2023 Fishing Regs Alberta

[AK47]

Originally Posted by fly Guy

two years from now people will be complaining that there are no walleye left in these reservoirs.

Travers had 3 over 50 cm for years and we would still catch 30-40 a day. So now 1 keeper in slot size and there will be none left? You make zero sense. Where will all 55cm plus walleye disappear?

[fish99]

if you want big fish you have to thin the heard so that there is lots of food to grow big fast .

[litwin]

Originally Posted by Jims83cj5

Slot is too big, travers is going to be brutalized

Yup , I use to defend the Biologist, saying it is hard to make everyone happy with regulations. Then they say they make decisions based on science. However, this year they open up slot limits on Travers and McGregor, 2 years after a netting survey showed the lake population in decline and at high risk.

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by litwin

Yup , I use to defend the Biologist, saying it is hard to make everyone happy with regulations. Then they say they make decisions based on science. However, this year they open up slot limits on Travers and McGregor, 2 years after a netting survey showed the lake population in decline and at high risk.

When I read these surveys, questions come to mind but the primary one being “what’s the timeline & recovery plan to come back to a sustainable harvest”? Whatever a “sustainable harvest” looks like. Indefinite closure isn’t the answer. I always thought the indefinite closure strategy was stupid. I’m not usually one to defend the bio’s but this is a good strategy (which could be supplemented) when the alternative is draconian closures and no recovery plan. Im all for a change in overall fisheries management personally (which includes a sustainable harvest). This is more of a middle ground approach and again, if people are seriously concerned, I’d be advocating for a robust walleye/forage stocking program to help supplement.

[calgarygringo]

And Travers has been 0 walleye for how many years now and netting numbers are still showing low numbers. How did that idea work out. Thinking outside the box is working well in some stateside now. Trials of stocking baitfish to increase size and numbers, more spawning seems to be one of the easiest and better results. Think outside the box!

Originally Posted by litwin

Yup , I use to defend the Biologist, saying it is hard to make everyone happy with regulations. Then they say they make decisions based on science. However, this year they open up slot limits on Travers and McGregor, 2 years after a netting survey showed the lake population in decline and at high risk.

[pikeman06]

Are they reproducing in those reservoirs down there? If not, might as well fish them out and supplement with restocking or fish them out and let the pike perch and whites build their numbers back up as we all know there is ZERO stocking of those species and they have a long way to go to recover.

[calgarygringo]

So they say in a few reports I have read. More baitfish equals faster better growth, get to maturity in less time, more healthy female and seem to be better spawning. Also means they can stock less numbers of walleye or none in some cases and costs are less overall and fishermen are way happier.

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Are they reproducing in those reservoirs down there? If not, might as well fish them out and supplement with restocking or fish them out and let the pike perch and whites build their numbers back up as we all know there is ZERO stocking of those species and they have a long way to go to recover.

[Smoky buck]

Said it years ago take the perch from the trout ponds they don’t belong in and stock them in pike/walleye waters as forage

Win win

But actual minnow species should be stocked as well

[Seli]

I think a lot of people were blindsided with the walleye slots in these reservoirs especially when all the talk and input was aimed towards lakers in Cold Lake. I have only been fishing in Alberta since 2014 so I do not have the personal historical data that many of you have.
We all clearly love to fish, many like to keep where allowed and many practice catch, picture, release.
I think the biologists and decision makers could do a better job of explaining long term goals of lakes especially when the regulations change. You will never get the 200k plus angler community to agree with every change but I feel more explanation will go a long way.
I have contacted local offices to ask for long term goals of certain lakes and the information received back has been mostly fluff with unclear long term goals.
The more information that is shared, the more we know and that is never a bad thing.

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

Are they reproducing in those reservoirs down there? If not, might as well fish them out and supplement with restocking or fish them out and let the pike perch and whites build their numbers back up as we all know there is ZERO stocking of those species and they have a long way to go to recover.

Funny thing, they do actually reproduce when fed well. There is a waterbody that is rebounding because they opened up retention of walleye, and they stocked a prey species. Go figure. Closure didn’t work. It resulted in stunted walleye and limited available forage. Their excuse was that the walleye simply weren’t spawning. Well yea, they were starving… Feed them, and they start spawning again.

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by Seli

I think a lot of people were blindsided with the walleye slots in these reservoirs especially when all the talk and input was aimed towards lakers in Cold Lake. I have only been fishing in Alberta since 2014 so I do not have the personal historical data that many of you have.
We all clearly love to fish, many like to keep where allowed and many practice catch, picture, release.
I think the biologists and decision makers could do a better job of explaining long term goals of lakes especially when the regulations change. You will never get the 200k plus angler community to agree with every change but I feel more explanation will go a long way.
I have contacted local offices to ask for long term goals of certain lakes and the information received back has been mostly fluff with unclear long term goals.
The more information that is shared, the more we know and that is never a bad thing.

Been fishing these waters for over 20 years, most were blindsided when they closed some without any plans to re-open. They even closed some waters without doing surveys…

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by calgarygringo

So they say in a few reports I have read. More baitfish equals faster better growth, get to maturity in less time, more healthy female and seem to be better spawning. Also means they can stock less numbers of walleye or none in some cases and costs are less overall and fishermen are way happier.

^this

[pikeman06]

Originally Posted by I’d rather be outdoors

Funny thing, they do actually reproduce when fed well. There is a waterbody that is rebounding because they opened up retention of walleye, and they stocked a prey species. Go figure. Closure didn’t work. It resulted in stunted walleye and limited available forage. Their excuse was that the walleye simply weren’t spawning. Well yea, they were starving… Feed them, and they start spawning again.

I just always wondered if those walleyes down south were successful spawners with the fluctuations in depth. I don't get down there much. The lakes in my area that have too many walleye seem to have poor recruitment, thinking that cannibalism is a big factor on some cases. Big shortage of minnows and other bait fish. Not even much for small suckers anymore.

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by pikeman06

I just always wondered if those walleyes down south were successful spawners with the fluctuations in depth. I don't get down there much. The lakes in my area that have too many walleye seem to have poor recruitment, thinking that cannibalism is a big factor on some cases. Big shortage of minnows and other bait fish. Not even much for small suckers anymore.

I’m sure some cannibalism occurred in the past, but pretty tough when they’re all the same size. No doubt some spawns aren’t successful in some years with high water fluctuation as well. Some southern reservoirs are more sterile than others (which limits the biomass it can sustain) which is why the fish stunt and stop reproducing. I’m sure the same could be said about some central/northern lakes. Prey stocking and limited harvest seem to have worked.

[AK47]

Originally Posted by I’d rather be outdoors

Funny thing, they do actually reproduce when fed well. There is a waterbody that is rebounding because they opened up retention of walleye, and they stocked a prey species. Go figure. Closure didn’t work. It resulted in stunted walleye and limited available forage. Their excuse was that the walleye simply weren’t spawning. Well yea, they were starving… Feed them, and they start spawning again.

We need more people like you in the regulation change decision making department!

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by AK47

We need more people like you in the regulation change decision making department!

That and get back to a two-way conversation on these regulation discussions. This submit a question and not being able to engage in the answering of it is a waste of time going forwards. Covid is done. We better see a change in the process on the next round of consultations. We do not need anymore dog and pony shows.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Seli

I think a lot of people were blindsided with the walleye slots in these reservoirs especially when all the talk and input was aimed towards lakers in Cold Lake. I have only been fishing in Alberta since 2014 so I do not have the personal historical data that many of you have.
We all clearly love to fish, many like to keep where allowed and many practice catch, picture, release.
I think the biologists and decision makers could do a better job of explaining long term goals of lakes especially when the regulations change. You will never get the 200k plus angler community to agree with every change but I feel more explanation will go a long way.
I have contacted local offices to ask for long term goals of certain lakes and the information received back has been mostly fluff with unclear long term goals.
The more information that is shared, the more we know and that is never a bad thing.

Alberta has never had any real plan or clear goals for fish or game in my opinion.Pretty pathetic state of affairs,seems to get worse and worse. Funding is cut to the bone,when was the last time you were checked other than on a very high traffic fishery.

[buckman]

The slot size is small 5 cm that's two inches. Yes you may get one in that slot,but it wont be so easy.

[Curtsyneil]

Reading some comments on here about forage bein stocked in these polluted walleye lakes. How do you know that the lake isn’t producing an amount of forage for the walleye? Do you yourself test it or just think oh yeah that’s gotta be the thing to do cause the fish are starving cause there’s no minnows for them to eat. When you have to many walleye in a lake they stunt and only get so big because there’s to many of them not because there isn’t enough food to produce biggar fish. Keeping a daily limit on a walleye under a certain centimetre is the answere for getting these lakes back on track. Big breeders over a certain centimetre stay in the lake to reproduce and the pan fry’s not old enough to spawn get kept for eating. Very simple process start following Sask and Manitoba regs and problem solved. If you think the alberta government is goin to spend money on stocking forage for over populated walleye lakes you better wake up cause that’s not happening. . These are the same guys do testing on numbers of walleye in a lake per hectare and actually think they have an accurate number of walleye in the lake. Funding is the biggest issue in Alberta that’s why you only see one fish cop on a lake all winter on his 1990’s model honda fortrax 350lol they don’t even have enough money for there men to have a newer ride. Just unbelievable.

[calgarygringo]

Lakes are not the same here as Man/Sask. South lakes are just dammed up valleys to store irrigation water, not for amazing fishing. In the U.S. they are finding out that food is one of the big issues. We have this here as well and our bios will tell you it is the biggest reason it takes longer here for fish to mature to spawn or some never get there. I have a lake we fish full of Prussians and the pike out of it are big, fat and look like long footballs. Cleaning them their bellies are full of small carp. A good example of a lake doing well with good feed.

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Reading some comments on here about forage bein stocked in these polluted walleye lakes. How do you know that the lake isn’t producing an amount of forage for the walleye? Do you yourself test it or just think oh yeah that’s gotta be the thing to do cause the fish are starving cause there’s no minnows for them to eat. When you have to many walleye in a lake they stunt and only get so big because there’s to many of them not because there isn’t enough food to produce biggar fish. Keeping a daily limit on a walleye under a certain centimetre is the answere for getting these lakes back on track. Big breeders over a certain centimetre stay in the lake to reproduce and the pan fry’s not old enough to spawn get kept for eating. Very simple process start following Sask and Manitoba regs and problem solved. If you think the alberta government is goin to spend money on stocking forage for over populated walleye lakes you better wake up cause that’s not happening. . These are the same guys do testing on numbers of walleye in a lake per hectare and actually think they have an accurate number of walleye in the lake. Funding is the biggest issue in Alberta that’s why you only see one fish cop on a lake all winter on his 1990’s model honda fortrax 350lol they don’t even have enough money for there men to have a newer ride. Just unbelievable.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Reading some comments on here about forage bein stocked in these polluted walleye lakes. How do you know that the lake isn’t producing an amount of forage for the walleye? Do you yourself test it or just think oh yeah that’s gotta be the thing to do cause the fish are starving cause there’s no minnows for them to eat. When you have to many walleye in a lake they stunt and only get so big because there’s to many of them not because there isn’t enough food to produce biggar fish. Keeping a daily limit on a walleye under a certain centimetre is the answere for getting these lakes back on track. Big breeders over a certain centimetre stay in the lake to reproduce and the pan fry’s not old enough to spawn get kept for eating. Very simple process start following Sask and Manitoba regs and problem solved. If you think the alberta government is goin to spend money on stocking forage for over populated walleye lakes you better wake up cause that’s not happening. . These are the same guys do testing on numbers of walleye in a lake per hectare and actually think they have an accurate number of walleye in the lake. Funding is the biggest issue in Alberta that’s why you only see one fish cop on a lake all winter on his 1990’s model honda fortrax 350lol they don’t even have enough money for there men to have a newer ride. Just unbelievable.

Is forage likely to be stocked in Alberta no but possibly moving problem perch from trout ponds to walleye/pike waters where perch have dramatically declined maybe. But funding is needed no argument there

Reaching sustainable numbers of predators vs forage by thinning the numbers is definitely needed. But yes I would say with confidence there has been a major decline in forage in some waters I fished in Alberta. Thining the numbers would help forage rebound but it would take much longer and involve reaching much lower predator numbers to start

Yes how Alberta promotes targeting large fish for harvesting impacts breeders is negative to the population and changes here are needed

I could even go farther but it’s a waste of time

Really there is no one fix all answer and it would take multiple changes to get ideal results. Also each body of water depending on the habitat, overall make up of fish populations, and goals intended on reaching are factors on what should be done as well

But beating a dead horse again and Alberta fisheries will do whatever they please

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Reading some comments on here about forage bein stocked in these polluted walleye lakes. How do you know that the lake isn’t producing an amount of forage for the walleye? Do you yourself test it or just think oh yeah that’s gotta be the thing to do cause the fish are starving cause there’s no minnows for them to eat. When you have to many walleye in a lake they stunt and only get so big because there’s to many of them not because there isn’t enough food to produce biggar fish. Keeping a daily limit on a walleye under a certain centimetre is the answere for getting these lakes back on track. Big breeders over a certain centimetre stay in the lake to reproduce and the pan fry’s not old enough to spawn get kept for eating. Very simple process start following Sask and Manitoba regs and problem solved. If you think the alberta government is goin to spend money on stocking forage for over populated walleye lakes you better wake up cause that’s not happening. . These are the same guys do testing on numbers of walleye in a lake per hectare and actually think they have an accurate number of walleye in the lake. Funding is the biggest issue in Alberta that’s why you only see one fish cop on a lake all winter on his 1990’s model honda fortrax 350lol they don’t even have enough money for there men to have a newer ride. Just unbelievable.

Think most would agree that funding/the revenue structure needs to be overhauled (as discussed in previous threads). A slot is welcome and a great idea. Stocking of forage (minnows/trout) is anecdotal based on people’s first hand experience with fishing certain reservoirs over many years. It’s a lever to be discussed that can enhance our fisheries.

Closing waters to retention in perpetuity sure isn’t the answer.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by AK47

I noted Travers has 100m no fishing zone from inlet canal... have not fished Travers for years, but I remember it used to be 25m. How do you measure 100m on the water exactly? And how the CO is going to prove you were within legal distance if you keep trolling and moving around that area? One point you can be within 95m 5min later within 105m. Anybody ever had a discussion about it with CO in that area? Seems like the best would be for them to put some buoys marking no fish zone?

Same way I measure legal distances to buildings etc to comply with the hunting regs. Make a pin drop in your google maps app on your phone then select "measure distance". Whala!

[goldscud]

Perhaps the biggest driver for lack of forage and juveniles is the giant variations in water level in the reservoirs. This perturbation/loss of habitat every summer would be incredibly detrimental to the productivity of the reservoir. Perhaps this water level issue overpowers every other factor

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by goldscud

Perhaps the biggest driver for lack of forage and juveniles is the giant variations in water level in the reservoirs. This perturbation/loss of habitat every summer would be incredibly detrimental to the productivity of the reservoir. Perhaps this water level issue overpowers every other factor

Could be a factor in some areas but likely will vary year to year rather than an ongoing decline. Also I can tell you it has very little effect on some locations I fish with major fluctuations throughout the year as forage is not lacking at all. But there has not been any government stocking either

That would still equal a lack of forage making the system a poor candidate for stocking large numbers of predator species and protecting them for a C&R fishery

[I’d rather be outdoors]

Originally Posted by goldscud

Perhaps the biggest driver for lack of forage and juveniles is the giant variations in water level in the reservoirs. This perturbation/loss of habitat every summer would be incredibly detrimental to the productivity of the reservoir. Perhaps this water level issue overpowers every other factor

For sure it’s an issue, but reservoirs will always be used for irrigation first & foremost. That’ll never change. Socking of forage can help the cause.