OOD Q and A questions

[Guest brooktrout1962]

Hello all:

As some of you know, I do a Q and A section in Ontario Out of Doors magazine. Some of the questions I answer, some I send out to field editors. Then three are published most months. We are always looking for new questions, so I thought I'd throw it out to this community.

The questions can be simple or complicated, and should be about fishing or hunting. You can post them here, or PM them to me. You need to include your full name and town or city so we can publish that. I can't promise they will all be used, but most good ones are.

Thanks,

Gord Ellis

[Guest brooktrout1962]

Well, it was worth a shot.

GE

[Some Old Guy 968]

Don't give up yet Gord.

Here's one for you.

When Lindy Rigging walleye, which style of sinker is the best for these situations? Sand, mud and rocks?

Roger

[arvey 154]

here' a 2 part question.

does the total population of smallies in a body of water spawn when it is time or do some miss and why?

same question for walleye's.

al arvelin

thunder bay

[Guest Hardy]

We know that fishing line takes up almost 1/2 an isle in any given outdoors store. I understand the benefits of braided vs mono, but why so many different colours? We only really have 2 different water types here (stained and clear), well, this month I guess there's a third - mud! Why so many selections of colour? I usually just go for clear, thinking that see-thru should vannish no matter what type of water you're fishing. I presume I am wrong though, due to all the different varieties. Can you help me?

Thanks

Hardy Hindle

Thunder Bay.

[Castnblast 86]

1) When post spawn walleye move out of traditional spring locations, what is the most efficient method of locating suspended fish in open water when on an unfamiliar lake? Once fish are found, what is the best way to target them?

Jeff

[Bear 77]

If an angler targets bass that are on the beds, and sucessfully catches them, will they return to the nest and continue with their spawn or will they abandon the nest?

Bear

[Bear 77]

How do you "establish a pattern" when fishing new water or setting out fresh in the day?

Bear

[Trevor Zimak 171]

here' a 2 part question.

does the total population of smallies in a body of water spawn when it is time or do some miss and why?

same question for walleye's.

al arvelin

thunder bay

Given Al's question on smallie's spawning, and with the smallie population just about ready to spawn on the majority of the lake around here;

The answer is no not all smallies spawn when it is time to spawn. This is just one of mother natures ways of helping to ensure that there is successful spawn. If all the bass in any given lake spawned simultaneously and then there is a couple days of extreme weather, that could reuslt in a very poor year class. While the majority of bass spawn in relatively shallow water, smallies the have held off or "missed" the spawn will be generally found spawning in some what deeper water (5-12 feet) and generally away from the usual spawning grounds. These could be off shore drops/ledges and long extending points.

One thing that I think people are unaware of is that bass relate more to the moon phase then any other factor when it comes time to spawn. (full moon) As a general rule you can expext to find most smallies spawning when the water temperature is around 60-65 degrees, however, that is not always the case. Some smallies will spawn earlier, the majority will spawn when conditions are the most favouriable, and the other remaining percent after then main spawn has occured. Hope this helps,

I hope Gord does use this question in the magazine. I would love to hear more about this topic.

As for walleyes, I'm not much of a walleye guy.

Trevor

[salmonider 1]

Hey Gord here's one,

What is the competition correlation between smallies and walleyes. I hear it time and again about how lakes " Used to be full of walleyes 'till those darn bass showed up!" A couple lakes over however, a lake can have healthy populations of walleyes and bass, even though the bass were apparently introduced at the same time as a lake where they "took over". Is it actually true that bass can take over a lake to the point where the walleyes can't compete? Also you hear about this event happening in clear water lakes more often than stained water lakes. Is it a forage problem , or something else? Whats the deal?

Kevin

[Guest brooktrout1962]

Hey Gord here's one,

What is the competition correlation between smallies and walleyes. I hear it time and again about how lakes " Used to be full of walleyes 'till those darn bass showed up!" A couple lakes over however, a lake can have healthy populations of walleyes and bass, even though the bass were apparently introduced at the same time as a lake where they "took over". Is it actually true that bass can take over a lake to the point where the walleyes can't compete? Also you hear about this event happening in clear water lakes more often than stained water lakes. Is it a forage problem , or something else? Whats the deal?

Kevin

[Guest brooktrout1962]

Not sure what happened to the post before...

Anyway, great questions. Keep in mind the answers will be in the magazine,not here.So it may be a while.

Cheers,

GE

[Guest brooktrout1962]

Just a note:

I've been working on a couple Q and A's for OOD, and several of the questions that were posted here last year are being used in the upcoming Feb and March issues.

I can always use more questions.

A few trout, panfish, tackle or hunting questions would be great

GE

[Some Old Guy 968]

Hi Gord,

Here's one that has come to my attention.

With the way that the walleye tournament catch is, it's two fish over 18 inches and 4 under the 18.1 inch mark. This prevents two anglers from competeing if they each have conservation licenses. Is there any way that two anglers can compete in a tournament if they each hold conservation licenses?

Roger

[Guest Nick C]

Good question Roger!. I would like to know the answer sometime.

Nick C