lac

[Guest jj1]

Also not all the shacks are occupied for the whole winter. Whrer our shack is there are only 5 shacks and you can go weeks without anybody being there. And just because some one is out there doesn't mean that we are keeping limits everday. We, for the most part in our 2 shacks, don't keep anything over 18" and don't keep fish to bring back home. But with that being said, one day I had released a nice 20" and one of our "neighbors" asked why i had let it go? I told him about it being a prime fish for spawning and it was full of eggs. He laughed and said our theory is if it comes through the ice we're keeping it. But that happens summer or winter. Like Roger said, we try to keep the 14-15" as we think the are better eating. My opinion is the limit should be 2 or 3 with none over 18 but that's just my opinion.

[wampa 18]

I have to disagree with you here Roger. If you weren't there, you're really not in a position to comment about what went on. You may have heard stories, and so did I, but I was there for two full days and "walleye fest" hardly describes what I saw. I went out for two afternoons, not to harvest spawning fish, but get out on the water after a long winter couped up. I did not take a single fish home either trip. There were WAY less boats in the water than there would have been shacks/snowmobiles/trucks on the lake if the ice was still in. That's a guarantee. From the mouth of the river, on the busiest day, I only could see twenty boats in the river and on the lake. Furthermore, there was at least two weeks where the fish didn't see a line during peak spawn, due to unsafe ice conditions. I feel the fish were MUCH better off last year than they ever have been. Fish were being caught, yes, but I didn't see anyone hauling fish in the boat left and right. I've had MUCH MUCH better days post-opener than I did pre-close last year. The impact of the open water before close was minor.

All I'm saying is don't paint everyone with the same brush, and it wasn't nearly as bad as you are thinking it was. I don't think sore lipping a few fish is going to impact the fishery in a negative way. There were some "big name" fishermen out there I saw, and everyone was being pretty respectful of the fishery I believe. I heard stories too, but didn't see anything that went on to think they were true. I also didn't see any monsters pulled out of the water, mostly smaller fish. Again I heard stories but didn't witness it happen.

This is exactly my experience too. I was there for one day and we fished all day. Maybe 20 boats or so and no one was "hammering" them. I have had way better days post opener. All fish we kept were smaller males. This myth that it was a slaughter is bogus and obviously perpetrated by people that weren't there and don't have a clue as to what it was actually like on the water last year. Listening to rumours and judging people based on these rumours just makes you look like an a$$. The majority of people that have shacks are not out every weekend and just because there are 300 shacks in a spot does mean that there are 300 people fishing those shacks all the time. I am willing to bet that the pollution from boats and trucks being backed in the water all summer is way more than the what is contributed from ice shacks in the couple months they are there in the winter. Also the ability to be very mobile in the summer on the water probably catches way more fish than the few fish that "travelling" by the stationary shacks. Putting a sanctuary on this lake is not the answer as there is no problem with the fishery. As it was said before. If you want to catch more fish, move away from the crowds. There are lots of fish if you know where to look.

[Some Old Guy 968]

Yes you are correct, I wasn't there. And yes I heard stories. You may be correct in saying that I don't have an opinion.

But.... and yes there is a but..... I know a few anglers that did attend. Right where the two rivers junction there were boats clustered together. The PICTURES that were shown to me showed 23 boats almost bow to stern anchored there. And on my way to Upsala the # of trucks and trailers in the lot was great. (And yes I cannot say they were all in the river.....)

Look, I'm not blaming anyone. If you are legal to go, go! Keep your limits of fish and have fun. No big deal. And to speak for myself, I wasn't judging anyone. That wasn't my intent. If you think I was judging, please accept my appology.

Can you maybe comment on the rest of that post instead of one paragraph?

Roger

[Guest lacman]

But with that being said, one day I had released a nice 20" and one of our "neighbors" asked why i had let it go? I told him about it being a prime fish for spawning and it was full of eggs. He laughed and said our theory is if it comes through the ice we're keeping it.

You'd be surprised how many people have this attitude. For some, it's a game on how much they can take, doesn't matter the size. Not saying everyone does this, but there are a fair amount that do.

Sanctuary for the spawning areas or 'paths' for March 15 to June 1 is a GREAT idea. Can only help the fishery.

[Guest lacman]

Yes you are correct, I wasn't there. And yes I heard stories. You may be correct in saying that I don't have an opinion.

But.... and yes there is a but..... I know a few anglers that did attend. Right where the two rivers junction there were boats clustered together. The PICTURES that were shown to me showed 23 boats almost bow to stern anchored there. And on my way to Upsala the # of trucks and trailers in the lot was great. (And yes I cannot say they were all in the river.....)

Look, I'm not blaming anyone. If you are legal to go, go! Keep your limits of fish and have fun. No big deal. And to speak for myself, I wasn't judging anyone. That wasn't my intent. If you think I was judging, please accept my appology.

Can you maybe comment on the rest of that post instead of one paragraph?

Roger

I had heard from a source 'close' to a CO that the MNR had their work cut out for them on the river at that time. Apparently there were quite a few people violating the rules. I wasn't there however as I don't feel it's fair to fish for the walleye when it's spawning time. Something is unethical about it to me, but hey that's just my opinion. Wouldn't do it there, wouldn't do it on any lake.

[dogboy33 0]

My friend offered a good piece of advice, MNR were at the shore measursing everything. If I caught my fish at sand point or the river it was still a legal catch. I have tied my self off from shore at pine point and jumped open water to get to great fishing, so I am with in my legal rights and I caught no spawning females in the river. Lac does just not have the Savane river that it spawns off, that is just one of many, so ease up on your over harvesting, 4 in the middle of the lake or 4 in the river is the same limit. as long as you comply with the regulations, its free game, we ain't netting we are taking our 4 that probably cost us about 25 bucks a fish

[Some Old Guy 968]

Wow,

Look, I think I'm being taken the wrong way. I couldn't care less if there were one million boats fishing up and down the river at spawning time. Ya hoo! Back to the point of this thread and if you read that post I made is that I don't think that was lessening the population. All that I was saying I didn't want to participate in that. No big deal.

There are fish to be caught if you know of other areas. That's all I'm saying.

Once again I'm sorry if I offended anyone. It wasn't my intent.

I do love running around during the moose rut covered in Cow Esterus. Makes for a challanging jog through the tag alders. Anyone want to join me?

Roger

[Hurketthunter 65]

Wow,

Look, I think I'm being taken the wrong way. I couldn't care less if there were one million boats fishing up and down the river at spawning time. Ya hoo! Back to the point of this thread and if you read that post I made is that I don't think that was lessening the population. All that I was saying I didn't want to participate in that. No big deal.

There are fish to be caught if you know of other areas. That's all I'm saying.

Once again I'm sorry if I offended anyone. It wasn't my intent.

I do love running around during the moose rut covered in Cow Esterus. Makes for a challanging jog through the tag alders. Anyone want to join me?

Roger

If you let me know where and when I'll be waiting with my bow in hand, for your protection ofcourse lol. Seriously though I agree with you roger, if it's legal then go right ahead and for those who chose not to thats fine as well. Lets not judge each other when we are acting within the confines of the law people. We have enough people who want to judge us.

Hurketthunter

[rodman 4]

Getting off the topic of Lac what are the opinion's about fishing early at other place's, such as Dog River road on opener?Should we or shouldn't we?

[NorthwestHunter 27]

On a lighter note...My girlfriend and I ventured out last Saturday for a day of fishing on Lac. We travelled quite a long ways by sled and fished an area Ive never tried, with practically noone around. After trying a couple spots we finally hit the fish. I marked a TON of fish and we managed to ice a few walters to try some new batter on! Boy that ICE 55 works well!!

I think that if you were to venture a little further away from the crowds you might find the fishing to be alot better...and the privacy aint bad too!

Paul

[mikejson 35]

So reading Lacman's posts... I think his initial statement is misleading.

The entire 2 posts speak of having that extra month of fishing taken back(March 15 - April 15). For me... the amount of fishing I do, I wouldn't care either way. That would stop maybe 1 visit to the lake. And I personally hate when I cut a fish and there are a ton of eggs in her...

That being said, I like hearing statistics, as I took a few courses on statistics in university, and yes statistics have error margins, but generally, when years of numbers say something... it's fairly accurate.

I agree 100% with lacman's thoughts on pollution... there isn't enough enforcement on that sort of thing. Just the other week, I came across a shack with nobody there, that had at least a case of empty beer cans, and a case of empty beer bottles scattered around the shack. Garbage on the ice, etc. I reported it to the CO's when they stopped by to do their thing... unfortunately I'm not sure if much could be done

I don't agree with lacman in that the ice shacks increase the pressure that much on the spawners passing by.... for 2 reasons. Walleye spawning waters are more abundant throughout the whole of lac. I already knew this, but it sounds like it's been proven through surveys etc..

Also, I'm not sure shacks increase the amount of lines in the water substantially... if I didn't have a shack, I'd have a pull over shanty... and my 2 lines would still be down the same amount of time, and I'm sure most of the others would be the same. You might not get those 7-midnight(or so) lines down.... but, from the stories on here, and on the ice, the majority of the fish are caught prior to then anyway... I wouldn't be surprised if most of the shack folks pull their lines after a good dinner and when the hockey game comes on

Another reason why I think those shacks don't do that much damage at night... I've been out a good 5 times this year and last, saturday morning/sunday morning near the shack cities by 7:30-8. I typically don't see any movement till about 9-10...(the odd shack comes out and drops lines...). I think a fair number are out there ice drinking and ice fishing is a by-product haha.

Anyway, just my observations, and opinions

Thanks!

Mike.

[Guest Leeroy]

I dont necessarily agree with closing sseasons early and smaller limits, I have a shack on Lac and am layed off all winter so I spend allot of time on the ice. My reason for being out there allong with allot of my friends, is not only to fish but to get out of the house, maybe take a sled ride, socaillize etc. To catch some fish is a bonus. I also , as jj1 said throw anything over 20 inches or so back. I eat fish while out in the shack and rarely bring any home (nothin better than fresh walleye). This isnt because the law makes me, its because i believe its a ethical thing to do. I too watch people well within their rights keep even 7lbs walleyes and have the "it cost me x number of dollars to come fishing im keeping anything I ice" attitude. That to me is old school mentality. I think people need to be more educated and change there ways of thinking, This is slowly happening. That being said alot of people only get out once or twice a winter and rarely get a chance to eat fish, I dont expect everyone to throw back all walleyes over 20" or so especially if thats all they caught. But the people who are out weekend after weekend keeping 4-8lbs walleye ???? what for? Take a picture. Closing the season early is not the answer, Ethical fishing is.

[Guest SheaBonez]

Hey guys off topic from fishery talk im heading to my shack in an hour its between sand pt and coffin just wondering what conditions are like as i would like to get my shack out of where it is and around birch for another weeek or 2 heard shes pretty slushy and deep out there i will let ya know what i go through when i get back wish me luck not on fishing but getting the shack out

[Wade O. 44]

I too did go out there last spring for the chance at early season soft water. My intention just like someone had mentioned was to just get out there again in a boat before the season closed as that I had never done it before. Like someone also said there were fishing being caught but I did not see any really large fish come out. All the fish I had taken were small males, not one female. Yes I did take some home, but I wasn't out on the ice at all last year. Roger is right in the lot there were I think 22-25 trucks along the highway the day I went but honestly I think that may have been all the boats out there. The lake wasn't anywhere close to as busy as I imagined. Now back to the original intention of the post, I think the amount of commotion on the ice from all the shacks plus the constant fishing pressure in the popular areas definitely affects the fishing. Why I'm not a hundred percent, perhaps like someone said is the resident fish are caught...then the passers by are not that frequent...I dunno. I do agree though I think if you get "off the beaten" path a little you'll definitely do better. Now if you want my opinion of what to do....sure close the river. Only thing is if you close it at the mouth everyone would still be like 20ft from it...and it would be hard to enforce cause like someone mentioned there are resorts along it so people have to pass through it. Hell even close it a month earlier, I was ok with that. What I really think they should do though is make it like in southern ontario where you shack has to be off the ice by a certain date....here I would say the end of march break. That way it forces people who leave their shack on there way too late to get off, but yet you can still enjoy the fishery if you still want to go with a sled. That way too people could still take the family out on march break if they like.

[Travis Schallock 28]

I also fished open water last year before season closed, and did take home my limit of 14-16" a couple times. But I feel completely confortable with my boat taking a dozen fish home, when you could go up the river and find a net virtually across the river taking every fish that swam through, regardless of size, or species. If it was legal for me to take my 4 I did, seeing as they were going to be taken, along with all the big spawners I would release, either way.

That being said I fully support sanctuaries, if it will help fish stocks. I just wish everyone had to obey them. I believe they are useless otherwise.

[Guest specky for breky]

well the way i look at it is this....the most important factor in any fishery is the yearly spawning.....sport fishing pressure wont really harm a fishery if everyone follows rules suited to the fishery and there is good spawning grounds......so why not just leave them alone for a month or 2 ......when u look at the big picture its kind of selfish that pple will even drop a line around spawning time...i mean we arent fishing to sustain ourelves, we are doing it for fun....so y not go fish specs or shoot some rabbits during spawning time so that we can have lots of fun the rest of the year....

[Wade O. 44]

well the way i look at it is this....the most important factor in any fishery is the yearly spawning.....sport fishing pressure wont really harm a fishery if everyone follows rules suited to the fishery and there is good spawning grounds......so why not just leave them alone for a month or 2 ......when u look at the big picture its kind of selfish that pple will even drop a line around spawning time...i mean we arent fishing to sustain ourelves, we are doing it for fun....so y not go fish specs or shoot some rabbits during spawning time so that we can have lots of fun the rest of the year....

I wonder how that applies to steelhead fisherman when the majority of the fishing for them is during the spawn? That otta rock the boat! LMAO.

[RLK 38]

I wonder how that applies to steelhead fisherman when the majority of the fishing for them is during the spawn? That otta rock the boat! LMAO.

Most of us release all the fish we catch so no harm done.

[Wade O. 44]

Most of us release all the fish we catch so no harm done.

I'm sure they do....cause I'm one of them too. I was more counter arguing the fishing thru the spawn comment. However I would be curious to see the long term effects of steelhead caught and released during the spawn. I have heard reports that females when caught will reabsorb their eggs as opposed to release them. However we have all had a female steelhead on that drops the eggs as your landing or releasing it, which in reality is also a waste cause likely they will never be fertilized. So really is there harm done? Plus the amount of female walleyes caught close to the spawn as opposed to female steelhead caught during the spawn I think is much less. Meaning I think you will catch more female steelhead that female walleyes. I could be wrong though, just my personal observation.

[Some Old Guy 968]

Thus ends my part in this conversation...................

Roger

[Trevor Zimak 171]

Well that was a big waste of 25 minutes....

[RLK 38]

I'm sure they do....cause I'm one of them too. I was more counter arguing the fishing thru the spawn comment. However I would be curious to see the long term effects of steelhead caught and released during the spawn. I have heard reports that females when caught will reabsorb their eggs as opposed to release them. However we have all had a female steelhead on that drops the eggs as your landing or releasing it, which in reality is also a waste cause likely they will never be fertilized. So really is there harm done? Plus the amount of female walleyes caught close to the spawn as opposed to female steelhead caught during the spawn I think is much less. Meaning I think you will catch more female steelhead that female walleyes. I could be wrong though, just my personal observation.

Ask John George. They have caught and released thousands of steelhead in the portage and the fish are doing just fine.