Walleye Regulations Changed

[PSU]

Hello Friends,

 

I saw the DNR report surrounding the new 20"-26" inch slot and surprised there haven't been any comments on the board. I for one, am excited about the changes, but certainly do not consider myself a walleye expert on these sorts of things. Is everyone pleased with the change?

 

 

[Jonny 2 shot]

Of the different proposals I feel this was the best option! My only wish is they add a minimum size requirement to the slot.  12"+?

 

I was going to be up on Birch Point this weekend but the -20 weather has me looking at the next few weekends.

 

[JerkinLips]

I would have recommened 13" minimum with only one over 18".  I personally like eating the smaller 14-16" walleyes.

[Jonny 2 shot]

58 minutes ago, JerkinLips said:

I would have recommened 13" minimum with only one over 18".  I personally like eating the smaller 14-16" walleyes.

I couldn't agree more!  I would like to catch a lot more 14-18" fish but that starts with throwing the 11-13" ers back.

 

[PSU]

I too would like to see a minimum, and also enjoy eating the smaller 14-16 inchers as they taste better to me. It will be nice though for guests as we should always have some walleye to eat with the larger filets from the 18-20 inch increase 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

You will not have any 12" to 13" fish either if you eat all of the spawners!

Should have left the slot alone in my opinion!

The lake was a very healthy lake because of the slot.

Cliff

[Skibo]

1 hour ago, Cliff Wagenbach said:

You will not have any 12" to 13" fish either if you eat all of the spawners!

Should have left the slot alone in my opinion!

The lake was a very healthy lake because of the slot.

Cliff

I couldn't agree with you more, Cliff.  Vermilion has turned into a wonderful walleye lake over the past few years.  Remember, this is the same DNR that has "managed" the walleye population of Mille Lacs.  Having fished the NW Angle for 40 years, and Vermilion for 35 years, I've seen what happens to a fishery when too many 18"+ fish are harvested, and that is years of a blighted walleye population.  Ontario's 2-fish limit with one over 18.1" (daily and possession), and MN's 4-fish limit with a 19.5" to 28" slot (daily and possession) have made it the world class fishery that it is.  If they wanted to allow the harvest of bigger fish, they might have considered a 4-fish daily/possession (livewell/stringer/cooler/freezer/refrigerator/frying pan) limit with one over 18", so people wouldn't load their coolers and freezers with 18"+ fish over a week or summer.  The way the regs are now, there could be limits of 20" walleyes caught and kept on Vermilion.  Let's hope that Do Nothing Right hasn't screwed up our lake, too.

[Reid Saarela]

I agree... why change a slot that was working great for the lake! 

[blue_healer_guy]

Dont agree either, anything 18 or bigger goes back for me.  Its such a rush for me and my boys to get that little forearm tiggle from a catch i couldnt even think about keeping it.  Plus they dont fit across a frying pan. lol

[JerkinLips]

I agree that the current regulations are working well now.  My concern is are we heading toward another Mille Lacs (too many big walleyes feeding on smaller walleyes?).  In the last year, I have caught twice as many 18"+ walleyes on Vermilion as <12" walleyes.

[Jighead4914]

Lets hope the dnr dont f this great fishery up, like Mille Lacs.

[PSU]

Interesting comments and I tend to agree with Blue Healer. Unless we are in a pinch (guests new to walleye, need one more big one), I'll probably stick to my 13.5-17" eating range.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

The west end is a train wreck. Way too top heavy!  I don't fish it a ton, but I rarely see a fish caught under 20". I love catching big walleyes, but something just isn't right when they are ALL mature fish.  Where are the younger year classes?   Cannibalism, maybe?  

 

IMO, the best slot for most lakes would be a total inch slot. 65 inches of fish, or no more than 4 fish total.  This breaks up the harvest to different year classes and allows everyone a chance at a fish fry. 

[SkunkedAgain]

1 hour ago, BRULEDRIFTER said:

IMO, the best slot for most lakes would be a total inch slot. 65 inches of fish, or no more than 4 fish total.  This breaks up the harvest to different year classes and allows everyone a chance at a fish fry. 

But how do you get all of the walleye to sit still in a line while you measure them?!?  

 

I don't mind the slot change but would have preferred the option to keep one in/over the slot. I wouldn't be opposed to a total inch slot either. No matter what, I have been happy with the lake so am mostly interested in small changes. It ain't broke so it doesn't need fixing, but you can always try tweaks here and there to make it run better.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

West end IS broke, tho...

[FishinCT]

7 hours ago, PSU said:

Interesting comments and I tend to agree with Blue Healer. Unless we are in a pinch (guests new to walleye, need one more big one), I'll probably stick to my 13.5-17" eating range.

 

Right there with you. Anything bigger doesn't cook evenly anyway. Cutting a fillet in half is blasphemy in my opinion!

[BrianF]

Brule, are you sure about that?  That the West end is broken??  Consider this...

 

Besides the West end of Vermilion where we have a family cabin, I fish Pool 2 of the Mississippi a lot.  For those unfamiliar, Pool 2 has experimental C&R only regs in place - and has for many, many years.  One could argue that the walleye population there must be as natural as you will find in MN as there is no harvest whatsoever.  My perception as an angler who fishes them side-by-side is that the two fisheries are very comparable in terms of numbers and size distribution.  Maybe that is a sign they are both healthy fisheries, with the walleye population as close to what Mother Nature intended as man will allow? 

 

I actually love the size distribution of the fish on the West end, but I'm must be a little different from other walleye fishers because I actually like to catch big fish.  We do catch quite a number of fish under 20" btw, though the average does seem to be larger than what we see on the East end as others suggest.

 

Btw, my opinion - since the OP originally asked - was to leave the prior slot/creel limit.  Why fix something that is clearly not broken??  At least I've never heard anyone say the walleye fishery sucked on Vermilion in quite some time.  In fact, the sentiment seems to be just the opposite.  What was in place was working and working well IMO. 

 

Finally, I just can't foresee what happened on Mille Lacs - recovering nicely btw - happening on Vermilion.  One theory of many I've read is that there was a forage crash on ML and that the adult walleyes became cannibalistic on their own young of the year.  Recruitment suffered as a result, combined with liberal creel limits.  If a population crash caused the walleyes to become cannibalistic, we should have no worries about 'too many large walleyes' on Vermilion.  The walleye forage base right now is absolutely amazing.  We all know the lake is paved with 4" to 5" perch, not to mention all of the other minnow species available.     

 

Brian

[redlabguy]

Is this a done deal, or a proposal still open to comments? If so, we should forward this thread. I'm with most of you. First, do no harm and if it ain't broke... You know how it goes. I wouldn't keep one, but I could see allowing one 18 to 20 inch in the limit.

Dick

[blue_healer_guy]

Was introduced to the lake 20 yrs ago from wifes coworker.  Been in love ever since.   Make 3 trips a year.  1 in a cabin rental and the other two camping trips.  I have my 20 or so spots if i need them  all, rarely due.  I save money all year for theses trips and these 3 only.  I go coast to coast because the lake is somewhat the same end to end but so much different.  In the fall, nothing beats the colors from timbuktu west.  I have found you better get your fish before noon, seems tougher after that.  Have also found that west of Ludlows resort west fishing is tougher.  So I hear the concerns from the westenders.  But I do go that way to maybe get that picture fish.  Since you have a wake zone I believe in that area, what would be wrong with different slots there from east to west.?  Im not sure if the locals would say thats where the east/west line should be but thats where I notice a difference in fishing.  There is already buoys there, just put a few more to notify different slots.  Ultimately us fisherman are supposed to know the regs before we fish a lake anyway.

[delcecchi]

On 1/4/2017 at 4:47 PM, Cliff Wagenbach said:

You will not have any 12" to 13" fish either if you eat all of the spawners!

Should have left the slot alone in my opinion!

The lake was a very healthy lake because of the slot.

Cliff

Spoken like a guy on the East end.   West end has problems of unknown origin.   Expanding slot (my choice would have been the "one over 18" option) will be good for the west end, I think.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Del,

I agree with you if they had to change the slot! That would have done the least damage to the existing population of fish.

Cliff

B-H-G,

Different slots on each end of the lake would never work!

The only way they could enforce it would be to have a 24 HR. check point in the narrows  or not let fishermen travel and fish on both ends of the lake in the same day! Impossible to do!

Cliff

[jkrash]

I'm surprised some of you are blind sided by the slot change by the DNR, the proposal to change the slot has been going on for over a year. Some might benefit by spending $10 and join the VermilionLakeAssocition 

I think the change to the current slot will be a plus for the whole lake, we've been well below the safe harvest level for years.

 

Edited January 6, 2017 by jkrash

[BRULEDRIFTER]

17 hours ago, BrianF said:

Brule, are you sure about that?  That the West end is broken??  Consider this...

 

Besides the West end of Vermilion where we have a family cabin, I fish Pool 2 of the Mississippi a lot.  For those unfamiliar, Pool 2 has experimental C&R only regs in place - and has for many, many years.  One could argue that the walleye population there must be as natural as you will find in MN as there is no harvest whatsoever.  My perception as an angler who fishes them side-by-side is that the two fisheries are very comparable in terms of numbers and size distribution.  Maybe that is a sign they are both healthy fisheries, with the walleye population as close to what Mother Nature intended as man will allow? 

 

I actually love the size distribution of the fish on the West end, but I'm must be a little different from other walleye fishers because I actually like to catch big fish.  We do catch quite a number of fish under 20" btw, though the average does seem to be larger than what we see on the East end as others suggest.

 

Btw, my opinion - since the OP originally asked - was to leave the prior slot/creel limit.  Why fix something that is clearly not broken??  At least I've never heard anyone say the walleye fishery sucked on Vermilion in quite some time.  In fact, the sentiment seems to be just the opposite.  What was in place was working and working well IMO. 

 

Finally, I just can't foresee what happened on Mille Lacs - recovering nicely btw - happening on Vermilion.  One theory of many I've read is that there was a forage crash on ML and that the adult walleyes became cannibalistic on their own young of the year.  Recruitment suffered as a result, combined with liberal creel limits.  If a population crash caused the walleyes to become cannibalistic, we should have no worries about 'too many large walleyes' on Vermilion.  The walleye forage base right now is absolutely amazing.  We all know the lake is paved with 4" to 5" perch, not to mention all of the other minnow species available.     

 

Brian

It's just my opinion.  My observations from fishing the west end (as well as many others I talk to over there) is that it's very top heavy with large mature fish, which to me, seems like it's lacking viable recruitment of younger year classes.  A healthy fishery, IMO, would have good representation of all year classes throughout.  An example..... 6 of us spent 3 days up on a walleye factory up in the BWCA last summer and caught at least over 500 walleyes. Fish sizes varied from 6-8" up to 28".  The average was in the upper teens-low 20's.  Seemed like a prime example of what a healthy fishery should be.  Even the east side of Vermilion seems to be healthier than the west, with many younger year classes present as well as large mature fish.

 

Allowing some harvest of mature fish is a good thing if you have a top heavy population.  Every lake is different so they should be managed as such, and slot limits should be changed as necessary based on stabilizing/harvesting weak/strong year classes of fish. 

 

Vermilion, unlike Pool 2, is a tourist economy.  People like keeping walleyes to eat, not many people can keep walleyes from the west end, especially if you're not an expert angler. Therefore, allowing some harvest of a dominate sized fish would benefit westenders. 

 

 

[CLOTAGAMES]

18 hours ago, delcecchi said:

Spoken like a guy on the East end.   West end has problems of unknown origin.   Expanding slot (my choice would have been the "one over 18" option) will be good for the west end, I think.

Agree west end has an issue. Been fishing it 3 times a year since 1969. The last 6 or 7 years we have struggled to catch eater size fish. Maybe an occasional 15-16 incher. Most have been 20-24" fish which are fun to catch but not as plentiful. Fish Norwegian Bay mostly. Have seen the lake over the years go from a walleye smallmouth lake to a largemouth musky lake. Largemouth bass are very plentiful.  Have had numerous Musky encounters with 50" + fish yearly the past 5 years.  Not sure what changed. As a kid 35 years ago used to be able to go out after supper and catch 6-10 12-15" fish. Now we go out at 8 pm in hopes of catching a couple of 20+ inch fish to release. Wish I knew the answer. Will probably still throw the 18" back.

[delcecchi]

Well, you have been fishing it longer than me.  I started in 74.  

 

Yes, it was some years ago when the "go out after dinner and anchor on a reef and catch a few eaters" plan died.  Never came back.   DNR has no idea what happened, or how to fix it.   Reportedly there are a good number of fry but hey don't make it to the next spring, or maybe even fall. 

 

Jokingly I say it is the tighter regulations on septic systems making the water too clean....

[jkrash]

15 hours ago, delcecchi said:

Well, you have been fishing it longer than me.  I started in 74.  

 

Yes, it was some years ago when the "go out after dinner and anchor on a reef and catch a few eaters" plan died.  Never came back.   DNR has no idea what happened, or how to fix it.   Reportedly there are a good number of fry but hey don't make it to the next spring, or maybe even fall. 

 

Jokingly I say it is the tighter regulations on septic systems making the water too clean....

 

I remember back in the day, during the evening hours, you could take a boat out to most reefs in the lake and catch fish under a bobber consistently, I think the lake had an abundance of minnow species, such as trout-perch and different shiner species, that used the shallow reefs in the evenings just like the walleyes and other game fish did. 

I think your right that the water changed, the forage changed and the habitat in the lake has changed, these changes and others have caused the walleye bite to change and fishing is no longer consistent year to year. It's a good thing we have access to $2500. depth finders and guides like Cliff to follow around.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

JKrash,

I think you are right about the lake and forage changes! That is probably why the bobber bite on many reefs has changed also.

A few of the guides that fish the West end regularly have said the same but they changed tactics and areas and are still catching eater sized walleyes on most days out.

Cliff

[james_walleye]

No matter the official regs you probably won't see me keeping any over 18". I'll take a 14-15" in the pan over anything bigger. Lord knows on the east end those size fish are pretty easy to come by.  I guess with abundance of this size fish i can't help but to think why fix something that isn't broken? I guess that's easy to say when you fish the east end? I have never fished the west end so my guess is this is a big reason for the change? 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

James,

ONLY reason for the change!

Cliff

[jkrash]

Some on the west end have been asking for a change for a number of years because of the lack of smaller fish and many are not happy with the change. They prefer that the DNR stock fingerlings, the DNR says fingerling stocking won't work, but there is a private movement going on right now to collect money and raise vermilion fry so they can be stocked as fingerlings this fall.

 I'm sure the only reason the DNR changed the regulations (finally) is because we are well below the safe harvest level. Remember the only reason we have a slot and reduced bag limit is because we were well above the safe harvest level a decade ago.

I'll have no problem cleaning and eating a 19" walleye, that's all I'll need for a dinner for two, I'll put back the three or four 14's  I normally would keep for dinner.