Amateur walleye slay and rant

[Brandonkop]

Walleye fishing can be entertaining as they are a very aggressive predator and often take various sorts of presentations. After they have eaten everything in the lake they also become very easy to catch. This occurs is some lakes across their range, but especially in Alberta where fisheries biologists have determined that walleye now takes precidence above all else, even where it was not naturally found. Once walleye have decimated the bait fish population, including perch, the pike also die off. Soon you're left with a lake full of stunted walleye. Since these walleye are competing for minimal food source they become very easy to catch. Most anyone can catch them, but legally only treaty natives and special tag holders can harvest the fish.

I've done some reading and research on usa fisheries and they manage their populations much better for size and diversity. They actually often increase walleye catch limits and decrease or increase the size or slot restrictions. Regulation changes are dynamic on a year to year basis depending or surveys and test netting. Imagine that. Fisheries that actually consider biodiversity! I'm pretty sure my biology 101 expressed the importance of biodiversity and predator prey relationships better than we have seen demonstrated in the great Province of Alberta.

Anyways during the course of this day out with my family we easily caught many walleye. Using these techniques though you will likely be able to catch walleye anywhere they swim. Good luck.

https://youtu.be/lJKImVbrOuc

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[HowSwedeItIs]

Yeah I can think of a few lakes that can be written off in the near future for exactly that reason. It makes you wonder, why? What's the point of ruining a fishery like that? The only guys who benefit are the ones stretching their nets out every weekend

That all being said, looks like it was a nice day out on the water

[pikeman06]

Bang on Brandon. Sad state of affairs in alberta management wise. I find the walleye lakes with lots of private docks and cabins are starting to come around. Thanks to all the locals whacking the odd walleye and sneaking them home. If that's the kind of management that works then so be it. Waste of breath complaining about it anymore, it's way too late to establish a decent brood stock of pike or perch in most of these lakes.

[The Spank]

So start keeping them and eating them!

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by The Spank

So start keeping them and eating them!

Haha, as much as I would love to sometime I just can't bring myself to cross the line an enter the realm of poacher. I'd rather try to influence people and government to take a second look at what is happening. Maybe I'll write a letter to the minister.

[Isopod]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Haha, as much as I would love to sometime I just can't bring myself to cross the line an enter the realm of poacher. I'd rather try to influence people and government to take a second look at what is happening. Maybe I'll write a letter to the minister.

I personally do not poach fish (almost exclusively C&R). That said, I have decided to not turn anyone else in for poaching, even if they are blatant and obvious about it.

As long as we have some folks who can fish for as much as they want, whenever and wherever they want, whatever species they want, while everyone else is supposed to follow strict harvest rules so that there are enough fish for the first group to take as much as they want... well, that just doesn't seem to me like the way to sustain any kind of fishery. So I have decided to turn a blind eye to it all, and when I go fishing it is largely for the experience and meeting up with friends, and I don't care about what other fishers and/or poachers are up to.

[Jigger]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Walleye fishing can be entertaining as they are a very aggressive predator and often take various sorts of presentations. After they have eaten everything in the lake they also become very easy to catch. This occurs is some lakes across their range, but especially in Alberta where fisheries biologists have determined that walleye now takes precidence above all else, even where it was not naturally found. Once walleye have decimated the bait fish population, including perch, the pike also die off. Soon you're left with a lake full of stunted walleye. Since these walleye are competing for minimal food source they become very easy to catch. Most anyone can catch them, but legally only treaty natives and special tag holders can harvest the fish.

I've done some reading and research on usa fisheries and they manage their populations much better for size and diversity. They actually often increase walleye catch limits and decrease or increase the size or slot restrictions. Regulation changes are dynamic on a year to year basis depending or surveys and test netting. Imagine that. Fisheries that actually consider biodiversity! I'm pretty sure my biology 101 expressed the importance of biodiversity and predator prey relationships better than we have seen demonstrated in the great Province of Alberta.

Anyways during the course of this day out with my family we easily caught many walleye. Using these techniques though you will likely be able to catch walleye anywhere they swim. Good luck.

https://youtu.be/lJKImVbrOuc

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Great post! My favorite lake has been ruined by walleye, unless you like catching 50 18inch walleye a day and releasing them all.

[Fishwhere]

Couldnt agree more. Some minor upsides to getting the kids and new fisherman into some walleye easily, but on the grand scale a waste and mismanagment indeed. Wabamun being the saddest... how to demolish a trophy pike lake in 5 years 101.

Nice post

Ps i like your vids - nice job!

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Walleye fishing can be entertaining as they are a very aggressive predator and often take various sorts of presentations. After they have eaten everything in the lake they also become very easy to catch. This occurs is some lakes across their range, but especially in Alberta where fisheries biologists have determined that walleye now takes precidence above all else, even where it was not naturally found. Once walleye have decimated the bait fish population, including perch, the pike also die off. Soon you're left with a lake full of stunted walleye. Since these walleye are competing for minimal food source they become very easy to catch. Most anyone can catch them, but legally only treaty natives and special tag holders can harvest the fish.

I've done some reading and research on usa fisheries and they manage their populations much better for size and diversity. They actually often increase walleye catch limits and decrease or increase the size or slot restrictions. Regulation changes are dynamic on a year to year basis depending or surveys and test netting. Imagine that. Fisheries that actually consider biodiversity! I'm pretty sure my biology 101 expressed the importance of biodiversity and predator prey relationships better than we have seen demonstrated in the great Province of Alberta.

Anyways during the course of this day out with my family we easily caught many walleye. Using these techniques though you will likely be able to catch walleye anywhere they swim. Good luck.

https://youtu.be/lJKImVbrOuc

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

I brought up the same facts earlier this summer and was ridiculed by a few members here who figure its best just to go with zero retention, or to keep the limit at sizes nearly unattainable size, not realizing there can be a stunted population.

Nice to see there is some on board who realize the need for diversity in our lakes, and how diversity is managed.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I brought up the same facts earlier this summer and was ridiculed by a few members here who figure its best just to go with zero retention, or to keep the limit at sizes nearly unattainable size, not realizing there can be a stunted population.

Nice to see there is some on board who realize the need for diversity in our lakes, and how diversity is managed.

What I recall is that you were called for other things and ideas that you no longer seem to support. Now you just twist the argument back to something we can all agree on, biodiversity is good indeed but that doesn't mean a 1 fish keep limit everywhere makes biodiversity . Since you keep continuously bringing up these so called arguments, I thought it was worth recanting why it might of went a bit off the rails for you.

I don't know of anyone on this board that doesn't want more diversity and anyone who would want stunted fish. You seem to think these members exist somewhere but I don't know of any.

So we agree on biodiversity. Maybe not exactly on how to manage it on every point but agree on a better end state of things.

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

What I recall is that you were called for other things and ideas that you no longer seem to support. Now you just twist the argument back to something we can all agree on, biodiversity is good indeed but that doesn't mean a 1 fish keep limit everywhere makes biodiversity . Since you keep continuously bringing up these so called arguments, I thought it was worth recanting why it might of went a bit off the rails for you.

I don't know of anyone on this board that doesn't want more diversity and anyone who would want stunted fish. You seem to think these members exist somewhere but I don't know of any.

So we agree on biodiversity. Maybe not exactly on how to manage it on every point but agree on a better end state of things.

I think you have a problem with your recall button, and like last time I see no use in trying to explain things to you because there seems to be a problem with your comprehension button. Honestly, if you showed any possibility of compression I would gladly discuss the topic with you, but you have once again proven that's just not in the cards for you.

Maybe this thread will spawn a glimmer of hope for you.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I think you have a problem with your recall button, and like last time I see no use in trying to explain things to you because there seems to be a problem with your comprehension button. Honestly, if you showed any possibility of compression I would gladly discuss the topic with you, but you have once again proven that's just not in the cards for you.

Maybe this thread will spawn a glimmer of hope for you.

Such anger and hurt... someone needs a hug.

I'm sorry we agree on better fishing and biodiversity. Have a nice day.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

What I recall is that you were called for other things and ideas that you no longer seem to support. Now you just twist the argument back to something we can all agree on, biodiversity is good indeed but that doesn't mean a 1 fish keep limit everywhere makes biodiversity . Since you keep continuously bringing up these so called arguments, I thought it was worth recanting why it might of went a bit off the rails for you.

I don't know of anyone on this board that doesn't want more diversity and anyone who would want stunted fish. You seem to think these members exist somewhere but I don't know of any.

So we agree on biodiversity. Maybe not exactly on how to manage it on every point but agree on a better end state of things.

Agree. You got it right. And if Brandon wants to get things changed he should try and get more money for them.

[Kurt505]

Without naming names I flushed them out.

Thanks guys.

Now tell him your master plan

SNAP, get over it, enough of the grade school pm's. If you want to pick a fight come on out and give your plan in detail instead of your "ya butch, ya butch, whatever he said is my plan" response. If I thought you could keep up to speed with a discussion and actually give a response that was on topic I would engage with you, but spawning whitefish in Manitoba, or brook trout on the eastern slopes, have nothing to do with walleye retention in northern Alberta.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

Without naming names I flushed them out.

Thanks guys.

Now tell him your master plan

SNAP, get over it, enough of the grade school pm's. If you want to pick a fight come on out and give your plan in detail instead of your "ya butch, ya butch, whatever he said is my plan" response. If I thought you could keep up to speed with a discussion and actually give a response that was on topic I would engage with you, but spawning whitefish in Manitoba, or brook trout on the eastern slopes, have nothing to do with walleye retention in northern Alberta.

How little you learned.

Sorry OP. last post. All yours Kurt.

[Brandonkop]

Legal proceding occurs daily in Canada. Government is run by lawyers and judges, if you haven't noticed. To let a government policy go unchallenged when everyone sees a problem, just to avoid the legal pursuit, doesn't make sense to me.

It would sure help with accountability.



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[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Legal proceding occurs daily in Canada. Government is run by lawyers and judges, if you haven't noticed. To let a government policy go unchallenged when everyone sees a problem, just to avoid the legal pursuit, doesn't make sense to me.

It would sure help with accountability.

Exactly!

Where is the accountability for the money we spend on conservation?

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

Exactly!

Where is the accountability for the money we spend on conservation?

If you actually think lawyers are the answer, then there's no hope for our fisheries...

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Walleyedude

If you actually think lawyers are the answer, then there's no hope for our fisheries...

Agree.

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by Walleyedude

If you actually think lawyers are the answer, then there's no hope for our fisheries...

I didn't realize I had that much pull.....

I think you mean I f we keep up with the current plan our fisheries have no hope, because that is a fact.

Your handle says it all.

Save the walleye! Screw the rest! Nobody should be eating my playmates!


What you don't seem to realize is that there is more than one type of fisherman sharing the pond.

If the biologists are only getting paid to do netting once every 5 years, what are they doing the other 4 years? Playing ping pong?

Since that other guy can't answer my question, maybe you can?

How long has it been since they shut down retention?

What have they learned since then? Other than closing off retention of walleye has had a detrimental effect on sustaining a healthy balance of fish species in our lakes?

It's all wonderful if you're a walleye tournament fisherman I suppose, but what about the others?

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I didn't realize I had that much pull.....

I think you mean I f we keep up with the current plan our fisheries have no hope, because that is a fact.

Your handle says it all.

Save the walleye! Screw the rest! Nobody should be eating my playmates!


What you don't seem to realize is that there is more than one type of fisherman sharing the pond.

If the biologists are only getting paid to do netting once every 5 years, what are they doing the other 4 years? Playing ping pong?

Since that other guy can't answer my question, maybe you can?

How long has it been since they shut down retention?

What have they learned since then? Other than closing off retention of walleye has had a detrimental effect on sustaining a healthy balance of fish species in our lakes?

It's all wonderful if you're a walleye tournament fisherman I suppose, but what about the others?

Nice to see you have learned nothing in this thread or the last 2 threads.

You want answers, but if you dont agree with them you seem to ignore them.

Each bio rotates the water bodies in their area. They each get test netted about once every 5 years. More testing requires more techs. Quite simple.


Coming up with suggestions and questions is easy. The rest is harder.

[Walleyedude]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

I didn't realize I had that much pull.....

I think you mean I f we keep up with the current plan our fisheries have no hope, because that is a fact.

Your handle says it all.

Save the walleye! Screw the rest! Nobody should be eating my playmates!


What you don't seem to realize is that there is more than one type of fisherman sharing the pond.

If the biologists are only getting paid to do netting once every 5 years, what are they doing the other 4 years? Playing ping pong?

Since that other guy can't answer my question, maybe you can?

How long has it been since they shut down retention?

What have they learned since then? Other than closing off retention of walleye has had a detrimental effect on sustaining a healthy balance of fish species in our lakes?

It's all wonderful if you're a walleye tournament fisherman I suppose, but what about the others?

Kurt505,

I apologize for quoting your post in my response. That was not my intent. I merely meant to comment on the lunacy of thinking lawyers were the best solution to our fisheries management issues in general.

I have absolutely zero desire to engage with you in any conversation, and I will not respond any further, I learned my lesson the first time around.

In the future, please DO NOT put words in my mouth or attempt to speak for me or represent my position on the issue in any way.

Thanks.

[bobalong]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

Since that other guy can't answer my question, maybe you can?

I am not sure if this was directed at me but I will answer.


How long has it been since they shut down retention?
There was lots of discussion and anger when F/W started talking about making walleye catch and release only. Campgrounds were concerned that anglers would not come to their lake if they could not keep walleye, costing them big money.
I am only familiar with the lakes around Edmonton and to the north but walleye closures and big reductions I believe began in the mid 90's. Pigeon, Lac. St. Anne, Lac La Nonne, South Buck (min size) Pine.

What have they learned since then? Other than closing off retention of walleye has had a detrimental effect on sustaining a healthy balance of fish species in our lakes?
One of the things they have learned is that if people want to keep fish to eat and can't keep walleye, they will keep pike, perch whitefish etc.

They also learned that virtually stopping all stocking of walleye in Alberta from 1999 to 2006 did not help recovery........but it didn't cost them anything either.

The province of Alberta still stocks very few lakes in Alberta with walleye. In 2006 when I sat on the Fisheries Roundtable of Alberta they were spending about 6 million dollars a year on trout stocking and 200k on walleye, even though they admitted then that walleye was by far the most popular game fish. That was 11 years ago and even now not much has changed with regard to government planning, the Bios knew what needed to be done but were not given money to do it, in fact through some of those years their budgets were cut.

My observation over the past 50 years or so of fishing in this province is that sustaining fish in our province in the lakes close to a large city will take consistent and long term stocking of walleye, pike and perch. Imagine the improvement if they spent 6 million a year even now and every year for stocking these 3 species. That would be a commitment to our fisheries and the Alberta Government has not done that for decades, so they have a lot of catching up to do.

[npauls]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

It's all wonderful if you're a walleye tournament fisherman I suppose, but what about the others?

What you fail to realize is that if a lake/reservoir goes to a zero keep or tag system then walleye tournaments are no longer able to receive permits to have an event on that body of water. So closing a lake doesn't help tournament anglers at all.

Our province has the highest anglers per water capita in all of Canada and right up there for all of north America. A simple slot system just won't work like it does in other provinces and states. The retention rate is too high.

I agree that we need test netting done more often and for f&w to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to the up and down fazes of our fisheries.

A good example of miss management is Chin reservoir in the south. There is major talks of shutting it down because of test net results from 8 YEARS AGO! That is how long it roughly takes a walleye to reach maturity. So there is a whole new crop of fish in that lake and 8 full spawning seasons since the last results but because those results from 8 years ago were bad they want to shut it down. A lot of the anglers in southern Alberta have known about this plan to shut down all the reservoirs in the south on a 5 year rotation.

If you ask around the south. Chin is one of the best if not the best year class fishery around. You can catch pretty much every year class pretty much every day out there. There are tons of reservoirs in way worse shape than chin but it is the next one up on the hit list that they have for an agenda.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Legal proceding occurs daily in Canada. Government is run by lawyers and judges, if you haven't noticed. To let a government policy go unchallenged when everyone sees a problem, just to avoid the legal pursuit, doesn't make sense to me.

It would sure help with accountability.



Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Put money where I think its needed or I will sue you.

Money well spent. Next group sues because you got a change then the next and the next. Careful what you wish for.

[Brandonkop]

The Fraser River Sockeye run has been opened to recreational and commercial harvest this year, 2018. My other boat is out of commission so I have been going out on my 16 foot aluminum Spectrum. It works fairly well out in this area, just have to watch out for the winds picking up and head in before it gets too messy out there. I fish four rods and stack dummy flasher below my rods. Check out my set up in the video. I go through everything in detail at the beginning. I am no expert by any means. This was from my third time out this year. Since then I have been out 6 more times and I think I have been getting better every time out with how to handle the fish on the line and even learning the sockeye flop. Thanks to all the help I got online. It really was a game changer for me out there.

The fishery is still open for now and there are still guys getting their limits of nice fish. So if you want to hit it come on down, because it doesn't happen for another four years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ90NgzSqzs

[Brandonkop]

oop, delete.

[mclean]

A lot of interesting posts on walleye,pike, perch in Alberta, But in southern Alberta, South of the transcanada, No one has mentioned the water levels in our reservoirs which is probably one of the biggest factors on fisheries in the south,example last summer the water levels in St. Marys Res. Ridge Res. Chin res. and others have been drawn down to very low levels due to irrigation commitments, With the low water levels in the spring spawning fish lay eggs , then have a sudden increase of water in these res. a lot of the eggs are lost, creating a poor hatch, This seems to be a very common problem in Southern Alberta, I understand that the reservoirs are made for irrigation, But possibly too much water is being drawn from the system, Could there possibly be a better balance of water usage be put in place. We in the south do have a lot of dry years and the reservoirs do take a beating as well as the fishires.