MN walleye machine getting the protection it needs?

[dustedone]

Mr. Dahlberg,

I don't know if you caught this latest on ML? http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2013/02/28/ ... more-11456

Time to guide the lake for smallies? huh?

Dust

[dahlberg]

I think the answer is much simpler than all of the slot regs etc. IMO, simply stopping the commercial netting by the Indians would solve the problems.
Prior to the heavy netting the angling pressure was 50 times heavier than it is now and the lake was crawling with walleyes.
Also, pulling the big girls off the flats and trying to fix their bloated bladders by poking holes in them is a pretty sketchy process, and one I have sincere doubts about.
best
L

[dustedone]

The MN DnR just released the "special regulations" for Mille Lacs lake in central MN.
http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2013/03/19/ ... opulation/

A sad, sad state of affairs.

Dust

[dahlberg]

Amen to that!
Unbelievable. Beyond sad. Talk about from riches to rags in terms of a walleye fishery.

L

[jerkbait]

Why not Catch and Release only?

I rarely keep anything nowadays, I don't fish to sustain myself. I've seen lakes go catch and release only with great results, keeps the poachers and other assorted riff raff at bay.

I think we give ourselves too much credit for our conservation efforts, I believe the best conservation is preservation.

[dahlberg]

Sadly, when you compare the number of walleye anglers, resorts, and launches during the period when the lake was at it's most productive it's like nobody is even on the lake fishing walleyes anymore.
I'm suspect anglers are a small part of the walleye shortage.
L

[aka anglinarcher]

OK, I guess I have a couple of dogs in this hunt, so here goes nothing. No, I don't fish MN, but ........

Catch and Release lakes, great ...... but enforcement is what make the difference in those lakes. I have seen a lot of those lakes where it made no difference to poachers, etc., simply because no one was reporting what was happening. In many cases, I have seen these same catch and release lakes ban the use of bait and then watched bait fishermen fishing from the docks. In the long run, Catch and Release fishing can improve these lakes, but normally what it does is to keep a lot of normal fishermen off the lake. Why don't you just go to a lottery or draw permit like what they do for hunting.

I guess you can guess, I am not in favor of that, but in special cases, with proper enforcement, it works. Enforcement cannot be by law only, you must be willing to narc on your friends, buddies, and other people you see on the lake or stream breaking the rules. Are you up to being big brother's stooge? I am just asking.

Next, all of the claims that fish are not fit to eat; let's examine that one some. I can't tell you what to do, but I personally take all claims with the proverbial grain of salt. Of all people, I would think that Larry can comment on the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana based on last season's Hunt for Big Fish. Please Larry, correct me if I am wrong, but in three years of testing after the BP oil spill, no finned fish showed any contamination. Still, the one thing I saw over and over was that all of the fish were contaminated and we were all going to die. I still see covert suggestions to this on this site at times, but I never see valid scientific evidence provided with it. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of States have ulterior motives for their warnings. In some cases, they don't have the time or money to test the fish so they post warnings. In some cases they know that imposing a warning reduces fish harvest more then limits or imposing Catch & Release. Most of the time, they cannot prove that NONE of the fish are contaminated so to protect the state from lawyers, they lawyer proof themselves with the warning.

I offer two examples of how I use that grain of salt. I have a river that runs through town that allowed one fish to be kept each outing when I moved here 13 years ago. Some time after that, the State posted warnings, but no new studies had been done. The claim was that the silver and gold mining upstream had contaminated the river with heavy metal. Problem, heavy metals are heavy, they settle out, they tend to react to things in the water and then settle out, and in this case, there was a major lake, deep, clear, deep, deep, that was between the mining site and the river we fish. Additionally, the questionable practices had been shut down over 70 years ago and the fiver is full of caddis flies, mayflies, midges, and sculpins, all indicator species suggesting great water quality. Before they converted the river to C&R only, I kept a ~4 pound Brown Trout. I kept the liver, heart, part of the spine, and some of the fat and went to the Fish and Wildlife. I asked them if I paid for the test if they could get it tested. They said sure, but wanted to know where the fish was caught. I LIED, and told them it was from a lake that they had not issues with. What do you know, when the results came back, the fish was clean. A ~4 pound brown, in that river, had to be an old fish so it had to have been contaminated if there was contamination to be had. It was at that time that I told them where it really came from, and the sparks between me and the State have never ended. They have since closed down the upper river to all but C&R, allowing the lower river to be open for normal fish consumption and regulations. Oh, the upper river is now closed to all but C&R to protect a sensitive subspecies of reintroduced trout, not due to ......... You get the point. It was not contamination, it was a desire to reintroduce a fish. I don't mind this at all, I just like a little honesty.

Final issue, or dog in the hunt. When I am asked which race I am, I use to mark other then write human. I guess it is part of my upbringing, part the military, but I thought we were suppose to be a color blind country and that no race had special rights of privileges over another. Now, because they have removed the other category on most forms, I answer truthfully, two or more races. Yes, I have documented three native American tribes in my Heinz 57 linage, with Caucasian. I find myself wondering why the Government, the one that claims we are all created equal, still allows a race, a native American tribe, to preferential treatment and commercial netting. I am in part native American and I am still asking the question. If the commercial netting is doing the damage, and I think Larry suggested this is the case, then it is time to break the treaty. It is not like we have not done that before! The country inside our country, the one called the Reservation, should not be allowed the right to damage all of us for there benefit. Now, if you think I am racist, then I am racist against myself, right?

I guess that in the words of a comic book hero, the human torch, FLAME ON! I am sure that I have offended many with this, but a reality check is necessary.

Still, remember the grain of salt? Most of our waters and air and land are much cleaner then they were when I was a kid. Do we still have room for improvement? YES. Is the country getting worse? NO. Are all fish and locations where we catch fish safe to eat? NO! Are we using a few too many knee jerk reactions and lack of solid investigation to cause us to create feel good legislation? Oh yes!

Balance people, balance.

[dahlberg]

Hey AKA

Kowabunga brother. Check out the muskie spearing tournament held by the tribe in Wisconsin. I think is was this last weekend.
I am reminded of the old commercial on TV with the image of the indian chief up in the clouds with a tear in his eye.

I'm with you on the hyphenated americans.
L

[aka anglinarcher]

Ouch, you hit another sore spot. The Indians can spear fish Muskie but I cannot bow fish carp in Bureau of Reclamation water. OK, let me get that straight, carp in Roosevelt Lake in Washington State, a non-native, completely invasive species is off limits but a native species, with real recreational value, fair to poor eating qualities, one that takes years to grow to full size is legal to kill in numbers when they are most vulnerable.

Did I mention it is time to break some treaties?

[miket55]

dahlberg wrote:
> Hey AKA
>
> Kowabunga brother. Check out the muskie spearing tournament held by the
> tribe in Wisconsin. I think is was this last weekend.
> I am reminded of the old commercial on TV with the image of the indian
> chief up in the clouds with a tear in his eye.
>
> I'm with you on the hyphenated americans.
> L

A couple of the more popular muskie foruns are all lit up on this topic..

+1 on the "hyphenated Americans"