Is Technology somewhat to blame for the problems that seem to be arising in Wis/MN?

[REW]

If the daily limits and possession limits are set correctly for a body of water, there should be 0 issue with technology having an impact on the fishery.

i.e. the daily limits and possession limits should be such - that as long as the folks using the fishery follow the laws - the fishing pressure should not have a negative effect on the body of water.

But, if a state, county, or city has a possession limit that allows for home storage of unlimited or very large numbers of daily limits, there can easily be legal game hogging.

Having a possession limit that is many days worth of daily limits leads to over fishing legally.

Take care

[KPKyllo]

Originally Posted by REW

If the daily limits and possession limits are set correctly for a body of water, there should be 0 issue with technology having an impact on the fishery.

i.e. the daily limits and possession limits should be such - that as long as the folks using the fishery follow the laws - the fishing pressure should not have a negative effect on the body of water.

But, if a state, county, or city has a possession limit that allows for home storage of unlimited or very large numbers of daily limits, there can easily be legal game hogging.

Having a possession limit that is many days worth of daily limits leads to over fishing legally.

Take care

Of course technology plays a part REW. Think about it. Anglers bragging about easy limits and/or big fish catches on the internet will bring a hoard of anglers to any lake and there are always those that can't help but brag. Even if daily limits stay the same, more anglers means more fish taken from any body of water.

[That Minnesota guy]

Lets not overlook the trucks pulling these boats and the boats themselves. Here in Minnesota Mille Lacs seldom got hit during the week 40 years ago. It was a weekend trip or vacation that brought the anglers. Today you have guys making the trip daily from the metro to fish a hot bite. In addition when the wind blew (which is often) those small 14' & 16' tillers seldom ventured far from the resorts and launches. Bigger hulls and large motors has changed much of that. And then there is the ice fishing........................

[kzoofisher]

Lots of good stuff in this thread. Another big technological change is gps and mapping. Where we used to use landmarks, often hundreds of yards away, we now us gps and highly accurate maps. With triangulation you were often lucky to get within 100’ of a spot and finding off shore structures took a lot of time. Now you drive right up and stop within a few feet. Gone are the days of running over to try that area off Eagle Point, now we head over to try that inside turn with the rock pile on Eagle Point. Lakes where I used to have 8-10 good areas now have several dozen waypoints, each labeled in a way that once a pattern is established I skip the ones that are likely to be unproductive. And I can easily see fish on the sonar when I get there. My fishing is much more efficient than it was. I still have plenty of bad days because I’m not a great fisherman but I have more good days than I used to and make good use of my limited time. I’m sure a lot of fishermen have the same experience.

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

Lots of good stuff in this thread. Another big technological change is gps and mapping. Where we used to use landmarks, often hundreds of yards away, we now us gps and highly accurate maps. With triangulation you were often lucky to get within 100’ of a spot and finding off shore structures took a lot of time. Now you drive right up and stop within a few feet. Gone are the days of running over to try that area off Eagle Point, now we head over to try that inside turn with the rock pile on Eagle Point. Lakes where I used to have 8-10 good areas now have several dozen waypoints, each labeled in a way that once a pattern is established I skip the ones that are likely to be unproductive. And I can easily see fish on the sonar when I get there. My fishing is much more efficient than it was. I still have plenty of bad days because I’m not a great fisherman but I have more good days than I used to and make good use of my limited time. I’m sure a lot of fishermen have the same experience.

Excellent point. GPS and waypoints sure get you on the fish quicker. On my local lake, when we used to fish it in the late 70's-early80's when we just rented resort boats, finding the creek bed that runs through it, where the good fishing is, was quite the adventure in itself. lol Trying to remember trees, house, or whatever, then trying to gauge distance from shore to find it or a good starting point to search for it. Then gauging depth by casting out a lure or rig and letting it sink to bottom. It could take an hour or so to find it. Now, it just shoot toward the waypoint and drop an anchor or bow mount after confirming the depth on sonar.

I occasionally fish a hump 14 miles out in Lake Huron, 140' depth hump in 200FOW, with not a thing to visually gauge where you're at besides GPS. It's maybe 100 yards wide. Blue water, 360 degrees around is the only view. Several locals turned me onto the spot. I've always wondered if back in the pre-electronic days, people were actually able to repeatedly find and fish spots like that with absolutely no visual reference.

[Mojo-NC]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

Lots of good stuff in this thread. Another big technological change is gps and mapping. Where we used to use landmarks, often hundreds of yards away, we now us gps and highly accurate maps. With triangulation you were often lucky to get within 100’ of a spot and finding off shore structures took a lot of time. Now you drive right up and stop within a few feet. Gone are the days of running over to try that area off Eagle Point, now we head over to try that inside turn with the rock pile on Eagle Point. Lakes where I used to have 8-10 good areas now have several dozen waypoints, each labeled in a way that once a pattern is established I skip the ones that are likely to be unproductive. And I can easily see fish on the sonar when I get there. My fishing is much more efficient than it was. I still have plenty of bad days because I’m not a great fisherman but I have more good days than I used to and make good use of my limited time. I’m sure a lot of fishermen have the same experience.

I couldn't agree more - this is probably #1 as far as I'm concerned. We used to have to guess, or possibly triangulate to get on a spot. Now we can zoom right to it within a couple of feet, even if we've never fished the water before. We did our first fly-in trip this fall. We asked the lodge owner if they could put us in touch with a couple of guys who had fished the lake before to pick their brains a little before our trip. One was kind enough to share the coordinates of a few waypoints with us. We had them programmed into our fishfinders before we ever arrived. We went straight to those waypoints and were immediately on fish. We dropped a bunch more over the course of the week and got right on fish every day. Add a few other luxuries like Spot-Lock and the fish don't have a chance.

[Gary Korsgaden]

Points to the importance that practicing stewardship, adhering to the limit and being aware of delayed mortality happening more and less at certain times of year. In Minnesota even with the advances anglers catch less then 4 fish a trip out. Rew is correct if the limits are set right should not be issues right.

Except

iIce fishing popularity surging in Minnesota sure to take more fish then earlier times, how will it impact the resource?

[DW]

I will pile on the gps bandwagon. I almost fish 100% using proven gps waypoints built up after years of fishing experience. Very efficient, and rendering other available technologies irrelevant.

A related phenomenon are the widespread use of full time guides to find those points.

Today, fishermen don’t blink at paying guides $200-400 which is an amount necessary to guide full time, and they are good. There is a lot more discretionary income available today! When I was growing up the concept of a guide service wouldn’t even compute.

I completely discount global warming for decline in fishing and believe it is used merely an excuse by clueless fishing managers. I can avoid being political on this topic by citing Lake Erie. Lake Erie was and arguably is, the greatest walleye fishery in North America despite horrible pollution and severe invasive species. Yet it is far warmer than most of the traditional northern walleye lakes, with typically low ice coverage in winter and consistently hitting 80F+ in summer.

[davT]

Tournaments, electronics, social media, in that order. They fill up a body of water, find or steal waypoints, then share waypoints at weigh-ins and or social media.

Having said that, electronics have made my fishing more enjoyable. I can spot lock to fish spots instead of anchoring, I can spot lock to hold the boat in place in current while messing around re-tying or unhooking fish, I can make maps of areas I have been fishing for decades and get my first look at what I could only imagine in the past. I can side scan to find structure to fish or avoid snagging, my gps can help keep me where I want without having to constantly look for landmarks etc etc. but it sure was more enjoyable when I didn't have to share my secret spots with people who got my waypoints using radar from a mile away or marking me as they go by or pile on me and then sharing on social media.

[Bobby Winds]

Originally Posted by DW

I will pile on the gps bandwagon. I almost fish 100% using proven gps waypoints built up after years of fishing experience. Very efficient, and rendering other available technologies irrelevant.

I completely discount global warming for decline in fishing and believe it is used merely an excuse by clueless fishing managers. I can avoid being political on this topic by citing Lake Erie. Lake Erie was and arguably is, the greatest walleye fishery in North America despite horrible pollution and severe invasive species. Yet it is far warmer than most of the traditional northern walleye lakes, with typically low ice coverage in winter and consistently hitting 80F+ in summer.

I agree with almost everything you posted here...... GPS is a HUGE advantage over guessing where you are on a large body of water using 3 landmarks to find a hump/rock pile/hotspot.

However Lake Erie wasn't always that easy to catch fish during my lifetime of fishing it. Back in the 70's and early 80's if I returned to the launch with 3-4 walleyes I had BRAGGING rights on the dock.

It wasn't until the mid 80's when Gill Netters were bought out and or outlawed on the southern shores of Lake Erie. Here in NY the State imposed a $3 Lake Erie stamp that was need to fish Lake Erie. It was suppose to last for 3 years but it was so popular that the State had enough dedicated money to buy out ALL the Gill Netters licenses to end a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE way to harvest fish in only 2 years.

You can set low Sportsmen creel limits all you want on Lakes that are commercially netted and you will still have fish populations problems on those relatively small inland lakes. It doesn't matter WHO is doing the commercial netting the harm will still be endured.

Yes it's POLITICAL but still needs to be address and ENDED.......remember it's ALWAYS about the money.......buy them out and be done with it.