Maumee closed for 2001?

[Dan(MI)]

I'm not a Maumee fisherman, but it came up in conversation this week. Is the river closed to fishing during the walleye run this spring or not?
Thats all just curious.
Dan

[ETT]

No, so far as I know it is not closed. But the limit is reduced to 4 for March and April, then it goes to only 6 for the resat of the year. good luck

[ErieAngler]

No the river is not closed. Like ETT said the only change is on the daily limit.

[ErieAngler]

No the river is not closed. Like ETT said the only change is on the daily limit.

[chuck]

I think that would be one the best things the DNR could due. Let the fish spawn in peace. The same goes for the Detroit River!
Maybe then we would see a rise in the fish.
All the big fish caught are just the size that are the spawners, they don't taste as well so why not just leave them alone to reproduce?

[pepe]

AMEN TO THAT CHUCK.

[CJW]

Plus there's to many snagged and not released. The DNR can't catch them all. CW

[Al]

They are putting the screws to the seniors on licenses, and they are going to raise the prices of ours. Do you think the DNR would give up all that revenue from licenses and fines on the Maumee? Surely you jest.

You can jump up and down and scream all you want. Spring fishing doesn't compare to the carnage the net boats produce.

[Den]

Looking at the other side of the coin, the dnr wouldnt get any revenue IF the people were honest either would they. i am not for the fishing in the rivers during the spawn, but there are a lot of people fishing there that cant get out in boats either, so why condem everybody for what a few do. thats like accusing anybody that drinks at all of being a drunk driver. like i said, i am not for it, but for some people it is the only way, but just do it legal.just my opinion. good luck and good fishin. hurry up spring.
Den

[Line Stretcher]

Is the limit for walleyes on Erie also changed to four until May 1 and then six. Thanks for the help.

[Stormsearch]

Yes, but only for Ohio Waters. For MI waters, the limit is 6.

[bob oh]

First of all only 15 to 20% the walleyes in Erie spawn in the rivers according to ODNR biologists. The rest spawn in reef areas, so we would have to shut down all eye fishing on Erie in the spawn season. I could go along with that except that most of the walleyes taken from Erie are taken by Canadian gill netters and as long as we don't control them the rest won't matter. The ODNR and other wildlife agencies claim the spawn fishing doesn't hurt the eye population, so??? Additionall, I fish the lake in March and April and 95% plus of the eyes I catch are males - the reverse of which is true during the fall catch off Huron when big females are dominant. Do we stop the fall fishing off Huron because we are catching females. If so, then we might as well stop fishing between the end of the spawn in April and the begining of the fall fishing in Sept.- Oct. so we don't bother the eyes while they're resting in the summer. Get rid of the gill nets, get the Canadian commercial quota under control, and enforce the ballast rules and you will have solved any Erie eye problems.
Bob

[RIVERRUNNER]

The way I see it, if it's female it goes back , keep only legally caught males under 3# there the only one's I FEEL COMFORTABLE SERVING MY FAMILY this is just my set of rules for my boat, wanna go, your rules too. Unless it is a charter, but even then I try to persuade nicely, even offer a little extra time in the boat if I have to. GOOD LUCK GOOD FISHIN

[ErieAngler]

It amazes me every time the issue of fishing during spawning season on Lake Erie and/or tributaries comes up. Bless the hearts of the guys that want to leave the fish alone during the spawn but geez guys......the ODNR does not set the seasons, regulations, and limits to eliminate the walleye population. They are set after analysis of data obtained through a zillion man hours of research and collection of scientific fact, and implimented to ensure a stable population. Why do so many people doubt Lake Erie's ability to sustain a year round fishery?
Since the fishery came back with a vengence in the 80's it has survived years of gill netting, year class disasters due to poor weather during the spawn, huge expansions in the sport fishing pressure, limit increases and decreases, low water, invading species of fish, mollusks, and microorganisms, and who knows what else and we still have the best walleye producing machine in the world.

We have to quit 2nd guessing the management decisions of the agencies that are watching over Lake Erie especially the ODOR. They are all doing a great job and have addressed some very difficult problems such as the Canadian gill netting situation. Leave emotion and public opinion based wildlife management to the animal rights groups and let our trained professionals do their jobs.

Nuf said.