what can be done

[jighead 3]

What can be done aboat all the dead walleyes floating on top of the water.Was up last weekend and must of seen 4or5 big walleyes. Is this because of the slot ?

[Kyle Sandberg]

The only thing that can be done is release them even if they are dying. The slot linit has no exceptions. Everything circle back anyway.

[eyewarrior]

Get them back in the water ASAP. I have seen it take too long to photo fish. With so many 25-27 fish why take picts of every one you catch. Many times I have seen people drop fish several times before they can get a picture, fumble around getting the camera ready, fixing your hair to look pretty in the pict etc. Most times fish can be released along side the boat without taking fish out of water. Maybe more education of the common folk on the proper CPR procedures.

[lyonch34]

I know it is very sad to see all those potential trophies laying on the water dead. The only tip i can give people that i do all the time is after i have the hook out i put the fish back in the net and let him lay in the water until i am ready and i always take two pictures right of way in case one doesn't turn out. Then its immediatly realeased. Theres nothing that ticks me off more than watching somebody drop a fish. Dropping a trophy fish is a lot like an elderly person falling they just don't recover very fast. Oh and sorry i forgot to add please wet your hands before touching the fish. Removing that little slime barrier is just not a good thing.

[rodmaker]

Another thing is if your fish has the hook swallowed,(gut hooked) just cut the line, and don't try and get the hook out.

[Glassguy]

How much money do we spend on fishing? I hate to think about it. If you figure what you spend per fish you catch it is very expensive. The more fish that are killed needlessly the more it will cost us in the future because there will be less to catch. If the tightwad who is worried about a .10 to .20 cent hook has any economic sense he will in the future pay more per fish. Sorry for the rant but this is a very sore subject to me. Cut the @?&| Hook!

[rodmaker]

I agree 100% with you. This isn't the complete solution, but it would help some!!!

[ikatcher]

i've been reading this forum for about 6 mos and one thing that is kind of bugs me is when someone posts a report and states they caught 2 25.5's 3 24's 1 26.5's and so on and so on. are they sure they weren't 24 and 3/8. how many 24-27 inch fish have to be measured in one trip. i know its an ego thing. i personally if i can see the hook will reach down and use my needle nose to unhook it without the fish ever seeing the net. if its the biggest walleye youve ever caught measure it take a picture kiss it or do what ever you want but i'm talking about the guys who have caught many walleyes but still have to measure every 24 3/16 fish they caught. a post that states they released 14 fish in the slot would still get the message across. everybody who has the slightest clue is slaying them with most being released. give the fish every chance to survive!

[Manitouchuck]

Also, hold the fish horizontally for the picture.

Start holding your breath as soon as the fish is caught, as soon as you can't hold it any longer it's time to put the fish back in the water, whether you got your trophy picture or not. If you insist on not putting it back, it's time for your fishing partner to whack you on the head with a paddle.

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"When a fish is caught, limit the time you play the fish. Exhausting your fish before netting it will mean that it is less likely to survive if released. A released fish needs to have some strength left to survive. It must have enough energy to re-oxygenate its own blood. An exhausted fish my swim away only to die a few minutes later, out of sight and out of mind. The longer you keep a fish out of water, the more strength it needs to re-oxygenate its blood when released. You can't go without oxygen for a minute or longer and either can a fish! Limit the time you keep a fish out of water to a minute or less to insure its safety.

Some day your photographs are going to tell some other fisherman how conscientious you are or are not! Taking photos of your fish is often the most common way of damaging a fish that is to be returned to the water. In the excitement we forget to take care. We must put fish handling rules first when taking photographs. Hold your fish horizontally at the water's surface to remove hooks and to take a photograph."

[perchman]

Ive been told that its not so much the couple minutes out of the water, but when they are pulled in from deep water (rapid pressure change).. but i do agree with the 'get em back in quick'

[Shack]

How did this thread get turned into another preach fest!

When I read the first post, my first thought was “lake kill off”. Lake kill off’s have been going on ever since fish have entered the lake. To figure anglers are the cause, is a very hasty judgment. I am not a marine biologist, but my finds over the years (even before slot) is that 20” and up range fish surcome to a kill off more so than smaller than 20”.

I figure it is an anglers right to do what he pleases (with in law) with his catch. With the resent law change in how “immediate release” is defined, further shows how legislature and DNR encourage an angler’s right to photograph and document his catch.

I, by no way, shape or form encourage miss handling of any fish species and I practice catch and release of all fish I catch (well I keep some when in the mood for a fish fry). I do feel strong, that miss handling fish by an angler would be an extremely small measurable amount of a percent in a fisheries mortality rate table for a given lake. If DNR would even figure it in at all.

To jump to the conclusion, that a family from southern Minnesota up on their family vacation and taking a picture of every fish they catch is the root cause of dead fish floating is like pointing a finger in a crowd of people and claiming that person you fingered is guilty of murder. This is also like people who blame everything that happens environmentally on global warming and do not give into account of possibly it being an act of nature. I think most Mille Laces anglers like pointing fingers at an inanimate object that is directly involved in anything to do with the slot limit to discredit the slot limit.

Further more, do what you feel is right when catching and releasing fish. If it may be taking pictures with family or unhooking it at boat, we are all in it together. The above mentioned tactics are very good, but I think the fight the fish faces on the way up is more of a contributable factor in a fish’s mortality factor after being released. The reg book I believe has some guide lines on to catch and release correctly.

[hawgeye]

I'll bet my left nut the only reason you see those fish floating is from fisherman. Why do you only see dead walleyes floating on the water when there are a million boats on the water. The family coming up for the weekend isn't the sole problem, its the 500 families coming up. Those big fish are the fishery, lose them and there goes the fishery. I agree 100% on there being no need to measure or even net every slot fish. Too big, release at the side of the boat. Biggest fish you've ever caught, take some picts and get her back. Saying its lake kill is just ignorant. Mille lacs is an unbelievable fishery,lets do everything we can to keep it that way.

[ikatcher]

its way to early for a die off, the temps have to be alot higher then what they are now. i would just like to see everyone give every walleye they release the best chance to be caught again. and that means back in the drink asap

[Shack]

If this is a major concern, why did they just change the law? This law makes it legal to keep a spawning fish (out of season) out of water longer to document for your personal use. If catch and releasing fish was a major factor in the future of the fish staying alive, I would think this may have hindered them passing the law.

Yes, get them into the water quickly! Yes, limit the time you are handling fish! Yes, do not drop any sized fish!

If you would like to blame ordinary everyday angler (one boat or five hundred boats) for fish floating, then you would have to blame tournament fishing, launches and any other commercial aspect twords fishing that I can not think of at the moment that puts any amount or way of stress on to fish.

I am betting my right nut , that it is a very small percentage that those floating fish had anything to do with anglers and this is all I will say about this topic. Have a good day!

[Fredd]

I saw a number of perch floating dead yesterday though I am not saying it was from die off. I also have caught more numbers of walleyes with scars and lesions this year than in the past (poor handling by fishermen, gill nets, disease, who knows??). We have a wonderful thing going on (Contact Us Please) and the fishery seems to be only getting better. Don't drop fish or use a towel to hold them. Don't play them too long when you bring them in. Take a picture if you like and return them as soon as possible.

[skunked_again]

I agree that most of those dead fish are from fisherman, of couse not all. Hooking mortality is something that is largely unavoidable, but mishandling is just not okay. Everyone should know the proper way to handle fish. I have witnessed many people, friends grabbing those big walleye by the gills, or sticking fingers between them. If one of those gills breaks or is torn, there is a good chance that the fish will die. Or people grabbing them somewhere else and dropping them. Of course, it takes time for anyone to learn how to properly handle fish, but some are careless. One solution that I have found is to buy a cheap fish filleting type glove and just grab them by the mouth. Also, get a ruler sticker and put it on the side of your boat. Don't pin them down to the ground while they're flopping all over the carpet. Hold them up quickly and throw em back with minimal damage.

[FlyingV]

And stop feeding (light biters) line when Lindy rigging. This is probably the biggest, all time killer, of walleyes.

[IRISHSOBNO4]

FlyingV,

I agree 100%!!!!

[Tony Holland]

I would completly disagree with the do not fight the fish theory. I have caught several walleyes this year in the slot, i do not photograph every one or anything like that. I just caught my biggest 29 1/2 and didnt even take a photo.

But I do not believe it is good to yank a fish out of 30 ft of water. If you look at the stomach, the fishes air bladder will be filled and the fish will be forced to wear itself out trying to go down. My fishing partner does this to about every fish. Yes they may swim off but they will be floating in a few minutes.

I do like to set my drag light and fight the fish in. I do take extra time in reviving the fish next to the boat and hoping that it is ready to go. No way of knowing for sure but I do believe not yanking them from the deep help in the release process.

None the less we do have a great fishery that would not be here without the slot in place in my mind anyway. Yes we will have some nice fish die....but we also have a lot of fish that are being returned and live for another day.

[RedDB76]

Not to stir up the pot....but there was a PWT tournament on the pond last week. That means there were a lot of fish in livewells for a long time.

I think we have all seen stats on mortality of fish released after a tournament. It shouldn't be too high this time of year, but that may be part of it.

Though - the pro's probably do a better job than many of us in keeping the fish alive and in good shape.

[MNUser]

I think they should close Mille Lacs to fishing and we should all sell our boats because the Earth is getting warmer and all the fish are going to die and we are killing them all with our 2-stroke motors and the big launches are catching too many fish and the guides are hurting the lake and there are too many people fishing and we are using the wrong hooks and glass boats keep you dryer and the list goes on. Just let people fish and let it go. It always turns into somebody is doing it wrong and you better do it my way....blah, blah, blah.

[ikatcher]

mnuser, so it does not bother you that all these dead fish are floating around the best walleye lake in north america? i think the message is we all should do our best to release fish so they have the best chance of surviving to fight another day! fish mortality will always be there as long as we are fishing, but we have a reponsibility as long as we have to let them go, to a better job of handling them before they're set free. we've all seen the fish floating out there and its sad. it sounds to me like you could'nt care less so sell your boat and go golfing!

[Michael8129]

Everybody sitting down? ok Ready take a deep breath... let it out OK? Here it comes......Fish Die... Eventually.... they don't live forever which is why absolute slots are so stupid. May be that 25 incher you caught yesterday and released was gonna die the day after tomorrow anyway and flot to the top to be mourned by some of us... besides this aint't nothin wait till that virus hits our state in the next year ....

[walleyewizard]

I had the same thought as RedDB76. Has the floating fish been a problem since the season opened or is just a coincidence that this subject is posted a few days after the PWT tournament? I fished in a PWT event on the Mississippi and I believe there was a rumor of several dead fish floating after that event too. I hope this isn't the case. I have witnessed people on Mille Lacs catching a nice fish, and after dropping it 3 times, finally getting a picture, then releasing it. Chances are that fish was floating too. I have no problem with people measuring and photographing nice fish, but some common sense needs to be used. I'll be up there this weekend and hope I can measure and take lots of pics of big fish.

[MNUser]

ikatcher, fish die whether you handle it wrong, drop it, it comes in contact with a prop, a muskie takes a test bite, the PWT keeps it in the well too long....

As for floating fish, I don't get to worked up over i t. I figure it like this. There must be well over 1,000,000 walleyes swimming around Mille Lacs. Lets say you saw 5 floating, I saw 5 floating and so did the next guy. Lets say that over the last 4 weeks, there were 48 walleyes killed for some reason or another. That is .000048% of the swimming population. I can honestly live with that. Now if it was 500,000, or 50% of them floating, I would be concerned. I truely feel most people do their best to make sure the fish is released in a timely manner and unharmed. It would be a nice touch if the DNR added a section into the regs book that covered the catching and releasing of fish.

I took my dad out this week a couple of times and he took lots of pictures. We did have a little discussion in the boat about his releasing tactics. He is old school and remembers when you kept all those fish and did not release a thing. We are working on him.....he is old......

[skunked_again]

ikatcher, I agree with your comments. mnuser, if everyone had a "who cares" attitude, there would be a big problem. What's wrong with caring about problems or trying to figure out what is going on when we see something like fish floating. I guess if fish eventually die, then we really shouldn't care how we handle them, and heck, while we're at it, why don't we just open up the slot to any fish under 30" and raise the limit. I mean, they're gonna die eventually anyways, so quite fussing about it, right? All some of us are saying is that there is a problem, and a difference can be made.

[deerwoody]

There are alot of fish being caught on the pond now and all we can do is our best to getem back in asap in good shape!

[ikatcher]

i get it that fish die, i fish mille lacs 12-15 days a yr, why don't we see dead northerns, musky, smallmouth, big perch, pouts , carp and whatever else swims in that lake???? its at least 50 dead walleyes for every one of the others combined. (yes i know there is a whitefish die off every year and the small perch that also do the same.) seriously anyone who does'nt think, the way we handle or mishandle our favorite fish has an effect on if its alive 10 days later is in the dark. i also fish other popular lakes 9 winnie, l.o.t.w., rainy to mention a few. the walleyes in those lakes must have found the fountain of youth because there is not nearly the dead floaters on those lakes and i challenge anyone to figure that one out. the short answer is way less pressure, there for way less fish being measured and mishandled. my original comment on this was questioning the need to measure every 24 3/8 walleye thats brought into the boat and i see it time and time again on m.l. bottem line the dnr must go do a study on these other lakes and figure out why they don't die like they are on m.l. are you catching my drift?

[MuleShack]

Quote:

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ikatcher, I agree with your comments. mnuser, if everyone had a "who cares" attitude, there would be a big problem. What's wrong with caring about problems or trying to figure out what is going on when we see something like fish floating.

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I dont think he has a "who cares" attitude, it is simply that he is releasing the fish correctly, and all the people on here complaining about it isn't going to do anything to change it...so why worry about it.

How many people fish the pond? How many of them are users on FM? Most of the people reading on here probably know the proper way to handle fish and release them. To the few that dont, please pay attention!!

I also agree that ripping that fish up from 30' is not good and probably does more harm than good. Take your time and let the fish take out some drag and let the fight live on. After all, that's what your up there for isn't it...to live the moment of "FISH-ON!"

[Chris_the_Cow]

This isn't about mille lacs but on a lake by my cabin we see dead sunfish and crappeies all the time and that lake is hardly ever fished, although that is pannies and not eye's