Calling Lake

[Drewski Canuck]

Commercial netting this week. Bought a bag of whites to smoke. they are tanks in the 3 - 5 pd range. Every one had a gut full of blood worms, chrominids, shrimp, etc from 50 FOW.

Few walleye in the nets, and they are SKINNY!! Caught some, and still no eggs or sprem sacks in the slot size fish. The slot size fish are OK for being fat and healthy. It is the big fish that are not. Clearly, the slot size is not working as there is no feed for the big fish. Some of the big fish look like they are on death's door step. What a waste the slot size has made. These big fish won't spawn and the genetics will not be passed on. Perhaps SRD should re think things QUICKLY. Another year of this slot size starvation scenario, and alot of these big fish will be gone anyway. May as well let the fishermen utilize them as there obviously isn't the forage base that they need.

Drewski

[Mike_W]

When the nets are pulled are there ever any biologist there to oversee things and witness the quality of fish being pulled?..... I know netting is focused for the white but it's just a thought.
Sound like a guy should hit up 50 fow with some San Juan worms!!

[Drewski Canuck]

Second hand info from the Commercial guys I bought the whites from, but the Bio said that the few walleye caught in the net should have been in the 5 - 7 pd range for their length.

As for the tactics on the whites, I used to fish between the nets at Pigeon in the middle of the lake with a small Kastmaster in gold, or a small swidish pimple, and we would be done in 15 minutes. Those whites were alot smaller. These things were similar to what I have caught at Hanmore. Next trip out, in the sunny mid day, I will be driving a mile off shore and give it a whirl as a kastmaster will drop to 50 plenty fast.

What concerns me is all the walleye I have cleaned this winter from Calling do not look like they will spawn in May. I can only guess the real skinny big ones are in the same sterile condition.

The story will be that the lake "collapsed under fishing pressure", when the truth is the big ones ate everything and starved out. It will take alot of years before the balance is back, and it won't be because of fishing pressure.

Drewski

[Kim473]

Would be nice if they would stock a couple of billion bait fish in the lake to help feed all those walleye. I don't think its the slot size but, two being the limit. I think there are just too many in the lake and they need to raise the limits and get some out of there. Too many fish in there. The pike that I have pulled have been the same. 2 to 3 lbs under weight for there length. I caught a 70 cm eye that weighed about 5lbs and it should have been in the 8 to 10 lb range. When you can catch a walleye every 5 mins any day of the year that has got to tell you something. Too many fish for the amount of feed. Its like fishing in an aquarium that the fish have not been feed in a week.

[WillyP]

Have noticed the poor health of the walleyes in Calling the last few years, fish mostly summer time, 5-6 years ago a 7-9 lb walleye was a solid healty fish, today a fish at the same length is 4-6 lbs, skinny and gray looking, sad to see, I remember 10-12 years ago sharing the lake with 3-4 other boats and and a typical day would net 20-40 fish in the 3-9 pound range.