Hasse Lake

[silverdoctor]

just curious, anyone have any updates on the health of the lake? Last I heard is they added pike to try to control the perch but that was all. Just wondering if the lake is finding any balance. I imagine the trout are toast.

[YeeHaw]

If you serch the forum, you will find your answers. The lake totaly winterkilled a couple years ago. They put in a few perch and about 8 pike if I remember correct. Also rumors of stocking walleye in there. Personaly I wouldnt bother with it for a few years. Oh ya trout are a thing of the past.

[chriscosta]

This lake was good a few yrs back and will be good in a few years for a few years until it gets owned by fisherman unless the per h take over and in that case itll be full of perch or unless the limit for walleye n pike is zero then it mite do ok its fairly deep and used to be an unreal place to wet a line but it is very popular hope it turns out good i cant wait got my biggest perch there almost sixteen inches and i got many more gooders just off the island actually my best rainbow too it was huge but i was young and didnt measure it

[silverdoctor]

Originally Posted by chriscosta

This lake was good a few yrs back and will be good in a few years for a few years until it gets owned by fisherman unless the per h take over and in that case itll be full of perch or unless the limit for walleye n pike is zero then it mite do ok its fairly deep and used to be an unreal place to wet a line but it is very popular hope it turns out good i cant wait got my biggest perch there almost sixteen inches and i got many more gooders just off the island actually my best rainbow too it was huge but i was young and didnt measure it

That has to be the longest sentence i've ever read on AO.

I was just curious, I fished it 5 or so years ago, was lots of fun. I knew SRD threw some pike in there to combat the perch, just never heard anything since.

[Graffy91]

Originally Posted by silverdoctor

That has to be the longest sentence i've ever read on AO.

I was just curious, I fished it 5 or so years ago, was lots of fun. I knew SRD threw some pike in there to combat the perch, just never heard anything since.

What SRD really did is they threw the leftovers they had from stocking other lakes into this catastrophe pothole lake to experiment.

[Marge Barnaby]

If u read the last thread on hasse lake it has a link to the stocking report which says they dumped some walleye in there this year among other fish. Anyone else think that's weird considering it winter kills and it's a pothole lake

[silverdoctor]

hrmmm. i have to look for the other threads, wasn't aware they threw multiple species in. It's a shame, aside from all the bird crap, it was a decent lake to flick a fly.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by silverdoctor

hrmmm. i have to look for the other threads, wasn't aware they threw multiple species in. It's a shame, aside from all the bird crap, it was a decent lake to flick a fly.

Yeah, early in the year stocked it with pike and perch. Later in the summer they dumped a pile of walleye in there as well...The numbers seem to be way higher than a pothole that size should be able to sustain, but I'm no bio so I could be, and likely am, out to lunch on that one.

Still, I think those walleye should have gone to a lake that could actually use them, like Isle which winterkilled a couple years ago, or Wab since they're trying to bring back the walleye population there.

In a lake like Hasse they're either going to winterkill or get fished out in a hurry, despite the 0 retention limit.

Just my (slightly jaded) thoughts

[silverdoctor]

That's some crazy numbers, I knew about the pike but had no clue about the walleye. Maybe the walleye will grow big enough and learn to sustain on seagulls

[Penner]

Just for the record…

Hasse traditionally had Pike and Perch as indigenous species. There was a total winterkill that wiped out those indigenous species. The lake was restocked with a variety of species but the lake continued to suffer severe winterkills over and over again. The government eventually completely killed off the lake chemically and begun stocking it solely with trout species up until a several years ago to where initially Stickleback and eventually Perch and Pike were illegally introduced (by the bucket brigade).

Instead of trying to fight an endless battle against the bucket brigade, the government has decided to join along and stock these lakes with indigenous species types. If the ecosystem is balanced with predators (Pike and Walleye) prey (Perch) all shall live happily ever after in theory.

At least until the next total kill.

[Garry B]

Originally Posted by silverdoctor

Maybe the walleye will grow big enough and learn to sustain on seagulls

That would be cool. Those birds are really noisy.

[lyallpeder]

Originally Posted by Penner

At least until the next total kill.

Soo...Enjoy it while it lasts?

[Kim473]

Originally Posted by Geezle

Yeah, early in the year stocked it with pike and perch. Later in the summer they dumped a pile of walleye in there as well...The numbers seem to be way higher than a pothole that size should be able to sustain, but I'm no bio so I could be, and likely am, out to lunch on that one.

Still, I think those walleye should have gone to a lake that could actually use them, like Isle which winterkilled a couple years ago, or Wab since they're trying to bring back the walleye population there.

In a lake like Hasse they're either going to winterkill or get fished out in a hurry, despite the 0 retention limit.

Just my (slightly jaded) thoughts

I'm sure isle didn't completely winter kill. It will have some very large fish in it in a few years. Allways was my best and favorite perch lake. 10 to 12" no problem and were some very large eyes in there a few years back. Caught one a good 8 lbs while fishing for perch. 4lb test line. Can't wait till it opens again. I won't fish it till it they say you can keep a few.

I would say they put the eyes in Hassy for an experament to see how they would control the perch.

Wab is gonna be a great fishery in a few years, just as long as the catch and release people handle the fish properly and don't kill the fish. I don't fish it, I don't believe in catch and release. If you don't want fish retention, CLOSE the lake completly. Too many people handle fish poorly! Too bad the perch will suffer with the walleye in there!

I still say close half the lakes every year and rotate the closers. Or even close all the lakes for a year or two. Then open the next year. Wouldn't kill me or any of you to not fish for a year. Or even open at certain times of the year only. 2 months in the summer and two months in the winter. Anything to create a better fishery. Slot size is a joke! Think of how many fish that are not in the size limit and get treated poorly, released and die.

OH! lets hold this fish out of the water for 5 mininuts while I get my camera, and drop it on the ice or the bottom of the boat a couple of times. Maybe I will stick my hand in its gills to hold it. ( like someone sticking their hand down your throat ).

JMO.

[bn.macph]

according to the SRD report they put:
9 pike, 20 shiners, 1280 perch in august

and 20,000 + walleye in sept/oct

this seems a little crazy, expensive if it winterkills soon...

[EZM]

I'm certain the 20,000 walleye were tiny fry. It's more likely the perch, birds and the few pike will eat most of them before they get big enough.

It definitely seems like a waste to dump 20,000 fry, especially walleye, into a water body that has consistently proven it cannot sustain itself. This is a failure.

As a few contributors mentioned, there are some better options out there to plant these fry where this is a chance some will make it.

Sometimes I shake my head with the stock program choices - why would they continue doing something the same way, watch it fail time after time AND THEN expect different results.

[Alberta Bigbore]

If I remember correctly, the walleye were 6 inches that went into Hasse. Recently had dealings with one of the actual people from SRD that was a part of that.

[EZM]

That is certainly different from what thought. For some reason, and I can't remember where I heard it, it was fry.

That means more of these walleye will survive (all things being equal) as mortality rates decrease as the size of the fish increases. That means we need to keep our fingers crossed for 5 to 7 years while they grow into "eating size" walleye.

That seems like allot of walleye for such a small lake. Interesting choice - I'd really like to hear why Hasse was selected.

I still think the winter kill history of that lake makes it a poor candidate considering the value of walleye.

At the end of the day, most of here are not necessarily experts, maybe we are missing something ......

[AxeMan]

Originally Posted by Alberta Bigbore

If I remember correctly, the walleye were 6 inches that went into Hasse. Recently had dealings with one of the actual people from SRD that was a part of that.

Did you hear about any reasoning or justification why they did this? I am no expert either, but is does strike me as an odd choice in that lake.

[Alberta Bigbore]

No I dont remember but i believe he did say why. But i do remember telling him they need to stock Channel Catfish in the NSR lol

[bn.macph]

Originally Posted by EZM

I'm certain the 20,000 walleye were tiny fry.

13-15 cm so a bit bigger than tiny fry. but your right, probably will get ate up by them 9 pike

[FishingFrenzy]

If you take the time to find the stocking report, Im pretty certain the average length was something around 16cm for the walleye. I don't have time to track it down right now, but there was a thread on this a month or two ago with the exact details/stocking report.

[Grovehunter]

The SRD stocking report indicates Pike, Perch, Walleye and spottail shiner were stocked in Hasse in 2012:

http://www.mywildalberta.com/Fishing...Nov01-2012.pdf