Deep walleye

[kzoofisher]

Also, every lake is not Erie. The sheer size of that water offers it a lot of protection but other waters not so much, and using an outlier like Erie to justify a bad practice on 99.9% of other lakes is just bad. Maybe killing 30 fish to get 12 is sustainable, maybe with a run of bad hatch years we find out it isn't. I'm old enough to remember 6 years ago when people were starting to get antsy about Erie because there hadn't been a great hatch since '03 and catch rates/sizes were falling. We were told the lake was just returning to normal and we were spoiled. Lucky for us record hatches are becoming the new normal. Hope it keeps up.

[last chance]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

Also, every lake is not Erie. The sheer size of that water offers it a lot of protection but other waters not so much, and using an outlier like Erie to justify a bad practice on 99.9% of other lakes is just bad. Maybe killing 30 fish to get 12 is sustainable, maybe with a run of bad hatch years we find out it isn't. I'm old enough to remember 6 years ago when people were starting to get antsy about Erie because there hadn't been a great hatch since '03 and catch rates/sizes were falling. We were told the lake was just returning to normal and we were spoiled. Lucky for us record hatches are becoming the new normal. Hope it keeps up.

it was getting harder to catch fish on Erie's central basin where I fish. but with a lot of work and a little knowledge, it was still possible to get a good stringer of fish. but those fish was huge. most were over 5# with only a few if any small fish were caught on an outing.

and I wasn't trying to compare Erie to other lakes. the only walleye I target other than Erie is in inland water is in shallow rivers and lakes that have water less than 25' at most. but in the lakes, I fish 20' or less for fish.

yes, I am so happy Erie has rebounded. I'm 70 yrs old and don't know how many more yrs I'll be able to fish. so having a good supply of fish has been and should be for many yrs to come nothing but awesome. let's just hope at least every few yrs we have another great hatch. so the great fishing will last for another 50 yrs.

the small fish are only present in numbers when we have great hatches. so Erie takes care of itself. if the numbers go down to far the limits will be reduced lake-wide. I think the limits were reduced for river and ice fishing and reef fishing until I think in may to 4 fish a day when the fishing slowed. but it hadn't got to the point to lower the limit for summer fishing. i totally support lower limits to protect a fishery.

[last chance]

Originally Posted by KPKyllo

If every walleye angler on Lake Erie thinks as you do, Lake Erie may not have good walleye fishing for very long. Why not think of the resource first before you think of yourself?

as qzarkbob stated just after you posted lake Erie is managed by a lot of experts in fish management. the small fish is just a sign the lake is doing well. it's when we're not catching the small fish that we start to worry about the fishery on Erie.

the limits on Erie are not controlled by the DNR anymore. and the law would have to be changed before the limits are changed in Ohio waters. but if the fishery is threatened it will move fast to lower limits on Erie. Erie is managed separately from the rest of the state. they raise or lower limits on Erie without affecting the rest of the state.

I've really got some bad news for you. most if not all lake Erie fishermen are of the same mindset about fishing in Erie. but this fishing has been going on like this for yrs. I depend on the lake's ability to sustain this way of fishing with the help of limits and seasons set by the state of Ohio.

now for other bad news. as far as me only thinking of myself. we only fish Erie for 1 week per year. a lot of people that live close to the lake fish every day that they can get out on the lake. we just boat a boat from one of those people. I asked him if he fished often. his answer was every day. I was absent minded at the time and didn't think to ask what they did with all the fish. another thing that goes on is what's called fun fishing. that's where a group of people gets their limits early and keeps fishing for fun only. they can catch untold numbers of fish and release them to die.

and the weekend fishermen from close to the lake are almost unreal. our one week of walleye will last my son's family and my family all yr. but now we don't eat fish that often. but what do these people do with so many fish? their freezers will only hold so much fish. and what do they do if they have leftover fish in the freezer at the start of the next season? and the people that fish every day may be releasing them back into the lake to die. and how can they give that many fish away?

I'm not slamming on you I'm just giving you a little info. it's just something for you to chew on this winter. maybe you can swallow easier than I do. the 15 or 20 small fish we release per day for a week on the days we can get out are only a touch in the barrel of all the fish released or thrown away each yr by the people listed above. have a great day and good fishing next season.

[last chance]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

I guess if we're going with anecdotal evidence instead of scientific management I'll go with this. Erie is a huge fishery that can absorb a lot of abuse. Even so, there are plenty of complaints that the enormous hatches over the last decade have not resulted in huge numbers of 22"-26" fish. Must be all those shorts being tossed back over the side is the reason we're not seeing fish grow up.

just FYI maybe those complaining just don't know that much about fishing in Erie. the last 2 yrs have just been awesome catches of 22" to 24" fish but still getting a lot of small fish that most are going to be legal fish in the next 2 yrs. if I can figure out how to post pictures from last yr.

I went out 3 days with a friend last yr who used big planer boards and wireline to get down to the fish. the first 2 days we were done before noon after having a couple of dry streaks. On the last day, we were done getting our 2 man limit in 1 1/2 hrs. and all were nice fish. we didn't catch but few small fish during our 3 days of fishing using large crankbaits.

[doubleheader]

Last Chance, I’m your age and have fished Erie for years. When we grew up there wasn’t much, if any, concern for stuffing our freezers with fish. Many of us also took full advantage of the resource when it was most vulnerable. We may have followed the guidelines for daily limits, or maybe we interpreted the law a little more liberally, but over the course of a few years we changed, we learned to respect the regulations and we learned to respect and appreciate the resource. I’m sure that’s true for you, me, and most all outdoorsmen of our generation. This information about safe fishing depths requires the same kind of evolution in our thinking. It may take some of us more time to rap our heads around it than others, but once you are aware of the high mortality associated with fishing the depths, most of us, even those of us that have “done it this way for years”, will modify our behavior. For me it’s not really whether or not a fishery can sustain said fishing, it’s about doing what’s responsible. Harvesting a limit every time I jump in the boat simply isn’t as important as it once was and certainly not as important as how harvested fish. I hope you come around to that way of thinking.


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[last chance]

Originally Posted by doubleheader

Last Chance, I’m your age and have fished Erie for years. When we grew up there wasn’t much, if any, concern for stuffing our freezers with fish. Many of us also took full advantage of the resource when it was most vulnerable. We may have followed the guidelines for daily limits, or maybe we interpreted the law a little more liberally, but over the course of a few years we changed, we learned to respect the regulations and we learned to respect and appreciate the resource. I’m sure that’s true for you, me, and most all outdoorsmen of our generation. This information about safe fishing depths requires the same kind of evolution in our thinking. It may take some of us more time to rap our heads around it than others, but once you are aware of the high mortality associated with fishing the depths, most of us, even those of us that have “done it this way for years”, will modify our behavior. For me it’s not really whether or not a fishery can sustain said fishing, it’s about doing what’s responsible. Harvesting a limit every time I jump in the boat simply isn’t as important as it once was and certainly not as important as how harvested fish. I hope you come around to that way of thinking.


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if I had the opportunity to fish Erie on a regular basis I would limit my catch to what I needed for a meal. at times I might go for a limit so my family could have a mess of fish. I would try to fill my freezer for the cold winter months. but you've got to understand we only fish Erie for 5 0r 6 days a year if the weather lets us out that many days during our 1-week visit. we get there and check in on Saturday. we try to fish Sunday through Friday as we have to check out Saturday morning. so we do try and catch as many fish as the law allows for the one week we are up there.

I started drift fishing the western basin in the early '80s and the lake was dingy until the zebra mussels cleaned the water. it was nothing for us to have our limits and have them cleaned by noon. when the water cleared the fish scattered about the lake and it took most of the day to even think about getting our limit. so we switched to trolling. when we drift fished we used spinning gear and let out what we guessed was 100' to 200' laid our rods against the side of the boat and just drifted. when we trolled we did pretty much the same thing but used rod holders and 2 downriggers. yes, we were young and foolish thinking the fishing would last forever. there was a time when the limit was raised to 10 per day but we quit at 5 per day. but as the numbers of fish went down the limits were dropped to 6 per day.

a few yrs ago the limit was dropped to 4 fish until the 1st of may I think. but with so many fish in the lake, I think that order was rescinded back to 6 fish. there was talk among fishermen that wanted the limits raised back to 10. but a lot of us argued it should be left at 6. that way we'll have good fishing for more years. now that we have so many fish in the lake should the limit be raised or stay at 6 to protect the long-term fishery?

[doubleheader]

Good question. You know, I have to defer to the experts. We, my wife and I, keep maybe 20 walleyes/ year. I love finding them, I love catching them, and I still love participating in our local tournaments, I just don’t have much desire to keep many anymore. Wish you continued good health and great fishing.


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[last chance]

Originally Posted by doubleheader

Good question. You know, I have to defer to the experts. We, my wife and I, keep maybe 20 walleyes/ year. I love finding them, I love catching them, and I still love participating in our local tournaments, I just don’t have much desire to keep many anymore. Wish you continued good health and great fishing.


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hey, thank you for all the good wishes and I wish you the same.

you have me a bit confused. above you stated I should come around to your way of thinking on conservation. but here you say you only keep a few fish but keep fishing for them. so in fact you must be releasing a lot of fish to die. I'm not trying to get on your case about releasing fish. I'm just trying to make a point. every decent fisherman or woman who fish for eyes releases their fair share of fish. it's just on a different scale on Erie. we did start using larger baits to try and reduce the number of small fish we catch. but other than stopping fishing I just don't know any other way to reduce the amount of fish we release.

people who have never fished Erie should not be judgemental to those of us who do. it's like no other fishing I have ever done. and I've fished as far north as Wi and as far south as the Fl Keys and so many places in between and nothing even comes close to comparing with Erie.

i am a sportsman at heart. i don't keep over my limit that was set in a manner to sustain the fishery. i don't even kill shephead on Erie even though I hate them. but it's just not sportsman-like. when I deer hunt I don't start early and always quit at or before quitting time. if it's dark and cloudy and I'm having trouble seeing I quit early. if we have a good moon or snow on the ground I hunt until the last minute. when it gets late I limit how far I will shoot depending on the light.

just a little food for thought about Erie. it has been fished hard ever since it was discovered it was full of walleye. at 1st they had no limit on eyes and it was some time before a limit was put in place to protect the fishery. and the limits have changed over the yrs and it worked. they say we have more fish than we've ever had in recorder history. so as long as the fishery is controlled with limits to prevent over harvesting I see no harm in the way I'm fishing in Erie. if you've never fished Erie come on up and charter a boat for a full day of fishing. there is a lot of small charters that only fish 3 guys of less and larger charters for 6 or less.

[doubleheader]

Last Chance, no offense taken. I live 65 miles from the nearest launch in Northeast PA. I’ve fished Erie since the mid 1970’s after getting out of the service. I’m not suggesting anyone should release any amount of legally caught fish, it’s just something we choose to do. We don’t fish the deep bite on Erie, we fish mostly harnesses in short water in the spring of the year, and the last few years I haven’t even been over. We prefer the scenery of the Allegheny Reservoir walleyes , and for that matter the taste of the reservoir fish, let alone the fact that the launch is 20 miles away. We also fish Chautauqua Lake, a very underrated fishery and that launch is about 40 miles away. I get it that Erie is a special fishery, and perhaps there would be zero impact if everyone fished 50 FOW and threw back 50 fish a day, but in my opinion that practice is wasteful.
Ps. I have a 20’ Pro-v, when it’s too rough for that boat to fish it’s too rough for my old back.

[last chance]

Originally Posted by doubleheader

Last Chance, no offense taken. I live 65 miles from the nearest launch in Northeast PA. I’ve fished Erie since the mid 1970’s after getting out of the service. I’m not suggesting anyone should release any amount of legally caught fish, it’s just something we choose to do. We don’t fish the deep bite on Erie, we fish mostly harnesses in short water in the spring of the year, and the last few years I haven’t even been over. We prefer the scenery of the Allegheny Reservoir walleyes , and for that matter the taste of the reservoir fish, let alone the fact that the launch is 20 miles away. We also fish Chautauqua Lake, a very underrated fishery and that launch is about 40 miles away. I get it that Erie is a special fishery, and perhaps there would be zero impact if everyone fished 50 FOW and threw back 50 fish a day, but in my opinion that practice is wasteful.
Ps. I have a 20’ Pro-v, when it’s too rough for that boat to fish it’s too rough for my old back.

I know what you mean about it being too rough. I have or had a 23' cobia glass open bow. if it's rough we don't go out. if it gets rough while we're out we slow way down on the way back in. we have a 26' boat now and if it's rough enough to keep the 21' off the water we're not going out in the 26'.

we do keep legal fish it's the shorts we throw back. and we have no choice in what we catch. the only way to stop getting shorts would be to quit fishing deep water when they move out.