spawning walleyes

ohio dow did not go far enough and it will further deplete the once great lake erie walleye fishery. they need to close the spawn to fishing ....period.no walleye fishing from mid march to mid april. thats what we did ( out of ignorance ,i suppose) years ago and there were 88 million walleye in the western basin,now theres about 8 million.most fishermen didnt pick up a rod untill late may. also the late fall bite for the big females has taken a huge chunk out of the quality brood stock . i cant beleive how many 8- 14 lb fish were being taken off of catawba and huron.now theyre about gone too. lake erie needs to close spawn,a trophy limit ie. minnesota and a reasonable 6 fish limit.too much blame has been put on clear water, which isnt true. and the gobies and zebras. but the truth of the matter eries dwindling walleye population is caused by spawnus interuptus by too many fat bellied meathunters.truth hurts.......da dude

WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD I PULLED A 13LB.15OZ WALLEYE THROUGH THE ICE SO WHEN MY FRIENDS ASK ME WHERE'S THE NET I TELL EM' I ALREADY GOT THE WALL HANGER IF IT'S OVER 2LB. IT GOES BACK. I REALLY DOUBT I WILL EVER BEAT MY PERSONAL BEST! SHAME ON THE GREEDY THEY WILL RUIN THE EARTH,AND IT'S NOT JUST THE FISH AND GAME. SAME GOES WITH ALL THE NATURAL RESOURSES

I understand how people want to close the walleye fishing down on the rivers during the spawn. Im no pro but from what Ive heard and read nearly 80% of the walleyes that spawn in the Western Basin of Erie do it on the reefs. Now, how is that shutting down the river during spawning runs going to help the population?? And go ahead and tell me I cant take my boat out and fish the reefs in the early spring- sorry aint gunna happen! I am not a meathog and ask anyone that has fished with me, I will give the fish caught on my boat entirely to whoever goes along, I dont need more than a few fish here and there to last me. These guys that think they have to fill their freezer each time they go so they can either throw half of them out after a year or have a fish fry for the neighborhood to be their "HERO" make me want to puke. I do eat fish but not alot so what I am trying to say to you people, dont take more fish than you will use. I know its a pride thing to say "I got my limit today and yesterday" but if everyone just takes what is sufficient to last a few dinners instead of limits it would help out a bit. Just my Opinion!

What type of Research do you have that proves that for one, nobody fished during that time and two that was the real reason the population was so strong. I think the ODNR and Ohio sea grant have far more knowledge in this than you or me. We can only give our opinion on the matter. They can show proof of what's happening because of their research. Also only half million waleyes will go up that river. That's far less then the total population. The big females that are being taken, are just as bad as the small females being taken. They all have eggs. Chances are that female that's 12 pounds is closer to dieing then that younger one. There are allot of factors that cause a reduction of species. Meathogs is one of them but I don't think there's enough of them out there to cause this large of a reduction in the population alone. So before you say that this lake is being mismanaged and start pointing fingers, make sure you have all the facts.
Good Luck!!
Tim FRick

there will be absolutely no survival if a fish is taken
without fulfilling its destiny. This is common sense.

so are you proposing that the DNR should outlaw all walleye harvest from lake Erie? It doesn't make one little bit of difference when a fish is harvested. If it is taken in the summer, fall, or through the ice it can not spawn the following spring. there is no difference if that fish is taken during the spawn or at any of the 365 days prior to it! dead is dead, it is removed from the syetem and clearly can not add to the future of the fishery.

there is no logical argument that can support your statement without leading to the conclusion that ALL WALLEYE FISHING should be stoped to protect the future of the fishery. That position is a bit extreme-isn't it?

2) If succesfull spawning wasn't happening on the reefs, and elsewhere, how could you explain the continued success of other species who only/primarily spawn in these areas? yes, it is a reasonaple position to state that goby predation on eggs may be effecting spawning success of some fish species. however, to state that no walleye (or few walleye) are succesfull spawning in these areas is stretching the facts a bit too far. (oh wait you must be a fisherman :))

[rich]

what will it hurt to stop fishing during the spawn, i,ll tell you what the state ohio would lose some off the extra monies they get from the fisher man. other states and canada close there seasons till first sat. in may it all helps. greed kills the fishery in trouble lets face it. qiut b/s your self the lake in bad shape. every knows it but ohio doesnt care wake up.

[curt quesnell]

yes tim, yes.

if lake erie is fished bare by the gill netters again, i am
afraid you wont find anyone to feel sorry.

it is nuts to talk about releasing any fish, big or small, when
there are gill nets around.

but, erie is a walleye factory, when they're are all gill netted
away you can always put more back in. get 100 million or so
swimming around and give to ontario commercial gill nets again.

gill netters dont have to take all the fish, but they do because
they get paid by the pound.

as long as you pick at each other flingin the "g" word around
(gamehog) you wont get anything done anyway. organize as a
solid group and demand first the canadian nets stay out of
united states waters, then demand they cease and desist gill
netting completely.

its not the hook and line fishermen hurting erie.

curt quesnell
good luck to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Howard]

I agree with eriedude. Everyone can argue their point until there blue in the face, but nothing will change unless even more stringent restrictions are put on the fisherman of Lake Erie. It's very unfortunate that this site, Walleye Central, may actually do more damage than good for the walleye. The poor fish don't stand a chance against the internet. Everyone knows where the fish are. Where's the challenge. The thousands that don't are booking charters to catch there limit. Again, what chance do the fish have against people who are navigating the lake every day, every weekend? Let them catch their limit, but make it fewer. Let them catch their limit, but close the spawning season. If they violate these restrictions, they won't just have an arguement, they will be breaking the law. Anyone who doesn't think that the so called hook and line fisherman doesn't have a great effect on this lake, is a fool.

Read the entire spawning walleyes responces. OK fisher people. First to get rid of a bunch of the disinformaition, misinformation, whatever, on how many walleyes are in Lake Erie, condition of the fishery, etc., contact: Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit. E-Mail: roger.knight@dnr.state.oh.us OR Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Unit. E-Mail: kevin.kayle@dnr.state.oh.us. dnr is Department of Naturnal Resources, Division of Wildlife. Ask for the new Ohio Lake Erie Fisheries 2000 report. Last years 1999 report was prepared April 2000 by Lake Erie Fisheries Units* *Work was completed under Federal Aid in Sport Fish RestorationProject F-69-P, Fish Management in Ohio. Roger Knight, Supervisor of the Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit is one of the best authorities, on Lake Erie Fisheries, along with the people he works with.

Last years report had 48 Tables and 67 pages of solid information on the condition of Lake Erie fisheries, all fishes.

According to the 1999 report, page 3 overview on Walleye, "Adult abundance was near the annual average for the 1990s, but the 1999 Ohio sport harvest of about one million fish was lower than expected, due to below-average angler catch rates." Goes on in the report and gives the reason they believe over abundance of bait fish caused this. Page 13 of the report, Walleye, Relative Abundance based on Division Natural Resorces netting surveys.

Want a good fishing tip. Roger Knight was quoted in the April 2000 edition of Walleye Insider as saying, "Interestingly, some of the best sampling of big walleyes occurs when gill nets are set high in the water column (less than 10 feet down) on windy days."

If you want to catch Walleye on Lake Erie, you are going to have to change your fishing tactics. Clear water, the walleye are spooky. I use the yellow Offshore Side-Planer boards as far as I can get them from the boat. 175-250 feet. Off the back, after establishing the bait and amount of line I want out, I use a 2 and a half inch bobber clipped on by a clip (Pro-Pointer) to the line and let the line out another 200 feet. Using two lines with bobbers, compensate for distance between bobbers away from the boa to avoid line tangle. Sharp turns, the bobbers will go over and under each other. Another reason for using bobbers...get a strike and the bobber will help set the hook.

I believe the DNR is trying to address the question of whether to keep big fish / Females, on whether they are fertile after a certain size and age. I don't know the answer to this. I would like to see a 16-18 inch minimal length limit on keeping walleye. I see to many people keeping small walleye. I asked a couple people why they kept small 12-14 inch walleye. Answer. They have more meat on them than a large perch. Ah!

[curt quesnell]

good post..good information..good news

thanks
curt quesnell