who is this guy eugene? obviously he doesnt know how to fish because we have had a great year out of lorain

 

who is this guy eugene? obviously he doesnt know how to fish because we have had a great year out of lorain

I agree 100%,the fishing has been great!

Who is this Gary Zart guy?

 

...Who is this Gary Zart guy?

I've heard of this guy... He couldn't catch a fish if his life depended on it... He depends on his son to carry them through all the tournaments.... LOL ! ! ! ! Gotcha Gary ! ! ! !

 

Ive caught a BUNCH of 15-17in walleye this year (07?) The can of worms is going to open up again!!!!!! How will cutting the limit down a fish or 2 save the lake?? Hasnt it been proven that a few fertile females can recharge the population (laying up to 400,000 eggs) if the stars and planets line up? I dont think going to an 18in min is a bad idea though.

D'Arcy should expand his interviewing, maybe he should have asked Gary how his year was since he was on his boat!!(I know hes had MANY 50+fish days this year) Talk to the guys that put the time in and take it seriously to see how they've been doing so the story isnt all doom and gloom!

 

who is this guy eugene? obviously he doesnt know how to fish because we have had a great year out of lorain

You know the old saying...20% of the fishermen catch 80% of the fish.

 

The scary thing is most likely the people attending the meetings that will be most vocal will be the "sky is falling" crowd and there will be an over reaction to restrict too much.

I just hope that whatever changes may take place are BASED ON BIOLOGY AND FACTS - not just "feel good politics."

Steve

 

Ditto Lorain has been good to me too this year.

Ray
Erie Therapy II

 

I just hope that whatever changes may take place are BASED ON BIOLOGY AND FACTS - not just "feel good politics."
Steve

Well stated Steve... I will tag on to say in the words of Dr. Phil...

"How's that working for you folks?"

There is no question that the lake has changed since the 70's and 80's in many ways for the good. However, it is change and the management methods used today don't seem to be much different than during that time period though our science is better.

There is resistance to change and I getting more resistant as I get older so I guess I can understand that...lol.. But i do think we need to consider trying some new, well thought out programs to test their impact...

40 million fingerlings have been stocked in 32 wildlife jurisdictions in the US with the number of stocked walleye in the range of 869 million. So this isn't like we are forging new ground. Many of these jurisdictions have been very successful in augmenting the natural production by introducing stocked walleye every two or three years so as to not impact the strength of consecutive year classes natural production.

I am not a biologist but I would like to understand our resistance to trying one of these programs utilizing existing resources while protecting the lake erie strain of walleyes


Brian

 

Ive caught a BUNCH of 15-17in walleye this year (07?) The can of worms is going to open up again!!!!!! How will cutting the limit down a fish or 2 save the lake?? Hasnt it been proven that a few fertile females can recharge the population (laying up to 400,000 eggs) if the stars and planets line up? I dont think going to an 18in min is a bad idea though.

D'Arcy should expand his interviewing, maybe he should have asked Gary how his year was since he was on his boat!!(I know hes had MANY 50+fish days this year) Talk to the guys that put the time in and take it seriously to see how they've been doing so the story isnt all doom and gloom!

I would have to disagree with your 18 in size limit. In July and August in the Western Basin our average catch consist of 2-4 year old fish. There are lots of days when most of the fish caught down here are 16-18 in fish. So unless they put a line out of Huron like the perch I wouldn't like that. Bump it up to 16 and I'd be fine with it. Terry

 

How about a slot limit to keep the big breeders in the lake. Something like 16-25" with only one over the 25" mark per boat per day. It would make a 40 lb tournament bag a thing of the past, but it may help.

Slot limits of this type are often used to help ailing stocks of redfish, snook, seatrout, grouper and various snapper in saltwater fisheries. I have seen it help in most cases, especially redfish.

 

I can't comment on the science or how to help the population. It does sort of shock me to read there is a decline in population. We've caught more small walleyes this year than since 2004-2005. It sure seemed like there was a decent hatch last year from our catches.

 

We had a DNR official come to a Central Basin Charter Boat Assn. back in the middle 1990's & he said that the 24'" & up fish were the female egg producers. The smaller fish were mostly males, with some young females. It seems to me that the size limit is backwards. We should be keeping the small fish & putting back the hogs. Has the science changed?

 

We can disagree LOL!! If you give a 15in fish another year or 2 in the system to possibly contribute to the spawn wouldnt hurt if they are mature enough at that age. I think taking ton of 15 inch fish out of the system without giving them a chance to do their thing may not help.

Capt Shotgun, from what Ive read on here they say the mid 20 to like 26 ish size fish are the best spawners and keeping the big hawgs doesnt hurt since they already contributed 10s of years and their eggs arent as viable. Im not biologist, this is just what Ive read!

 

why dont they use stone lab again and produce all the walleye they can to help propagate the hatch. Is this a viable option? Isnt that what they used to do the last time they had a bad walleye crash? I was invited to stone lab when i was in the OSU school of natural resources, in fisheries management. It would make sense since it is right there and functional. Its not that hard to jar hatch 10 million walleye......

 

Lets just keep catching them until they're gone. Then when we get old we can talk about the good old days when we used to fill our boats with walleye.............sort of the like the old timers today talk about filling up 55 gal drums full of blue pike.

 

No one has even mentioned poaching! How many people get away with keeping double or triple limits. Add this to the poor spawning factor, and you could emagine how the population could be depleted in a few short years.

 

It seems that if you fish in Ohio , you need a license and you have to abide by the rules…or get your license taken away, fines, or….jail But if you are the Bayshore First Energy power plant, you can kill as many fish as you want, pay nothing and have no rules… Consider the following from: Bayshore plant is the largest fish killing plant in Great Lakes. 2005/2006 company reports show 46 million fish/yr caught against the screens & 2 billion fish thru the screens; Bayshore uses 650 million gallons of water/ day and heats the water 3-14 degrees Fahrenheit; it is said that Bayshore kills more fish than all ODNR fish hatcheries produce at a cost of $2.5 million; Bayshore kills more fish than all the other power plants in Ohio combined; Bayshore kills walleye when the Army Corps is not allowed to dredge & anglers are limited during the spawning season in March/April; Bayshore’s intake and outfall are separated by the ½ mile by one mile Army Corps Dredge disposal facility which reduces the ability of the fish to escape from the intake; Bayshore plant studies show that 77,812 walleye are caught against the screens, 663,715 juvenile walleye go thru the screens, and 8.2 million larval walleye go thru the screens. In addition 123,405 yellow perch are caught against the screens, 1.3 million juvenile yellow perch go through the screens a and 3.1 larval yellow perch go thru the screens

Bayshore needs to put money in a trust fund to bring fish back to Lucas County waters and put in a cooling tower. Allowing ongoing fish kills at the Bayshore plant in the Western Lake Erie Watershed reduces walleye, yellow perch, bass and other fish. Genetic studies show that walleye from Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron migrate to the Maumee River in the spring to spawn. The Bayshore plant is located at the mouth of the Maumee River where the fish move in and out of.

Please attend the March 3rd meeting – write a letter – make a phone call and ask that the fish kills be reduced – a cooling tower is needed. Until the cooling tower is installed, Bayshore pays just like anyone else for the fish they wrongfully kill.

This is an important issue for all the Great Lakes. Fish are an important economic resource and important for the ecosystem.. Please contact Governor Strickland at: sam.auld@governor.ohio.gov.or call 614-466-3555 and/or call OEPA Director Chris Korleski at chris.korleski@epa.state.oh.us or call 614-644-2782

 

Maybe the impact of all the "alien", ocean species being dumped into the lake from foreign freighter bilges is just now beginning to surface/manifest itself???
Also, I seldom read a post anymore about a day on the lake when noone catches just a few, but stayed out as long as it takes,(even sometimes in adverse conditions) to limit. Personally, I've never had to take home a limit to have had a good day on the lake. I know, the State says it's OK so it must be ok, BUT the State has yo-yo'd the limits over the past few decades on both walleye and perch to the point that I don't have a good feeling when they try to sound credible! Just remember, the blue pike are long gone-perhaps history can repeat.....???

 

Brewkettle another option that I would like to understand why we are resisting. Though I think this one falls under the resistance to change category by both biologists and fishermen.

RE: 40 lb bags, true ... and add a no cull and it would really test folks

How about a slot limit to keep the big breeders in the lake. Something like 16-25" with only one over the 25" mark per boat per day. It would make a 40 lb tournament bag a thing of the past, but it may help.

 

It's not poaching, it's not the need for a slot limit, changing the spring season won't do anything, changing the bag limit won't really help. We just need another good spawn or two and next thing you know the population will double or triple just like it did in 03, 2 good spawns and we are back to the good old days of the 80's when we had two banger spawns and Erie's population was at it's highest of 70-90 million walleye, we are at the mercy of mother nature and unfortuneatly we can't do anything to change that. A couple 100,000 fish here and there isn't going to change anything. Even a dead ass population can produce a record hatch with the right conditions (03).

Remember Erie is a great lake that runs itself, human intervention won't help much Erie has been around since the glaciers made it and walleye have been here since and always will be, that's not going to change. So for the guys who think the sky is falling and people are jumping out of burning buildings (your acting like it) let mother nature do her thing mother Erie will bounce back like ALWAYS and fishing will be stupid easy for even the unskilled angler (the biggest whiners) once again (like the 80's). Until then, gas er up buy some worms read OGF and go find the schools of walleye that are out there and stop whining about poor fishing. It's not poor everywhere, Erie is still stuffed with tons of fish you just have to go find them and adapt to catch them like the rest of us.

If we would have had another killer hatch since 03 this thread and the other 100 like it wouldn't even exist, a good one is bound to happen soon, hopefully sooner than later, within the next 2-3 springs, ideally,

my 02

 

In response to Kgone's comments below that is exactly what I was thinking. Way to put the pen to it Kevin.
I have seen this lake change , rebound, change, etc. I am not worried.
It has seen much worse days. There will always be peaks and valleys in the populations of the species we like to pursue. It is a very large lake and will sustain itself with most of the guidlelines currently in place to manage it's resources.
I enjoy my outings , catch fish, and have plenty in the freezer for dinner.
Life is good...except for the weather. and that will rebound also in the near future.

 

We've caught more small walleyes this year than since 2004-2005.

Agreed. I've thrown back more 12-17" fish this year than I did during the 06, 07, and 08 seasons combined. I've also released just as many 7 lb+ fish this year as any years past. This year has been just as good as any as far as fish caught. I've had to work a little harder to get the fish this year, but that just adds to the fun of fishing. The days of catching multiple limits on anything you throw out there like it was in 05 and 06 are gone (for now), but they'll be back. You can't expect record hatches every year. It's not going to happen.

If the walleye population is as dismal as the DNR claims, reswt assured that it will bounce back. It always does, and it always will.

 

It's not poaching, it's not the need for a slot limit, changing the spring season won't do anything, changing the bag limit won't really help. We just need another good spawn or two and next thing you know the population will double or triple just like it did in 03. A couple 100,000 fish here and there isn't going to change anything.

If the walleye population is as dismal as the DNR claims, reswt assured that it will bounce back. It always does, and it always will.

Exactly

Fisheries practices can work wonders on inland lakes but lakes the size of Erie and Huron rely on the blessings on Mother Nature.

 

Just read all of the posts about the walleye population shrinking. The basic fact that will not change is that the Division of Wildlife is telling us this year's hatch is not good, and that the walleye population will continue to go down. And that reduced bag limits are right around the corner.

Another fact: The Division of Wildlife has no desire to further restrict the spring river or reef harvest - even if walleye numbers continue to dwindle.

I'm glad some Lorain fishermen did well this year, but the walleye numbers are not good. Don't believe me. Listen to reports from the fisheries experts. One great hatch and lots of poor ones in a decade won't keep this fishery alive.

I was at the open house in Port Clinton on Saturday - in walleye country. Even though the fishing weather was pretty poor, I was one of 13 - yep, only 13! - that attended by 2:30 p.m. during the noon-3 p.m. open house. And two of those 12 were commercial fishermen. There were almost more Division of Wildlife guys there than fishermen!

No one seems to be outraged the Lake Erie walleye are going away. If you think the walleye fishing was OK this year, talk to someone who fished the big lake in the 1980s. My wife and I both ran charters in the Western Basin back then . . . when limit catches were the rule. There were more than 1,300 Lake Erie charter captains in the 80s, many routinely running two trips per day.

I know quality, experienced fishing guides who can still consistently produce walleye for their customers. I have also seen a lot of average anglers who have given up trying to cast for walleye, and don't want to invest in trolling gear or learn that phase of the sport.

D'Arcy Egan

 

What was the consensus there?