Joe Schmaus
07-05-2000, 09:48 AM
I hope your sitting down. If your not, please do so!! What I am about to tell you goes
against everything that you have been taught and everything we have been trying to
accomplish!
This past winter the FWP (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) released its "NEW"
management plan for the Upper Missouri River and held several meeting for public
comment. Among the issues address was the management of the *NEW* Walleye
population of Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The reason I used the term *NEW* is because,
until recently, walleye have been absent from the reservoir. The Montana FWP has denied
their native existence in the reservoir despite several eye witness accounts of walleye being
caught from the river before the construction of the dam. Long time residents had
informed FWP that, "Once the dam was constructed the Walleye and Ling disappeared".
This was almost fifty years ago. Then about ten years ago anglers started catching Ling
and shortly after that Walleye appeared. When the first walleye's showed up in the FWP's
test nets, they blamed "Bucket Biologist" for the introduction and set out to destroy the
walleye of Canyon Ferry. With their radio trackers in hand, they strategically placed Gill
nets on the spawning grounds and day after day they destroyed the walleye of Canyon
Ferry. Then one day they scored big! "How Big?" World Record BIG!! 22+ POUNDS.
They Gill netted and Killed a potential world record walleye and several other eye's larger than most state records. They just took action and did what they wanted to do. They didn't
even ask the public. Through the excellent reporting of our local newspapers, the public
was informed of what was happening and action was taken to stop the netting. Several of
our concerned citizens harassed FWP Officers and even barricaded the boat ramps denying the FWP
access to the lake. Threw their efforts and those of Walleyes Unlimited of Montana, the
"New" management plan calls for the management of Canyon Ferry to be conducted as a
multi-species system. This was a major step forward and we all thought that the Walleye of Canyon Ferry were here to stay and that Canyon Ferry itself was on its way to becoming one of our nations greatest fisheries. But unfortunately, as I further read through the plan it was evident the FWP was still against the idea of walleye in Canyon Ferry despite the overwhelming, concern of the public and the amount of public comment that was giving in regards to establishing a slot limit to protect and maintain a trophy class walleye fishery, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission enacted a 20 (twenty) walleye per day and 40 (forty) walleye in possession limit. This is not Managment. Have any of you ever heard of a 20/40 limit? FWP is in a panic and because of their state of confusion, they are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. FWP defended
themselves by say the large limit was enacted to protect the perch and trout population in
the reservoir but have no definite data that indicates the existence of a forage problem. The crazy thing about the forage base scenario is that their has been a dramatic increase in
yellow perch numbers over the last few years. They are trying to fix something that isn't broaken!! This increase in yellow perch numbers
proves that their is more going on here than the management of the reservoir. I believe
that the harsh reaction to the netting, created some bad blood between FWP and the Pro
Walleye public and that this 20/40 limit is nothing more than FWP's way of fighting back.
Regardless of the limit, many anglers are fishing responsibly by only keeping what they
need and turning all the spawning age fish back. Unfortunately, their are to many "Meat
Hunters" that keep everything they catch regardless of size and due to the limit, they can
legally take 20 walleye per person. On several occasions among several boats, I have
caught a large walleye and stood up and yelled "YOU CAN’T KEEP 'EM ALL. IT'S UP TO
YOU TO PROTECT OUR FISHERY" and then released the fish. Sometimes I get
applauded but most of the time I just get funny looks! The plan further calls for the
management of the reservoir to be cost effective, but FWP does not deny the fact that they
have had significant problems for years maintaining a health trout population and that this can not be directly linked to the walleye because sampling has indicated that they are not
eating the trout. But year after year FWP spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to
maintain a trout fishery that is not cost effective.
Further more, while I am one the topic of money, I would like to ad that it is evident in the
local economy that the walleye of Canyon Ferry are and will continue to boost the local
economy if their numbers are maintained at catchable levels. In closing I
would like to ask all of you to write the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commissioners
and voice your pro walleye opinion. Resident or not your opinion counts. Remember!
"Government by the People for the People". Well, let me tell you something. At every
public comment meeting I attended their was an indisputable argument that the 20/40
Limit was unacceptable! And guess what? They did not listen. It is time to pull together
and take action. We need to make it evident that the people still run this country. I am in
the process of contacting Local, State, and Federal Government offices in an effort to stop
the devastation of this great walleye fishery. If you can help please contact me. My Email
is joe@mcn.net.
The following are the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the commissioners of the
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Please give them your opinion. You can also request a
copy of the Upper Missouri River Management Plan
Stan Meyer
3417 14th Ave. S
Great Falls, MT 59405
406 453 0144 Fax 406 761 7516
Dave Simpson
844 W 5th St
Hardin, MT 59034
406 342 5241 Fax 406 342 5401
Charlie Decker
176 Hammer Rd
Libby, MT 59923
406 293 6465 Fax 406 293 7942
Darlyne Dascher
184 N Rock Creek
Fort Peck, MT 59223-7000
406 485 2522 Fax Same
Tim Mulligan
P.O. Box 694
Whitehall, MT 59759
406 287 3746 Fax Same
against everything that you have been taught and everything we have been trying to
accomplish!
This past winter the FWP (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) released its "NEW"
management plan for the Upper Missouri River and held several meeting for public
comment. Among the issues address was the management of the *NEW* Walleye
population of Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The reason I used the term *NEW* is because,
until recently, walleye have been absent from the reservoir. The Montana FWP has denied
their native existence in the reservoir despite several eye witness accounts of walleye being
caught from the river before the construction of the dam. Long time residents had
informed FWP that, "Once the dam was constructed the Walleye and Ling disappeared".
This was almost fifty years ago. Then about ten years ago anglers started catching Ling
and shortly after that Walleye appeared. When the first walleye's showed up in the FWP's
test nets, they blamed "Bucket Biologist" for the introduction and set out to destroy the
walleye of Canyon Ferry. With their radio trackers in hand, they strategically placed Gill
nets on the spawning grounds and day after day they destroyed the walleye of Canyon
Ferry. Then one day they scored big! "How Big?" World Record BIG!! 22+ POUNDS.
They Gill netted and Killed a potential world record walleye and several other eye's larger than most state records. They just took action and did what they wanted to do. They didn't
even ask the public. Through the excellent reporting of our local newspapers, the public
was informed of what was happening and action was taken to stop the netting. Several of
our concerned citizens harassed FWP Officers and even barricaded the boat ramps denying the FWP
access to the lake. Threw their efforts and those of Walleyes Unlimited of Montana, the
"New" management plan calls for the management of Canyon Ferry to be conducted as a
multi-species system. This was a major step forward and we all thought that the Walleye of Canyon Ferry were here to stay and that Canyon Ferry itself was on its way to becoming one of our nations greatest fisheries. But unfortunately, as I further read through the plan it was evident the FWP was still against the idea of walleye in Canyon Ferry despite the overwhelming, concern of the public and the amount of public comment that was giving in regards to establishing a slot limit to protect and maintain a trophy class walleye fishery, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission enacted a 20 (twenty) walleye per day and 40 (forty) walleye in possession limit. This is not Managment. Have any of you ever heard of a 20/40 limit? FWP is in a panic and because of their state of confusion, they are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. FWP defended
themselves by say the large limit was enacted to protect the perch and trout population in
the reservoir but have no definite data that indicates the existence of a forage problem. The crazy thing about the forage base scenario is that their has been a dramatic increase in
yellow perch numbers over the last few years. They are trying to fix something that isn't broaken!! This increase in yellow perch numbers
proves that their is more going on here than the management of the reservoir. I believe
that the harsh reaction to the netting, created some bad blood between FWP and the Pro
Walleye public and that this 20/40 limit is nothing more than FWP's way of fighting back.
Regardless of the limit, many anglers are fishing responsibly by only keeping what they
need and turning all the spawning age fish back. Unfortunately, their are to many "Meat
Hunters" that keep everything they catch regardless of size and due to the limit, they can
legally take 20 walleye per person. On several occasions among several boats, I have
caught a large walleye and stood up and yelled "YOU CAN’T KEEP 'EM ALL. IT'S UP TO
YOU TO PROTECT OUR FISHERY" and then released the fish. Sometimes I get
applauded but most of the time I just get funny looks! The plan further calls for the
management of the reservoir to be cost effective, but FWP does not deny the fact that they
have had significant problems for years maintaining a health trout population and that this can not be directly linked to the walleye because sampling has indicated that they are not
eating the trout. But year after year FWP spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to
maintain a trout fishery that is not cost effective.
Further more, while I am one the topic of money, I would like to ad that it is evident in the
local economy that the walleye of Canyon Ferry are and will continue to boost the local
economy if their numbers are maintained at catchable levels. In closing I
would like to ask all of you to write the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commissioners
and voice your pro walleye opinion. Resident or not your opinion counts. Remember!
"Government by the People for the People". Well, let me tell you something. At every
public comment meeting I attended their was an indisputable argument that the 20/40
Limit was unacceptable! And guess what? They did not listen. It is time to pull together
and take action. We need to make it evident that the people still run this country. I am in
the process of contacting Local, State, and Federal Government offices in an effort to stop
the devastation of this great walleye fishery. If you can help please contact me. My Email
is joe@mcn.net.
The following are the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the commissioners of the
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Please give them your opinion. You can also request a
copy of the Upper Missouri River Management Plan
Stan Meyer
3417 14th Ave. S
Great Falls, MT 59405
406 453 0144 Fax 406 761 7516
Dave Simpson
844 W 5th St
Hardin, MT 59034
406 342 5241 Fax 406 342 5401
Charlie Decker
176 Hammer Rd
Libby, MT 59923
406 293 6465 Fax 406 293 7942
Darlyne Dascher
184 N Rock Creek
Fort Peck, MT 59223-7000
406 485 2522 Fax Same
Tim Mulligan
P.O. Box 694
Whitehall, MT 59759
406 287 3746 Fax Same