens. I will support whatever regulations "they"deem as necessary to try & save the population in Newell or anywhere else for that matter; it just sucks that the average sport angler has to pay for the sins of the commercial fishery & the spineless & uninformed governments that allow it to continue.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by pikester

I know this will tick some people off but the reason the fishery has collapsed once again at Newell is because of the commercial netting. In order to grow a large, healthy population of pike you need a large volume of water made up of diverse depths & substrates (since pike use different depths & seek certain temps depending on season, spawning, & food they are after), which Newell has in abundance. The next thing on the list is massive abundance of soft finned, oily bait fish which Newell also has when the netters haven't ravaged it year after year.

I remember almost a decade ago the fishing for large, & medium sized pike was awesome! It wasn't unusual to catch 6-8 little guys, another 8-12 in the 6-12 lb range, & usually at least 2 or 3 @ 15lb+. Can't speak for everyone but we never kept more than 1 per trip, or just catch & release. There were huge schools of whitefish at that time, on a calm evening you might see 50-100 of them swirling the surface. Almost all the bigger pike we caught in the fall had 10"- 16"whitefish in their bellies or sticking out of their mouths, & still they'd hit crankbaits!!

Majorly reduce the top prey item from any trophy pike fishery & see what happens. I will support whatever regulations "they"deem as necessary to try & save the population in Newell or anywhere else for that matter; it just sucks that the average sport angler has to pay for the sins of the commercial fishery & the spineless & uninformed governments that allow it to continue.

Coincides with population explosion in AB Lots of people keeping fish. Nice that you were not though.

[madatter]

Originally Posted by pikester

I know this will tick some people off but the reason the fishery has collapsed once again at Newell is because of the commercial netting. In order to grow a large, healthy population of pike you need a large volume of water made up of diverse depths & substrates (since pike use different depths & seek certain temps depending on season, spawning, & food they are after), which Newell has in abundance. The next thing on the list is massive abundance of soft finned, oily bait fish which Newell also has when the netters haven't ravaged it year after year.

I remember almost a decade ago the fishing for large, & medium sized pike was awesome! It wasn't unusual to catch 6-8 little guys, another 8-12 in the 6-12 lb range, & usually at least 2 or 3 @ 15lb+. Can't speak for everyone but we never kept more than 1 per trip, or just catch & release. There were huge schools of whitefish at that time, on a calm evening you might see 50-100 of them swirling the surface. Almost all the bigger pike we caught in the fall had 10"- 16"whitefish in their bellies or sticking out of their mouths, & still they'd hit crankbaits!!

Majorly reduce the top prey item from any trophy pike fishery & see what happens. I will support whatever regulations "they"deem as necessary to try & save the population in Newell or anywhere else for that matter; it just sucks that the average sport angler has to pay for the sins of the commercial fishery & the spineless & uninformed governments that allow it to continue.

Well whatever....10-15 years ago practically everyone was keeping their limit of pike....most big spawners.
So really I call complete BS on blaming commercial fishing alone.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by madatter

Well whatever....10-15 years ago practically everyone was keeping their limit of pike....most big spawners.
So really I call complete BS on blaming commercial fishing alone.

Agree!

[Lefty-Canuck]

The issue as has been pointed out that when you manage a water body by catering to one species then things become skewed....shut down walleye retention and leave pike open...what do you expect to happen?

People pay money for their licenses and they want their money's worth so guess what....EVERY legal pike they catch they keep...I wonder who whines the loudest when pike get shut down? Self restraint goes a long way folks....

LC

[huntsfurfish]

What were they keeping before they put the walleye in there?







Pike!