Lac Ste Anne

[I-Love-Eyes]

Well, we finally got time to put the boat in the water and tried our luck at Lac Ste Anne yesterday.

Went out about 3:30 - 8:00

I caught 3 very nice sized Walleye and 2 small pike and hubby got 1 walleye
YES!! Mamma still rules!!

The Walleye are still milking so the bite was rather slow, but fun all the same!!

And...my new Humminbird SI sonar works beautifully...YAHOO!!!
Water temp was about 52 - 54 degrees F and it was a bit windy but sunny.

[bsnyder]

Never tried that lake yet, I heard you have to watch for rockpiles out in the lake so was always leary of loosing my moter.Any big fish?
You sound like my wife , bragging that she always catches the biguns
Someday it,ll be our turn ( HAHA )

[I-Love-Eyes]

Yeah, there are a lot of humps and such--you have to watch your depth. The walleye were around 2-3 lbs in very nice condition Can only keep if you have a draw licence though.
I'd like to meet your wife--sounds like we have a lot in common My hubby says it's because he has to drive the boat but I think it's cause I smell better LOL

[bsnyder]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Eyes

Yeah, there are a lot of humps and such--you have to watch your depth. The walleye were around 2-3 lbs in very nice condition Can only keep if you have a draw licence though.
I'd like to meet your wife--sounds like we have a lot in common My hubby says it's because he has to drive the boat but I think it's cause I smell better LOL

You and my wife ( GRACE ) must be related, the same lies come out of herWe only practice C/R , speacially the biguns.Have to go to SASK for those.

[allenford]

Is there a walleye draw on Lac Ste Anne?

[The Anvil]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Eyes

Yeah, there are a lot of humps and such--you have to watch your depth. The walleye were around 2-3 lbs in very nice condition Can only keep if you have a draw licence though.
I'd like to meet your wife--sounds like we have a lot in common My hubby says it's because he has to drive the boat but I think it's cause I smell better LOL

Actually there is a ZERO limit for pike and walleye on Lac St. Anne.
and to my knowledge (99.9%) there is no current tag program on Lac St. Anne for Walleye.
Pike and eyes are C&R

(straight from the online regs)
Lac Ste. Anne & tributaries & outlet (Sturgeon River)
May 15 to Mar. 31 – Walleye limit 0; Pike limit 0; Perch limit 15; Lake Whitefish limit 10; Burbot limit 10.
Apr. 1 to May 14 – CLOSED

I have a cottage out there in West Cove, and in the past few years I have seen an alarming increase of poaching of both Walleye and Pike out of this lake.
I have reported Dozens of Poachers on Lac St. Anne over the years to the report a poacher and have only seen personally a hand full get caught, kinda sad when you go out fishing, and you are on patrol. (although I am working towards being a conservation officer )

Just trying to do my part to keep the future of these waters alive for younger generations to enjoy.

Hope you and your Hubby had a great time,

If you have ever been through the Narrows into West cove side, of the lake there are some decent spots for eyes around Farming Island.

Cheers!

[allenford]

You are right Anvil, I believe Lac Ste Anne became a C&R on eye and jack from last year. I have fished there a few times, lots of small eyes and yes, I did see some poachers as well...

[~Octane~]

I really wish who ever sets limits in this province had even a speck of common sense. The way this province manages lakes is a complete joke. I was SURE St. Anne used to have a draw system, thought it was Newell Pigeon and St anne....anyway's I'm not one to go buy tags so I can keep one or 2, not my thing I'll go to a lake up north that are relatively unfished where I can keep some eyes.

As for St Anne....I would never fish that trash lake until those people who set limits get their heads out of their you-know-what. St anne is overrun with small skinny weak walleye (mabey once in a blue moon u'll catch one or 2 half decent ones), same as the pike. The perch are pretty much gone there now because they cant find enough food due to the more aggressive walleye in explosive numbers. Only reason the whitefish numbers are ok is because they eat bugs on the surface, and in winter pick things off weeds a walleye never would. Why I ask?? Are they 'lacking upstairs' to realize this??? Do they think with zero limits the walleye will all of a sudden start growing huge??? Are they striving for a lake jam packed with 14in walleye?? Really baffles me. Pigeon was the same until they AT LEAST put a draw system on it...which I dont think is enough anyways. They need to open it (and similar lakes like St Anne) to the whole public for a week or 2 every year, with a set number of walleye you can keep. Surely they have the technology and the minds to figure out the right numbers (anglers per day, walleye in the lake) in order to set the right length of days you can keep and how many each person can keep. This way the lake doesn't get fished out quickly (which will happen on pigeon even if it's a one walleye per day limit for the year because of how many people fish it)

Oh well, I guess i'll just keep fishing quality lakes and let the mindless people run St anne as well as others into the gutter.

[The Anvil]

Ever since the Wab oil spill there has been a sudden increase in activity on Lac Ste. Anne in regards to anglers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The eyes are doing well, which is a good thing. How ever the pike are stunted and on the smaller side, nothing new here, been heading that way for years now. As for the Perch... eye food, the Walters of Lac Ste. Anne are eating them before I can..lol

Hey everyone,

If you are out fishing or just out and you notice someone poaching on any of Alberta's waters follow three basic steps.

1) Without getting yourself in "hot" water, or harms way, survey and capture the poachers in the act, best thing to do is take a few pics if you can.

2) Not only are pictures good, but a license plate goes that bit step further this will give you more info to pass on to the proper authorities who will deal with poachers. Just make sure it is the right license plate, if you can hang around until they are ready to leave, to be sure that it is indeed the poacher's license plate you are recording (POACHING IS ILLEGAL and has punishments for the Crime.)

3) Now, you have picture evidence, you have a license plate. That should be good enough, but never is. (I don't recommend 100% the next part as it is your own safety at hand, you just never know these days)
I don't know how many times I personally have gone over and spoken with suspected poachers and have asked them what the had caught, you will get most answers from "Oh nothing" to the honest truth, some people just don't read the regs.
Continue and follow up your findings and report the poachers.
the Report A Poacher (RAP) Program provides Albertans with an opportunity to help protect Alberta’s wildlife, fisheries and the habitat in which they live by providing a toll-free phone number (1-800-642-3800) in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week to report suspected illegal activity.

I have actually had quite a fair bit of people return fish to the water once The Anvil has given them a pep talk about poaching and the fact that there is picture evidence of them in the act, and of course I will elaborate on the fines and penalties to some degree.
This is not recommended to all as there have been times where I have been threatened, followed home and so on.

Cheers!


Sorry for hi-jacking this thread

Rant over!

[~Octane~]

Originally Posted by The Anvil

Ever since the Wab oil spill there has been a sudden increase in activity on Lac Ste. Anne in regards to anglers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The eyes are doing well, which is a good thing. How ever the pike are stunted and on the smaller side, nothing new here, been heading that way for years now. As for the Perch... eye food, the Walters of Lac Ste. Anne are eating them before I can..lol

Wow. Eyes doing good? You like fishing for 14in walleyes? The pike are stunted because there are probably 100 walleye per pike there. How can they keep up with them when theres so many stealing all the food??? Lakes only have so much food man. And show me these 'walters' of St Anne...any pics? A 14in walleye can easily eat a 6inch perch. All common sense IMO.

[The Anvil]

Originally Posted by ~Octane~

Wow. Eyes doing good? You like fishing for 14in walleyes? The pike are stunted because there are probably 100 walleye per pike there. How can they keep up with them when theres so many stealing all the food??? Lakes only have so much food man. And show me these 'walters' of St Anne...any pics? A 14in walleye can easily eat a 6inch perch. All common sense IMO.

As for St Anne....I would never fish that trash lake until those people who set limits get their heads out of their you-know-what. St anne is overrun with small skinny weak walleye (mabey once in a blue moon u'll catch one or 2 half decent ones),

Yes you are indeed on the right page ~Octane~,

I said they are doing well, I never said that there were any monsters in the lake, i was referring to the population of Walleye in Ste. Anne.
Overall yeah there are dung loads of Small Skinny eyes with the odd decent one in there. So in the sense of "doing well" the population is doing well, there are MANY eyes in Ste. Anne. As for the size of the eyes, yeah there is some head hidden indeed, and something needs to be done about it.

I personally enjoy fishing in general, and don't get the chance to head up north, or to many other walleye lakes, but when it comes to a day of fishing nothing beats 60+ fish days all C&R even if they are smaller ones.

The better half is yet to taste walleye, so maybe a trip in in order.

I am well aware of the pike population being stunted, and the ratio of pike to walleye being close to 1:100 as you stated, which IMO is pretty darn close.
You make a valid point, and yes there are MANY Walleye in the 14 inch range with the odd bigger eye. The perch population has dwindled cause of the walleye. I know that the lake only has so much food.

As for pics here are a few; I honestly don't take many pics as there really is no point...lol


The wife with her first eye from Lac.Ste Anne, lol for size reference, my wife conceals a Double H bust
Her eye was over the 14,



Here is me yelling at an eye who bit my wife...lol as she was removing the jig!
I had to do it. As you can see this one was definitely under/around the 14inch mark so yeah.



The above pics are from last year.

[~Octane~]

Nice pics. The first one is definatley a good one for St anne. You should try a trip or 2...way less people, way quieter, and some real quality fishing to be had. Plus you can keep some, usually 3 as either the lake itself isn't listed or walleye isn't listed under that lake, or of course they are both listed and the limit is 2 or 3. Nothing beats a nice shore lunch on the shore of a relatively unfished lake. Key is to find these places, but there are TONS. Some simple exploring at lakes that are off the beaten path can produce some beautiful fish. I sure know what you mean about just getting out. But ya makes ya wonder when the 'proffesional biologists' will figure it out. Tight lines!

Edit: There are few lakes that have walleye where they arent listed and even fewer lakes that arent listed so your best bet is to find a lake with a 2 or 3 limit that you never hear of, there are lots.

[I-Love-Eyes]

I believe that there was some sort of special licence for keeping walleye from LSA implemented last year?? I will have to do a bit of looking to find where I saw that--I'll keep you posted.

Personally, I don't really care how big or small the walleye were--they were fun to catch anyway. Also, I thought that they looked very healthy and that is a good thing. Only time I "need" a "big" one is if I'm in a tournament

Lac Ste Anne will never be more than a C&R lake because of the proximity to Edmonton and the amount of angling pressure it gets. If they were to open up this lake, it wouldn't even have a minnow left in it. (Was told this by a CO officer a couple of years ago)

[~Octane~]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Eyes

I believe that there was some sort of special licence for keeping walleye from LSA implemented last year?? I will have to do a bit of looking to find where I saw that--I'll keep you posted.

Personally, I don't really care how big or small the walleye were--they were fun to catch anyway. Also, I thought that they looked very healthy and that is a good thing. Only time I "need" a "big" one is if I'm in a tournament

Lac Ste Anne will never be more than a C&R lake because of the proximity to Edmonton and the amount of angling pressure it gets. If they were to open up this lake, it wouldn't even have a minnow left in it. (Was told this by a CO officer a couple of years ago)

Yes I know. Thats why they should open it for a week or a few days or something...to cut them down. Like hunting, If you open the season all year round nothing would be left, but by keeping it open a certain time it allows a select harvest. It's either an average season (the period of time most lakes are open for) walleye limit or a zero limit. Can't there be a middle ground??

[I-Love-Eyes]

Originally Posted by ~Octane~

Yes I know. Thats why they should open it for a week or a few days or something...to cut them down. Like hunting, If you open the season all year round nothing would be left, but by keeping it open a certain time it allows a select harvest. It's either an average season (the period of time most lakes are open for) walleye limit or a zero limit. Can't there be a middle ground??

Yes, but in Alberta we have some knuckleheads in the Gov't. We need to reassess why Albertans get to keep the big spawning fish and throw back the small ones.

I say keep a smaller fish and throw back the big ones.

[~Octane~]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Eyes

[/COLOR]Yes, but in Alberta we have some knuckleheads in the Gov't. We need to reassess why Albertans get to keep the big spawning fish and throw back the small ones.

I say keep a smaller fish and throw back the big ones.

Ya exactly. Simple common sense. It's almost like their trying to screw things up. There should actually be slot limits....to allow the smaller fish to get smart and the big spawning fish to spawn. Mind you, IMO a 10 pound pike is a better spawner than the 15+ pounders. And who keeps a pike under 63cm anyways? Say pike until their 63cm need to be released, keep them 63-to say 80cm, 80cm-100cm need to be released, and say the 100cm+ pike you can keep 1 a year or something (for mounting or w/e). I dont think the 100cm+ would get fished out because their too smart for the average angler. Those are just numbers that popped into my head without really looking at a tape measure. Make that mandatory across AB. If they really want to get fancy, hand out cheap measuring tapes with the fishing regs when you buy your license. If someone can argue what I said please do, because in all honesty I don't know at what size their the best spawners at.

[happy perch fisher]

They tried opening up long lake by boyle for 1 over 50cm. About 5 years ago. All that happened was everything over 50 was removed. The slot size would never work because nothing would make it to protected side. Opening it up for maybe a long weeked could work in theory. But are you guys willing to deal with 1000+ plus boats there and 12+ hour waits to launch your boat. Also are you going to be happy with the hoarding of people, garbage, crime and other things. They would also probably need every single f&w officier there to try and keep control on the situation. Also you guys gotta realize that the overharvesting of the bigger perch did way more damage then the walleye did. All the walleye did was remove the small perch and with very few big perch left there was no way for them to replenish the numbers. Trust me those big pike are going to get caught. You have hundreds of guys fishing for them and there bound to bite something. Lac ste anne is also getting pouched heavly like most other lakes.

[~Octane~]

And the last person I want to hear from about this matter is Happy Perch Child Man u sure dont know much, have you takin your outdoor ed class yet?? For 1...I was talking about opening several lakes at the same time for a week with a limit of 1 as opposed to a long weekend where you can keep 2 or 3. That way you spread out the 'hoards' of people. Also, the hoards wouldn't be as big as you think....considering a dozen+ lakes would be opened. Not everybody will flock to a lake to keep a walleye or 2 a week. And for 2....I would open it for small walleye...not the big ones. That way if the small ones do take a beating which wouldn't happen if they manage it right, so what??? The spawning fish will produce more.

As for your fishing out being the main reason for the lack of big perch, your IQ level must be the same as your age because thats not possible on a lake like that, so quickly. How many people do you see in the middle of the lake fishing where the perch are???? Not many. And bigger walleye and especially the pike will easily eat a big perch. Since you have so much knowledge, why dont you post pic's of those big perch before it got fished out??

Or mabey the disappearence of the perch is because you and your dad chummed them all in with eggs and kept them, wondering where they all went

[bsnyder]

I think most of you guts are on the right track, slot sizes do work!!!!!!!!!!!
Just check out Sask for proof!!!!!!!! Tobin lake has a healthy population of fishermen and 60-70 cm eyes are quite commen.Slave used to have a lot of over 60s but now u are lucky to get a 50 and lots of 40s.We have to throw the biguns back!!!!!!!!!! If you must keep a couple we should keep 40s, they are better to eat anyways.
I was asked for a boost at Calling and was more than willing untill I saw the fellow had a 11+pd eye drying out in the back of his boat.He was going to eat such a beutifull fish!!!!!!!!Why not throw it back and eat a 3pdr?
I refused to boost him, ****ed me off, soon wont be any biguns left in that lake. ITS A SHAME!!!!!!!!
ALBERTA NEEDS TO SMARTEN UP!! I LUV fishing and am proud to throw back biguns for our future generations

[I-Love-Eyes]

Happy--

Slot sizes DO work!! Look at the fishery in Ontario--they use a slot size management plan and their fishery is recovered way better than Alberta. They have bigger and healthier walleye populations. The thing is, in Alberta, in order for a slot size management plan to work, the lake would have to be closed completely first for a few years in order for the fish population to replenish itself. IMO

BSnyder-- X10 I agree fully!!!

[bsnyder]

THANKYOU, wish our goverment would read some of this

[I-Love-Eyes]

I think the Gov't should listen more the the men and women who are out there in the "wilds"!! We are the ones using the resource and we are the ones who see where the problems are. If Gov't listened more to the people, and looked at other provinces' practices, our Alberta resources would be in way better shape!!

[bsnyder]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Eyes

I think the Gov't should listen more the the men and women who are out there in the "wilds"!! We are the ones using the resource and we are the ones who see where the problems are. If Gov't listened more to the people, and looked at other provinces' practices, our Alberta resources would be in way better shape!!

AMEN, well said

[happy perch fisher]

Originally Posted by ~Octane~

And the last person I want to hear from about this matter is Happy Perch Child Man u sure dont know much, have you takin your outdoor ed class yet?? For 1...I was talking about opening several lakes at the same time for a week with a limit of 1 as opposed to a long weekend where you can keep 2 or 3. That way you spread out the 'hoards' of people. Also, the hoards wouldn't be as big as you think....considering a dozen+ lakes would be opened. Not everybody will flock to a lake to keep a walleye or 2 a week. And for 2....I would open it for small walleye...not the big ones. That way if the small ones do take a beating which wouldn't happen if they manage it right, so what??? The spawning fish will produce more.

As for your fishing out being the main reason for the lack of big perch, your IQ level must be the same as your age because thats not possible on a lake like that, so quickly. How many people do you see in the middle of the lake fishing where the perch are???? Not many. And bigger walleye and especially the pike will easily eat a big perch. Since you have so much knowledge, why dont you post pic's of those big perch before it got fished out??

Or mabey the disappearence of the perch is because you and your dad chummed them all in with eggs and kept them, wondering where they all went

Which 12 lakes? Theres maybe 5 that could sustain a couple weeks harvest without devasting them around the city. Also if u fished alot of these lakes the average fish in most of these lakes are under 50cm. Also keeping a walleye under 38cm is just a waste. There arn't many big spawners left in most of these lakes. mostly do to pouchers. So say its 1 under 50cms. People are going to keep everything in 45-50 range. These fish are doing most of the spawning. So your effectivly removing most of the spawners. Also you must be a idiot to even think i meant opening it up for 2 or 3. If lakes like slave and calling are taking a beating with a limit of 1 what do u think it will do to a lake that less then 10 percent the size of them and way closer to major population zone.

As for your fishing out being the main reason for the lack of big perch, your IQ level must be the same as your age because thats not possible on a lake like that, so quickly. How many people do you see in the middle of the lake fishing where the perch are???? Not many. And bigger walleye and especially the pike will easily eat a big perch. Since you have so much knowledge, why dont you post pic's of those big perch before it got fished out??

Lol your oviously a rookie. Why did the perch just disapear in pigion lac ste lac la nonne and other lakes so fast. Walleye ussually didn't eat perch over 6 inches. Essicapally the 15-18inch ones in most of the lakes. When u have a couple hundred guys on a lake everyday fishing for perch they get removed extrermly quickly. Pigion went from the average being 9-10 in 1999 to around 5-7inches in 2003 and very rare to catch one smaller. 2004 the perch where only left in a few pockets in the lake. Mostly around 8-9. 2005 they where sitting in one pocket of the lakes and u where lucky to catch a couple. 2006-2008 there where still a few hanging around but where old big perch in one deep pocket. 2009 very few if any remain. This happened at numerours lakes. Lac la nonne it happened late 90's. Lac ste anne was just a bit later on. Perch just don't dissapear. The big perch would still be there if people wouldn't harvest them. Theres still some big perch left in long lake even through the perch population coplased 5-6 years ago. They are the smartest perch probably in alberta but thats why there still there. If these perch would bite your hook they would be gone. Perch didn't just disspear in 2 years. Perch and walleye where living for long periods time together before we started harvesting them. Also how many big pike and big walleye u see coming out of lac ste anne and pigion lately. Almost all of the big pike get kept and there are very few walleye over 22inches in both of those lakes.

Also the guys that are comparing alberta to sask and ontario. You sould really look how many lakes to fisherman we have. I think its like 600to1 for alberta. While ontario and sask are less then 10. Also you sould look at southbuck lake its the closest lake where u can keep a walleye. Its about hour and 45 minutes away. Most of the walleye being kept out of south buck are bewteen 43-45cm. With almost none making it over 50cm. So if southbuck which is a further away then most of these other lakes. Can't sustain a basically slot size harvest what chance does other lakes have that are closer.

Or mabey the disappearence of the perch is because you and your dad chummed them all in with eggs and kept them, wondering where they all went

Lol your the one resorting to insults because of your weak argument. Yet you call me childish.

[~Octane~]

Lol just keep rambling man, let me grab another beer and laugh. I got to about 2 sentances in and said **** it, not even worth my time Just keep saying to yourself it's all because of the 'pouchers', like yourself who illegally chum because you cant catch otherwise.

[goober]

Originally Posted by ~Octane~

Lol just keep rambling man, let me grab another beer and laugh. I got to about 2 sentances in and said **** it, not even worth my time Just keep saying to yourself it's all because of the 'pouchers', like yourself who illegally chum because you cant catch otherwise.

You should read his post Octane and pretend he did not write it. He is correct on a lot of things. I agree with you that a slot size or season of some kind is needed on some lakes. Problem is that people would take advantage of that and it would devastate the fishery. Slot size in a lot of lakes would not work as the Walleye are stunting if not stunted already! I have been fishing Isle Lake for over 25 years now and have seen the good and the bad there. I have watched the Perch get over harvested out of that lake by guy's taking 15 a day everyday of the week! Add to that the Walleye boom in the lake and it was all over for the Perch. Now there are too many Walleye with not enough food so they stop growing. They should have put in a slot size about 2-3 years after they closed it, instead they left it closed and let the population get totally out of control.

[~Octane~]

Originally Posted by goober

You should read his post Octane and pretend he did not write it. He is correct on a lot of things. I agree with you that a slot size or season of some kind is needed on some lakes. Problem is that people would take advantage of that and it would devastate the fishery. Slot size in a lot of lakes would not work as the Walleye are stunting if not stunted already! I have been fishing Isle Lake for over 25 years now and have seen the good and the bad there. I have watched the Perch get over harvested out of that lake by guy's taking 15 a day everyday of the week! Add to that the Walleye boom in the lake and it was all over for the Perch. Now there are too many Walleye with not enough food so they stop growing. They should have put in a slot size about 2-3 years after they closed it, instead they left it closed and let the population get totally out of control.

Ya I dont know man, reading his posts just seems to give me a splitting headache I'm aware of over harvesting but for example the Lake Isle perch suffered from a brutal winter kill I think 2 winters back? The winter it got killed off I was fishing it early ice season and was doing fantastic on 13+in perch. But some of the things he is saying just doesn't make sense to me, as well as most others on this board. He claims Hasse was fished out months ago, I was there a couple days ago and caught a limit of 11in+ perch....don't bother with those lakes very often but when I do I'll keep the perch.

As for the walleye in Isle, mabey i'm wrong because I don't read his posts but isn't he saying keep the limit zero on walleye in lakes like that for fear of 'the hoards of people fishing them out in a weekend'?

[pdfish]

Originally Posted by happy perch fisher

Theres still some big perch left in long lake even through the perch population coplased 5-6 years ago.

Collapsed????? We were there this winter and saw hundreds of perch on the camera and most of the ones that were caught were the better side of 12 inches. You really need to get your facts straight on a couple of things.

[~Octane~]

Originally Posted by pdfish

Collapsed????? We were there this winter and saw hundreds of perch on the camera and most of the ones that were caught were the better side of 12 inches. You really need to get your facts straight on a couple of things.

X2

[happy perch fisher]

Originally Posted by pdfish

Collapsed????? We were there this winter and saw hundreds of perch on the camera and most of the ones that were caught were the better side of 12 inches. You really need to get your facts straight on a couple of things.

If u read my post thats what i was saying. what i meant by coplase is that none of them where small ones. Those are same fish from 5-6 years ago. Theres no young ones jioning the numbers. I know your exagerating on the amount u seen and i doubt u caught more then 2. I classify a lake collapsed when there numbers are dropping and there no new perch jioning. I guess u call it collapsed when there all gone.