Waska Opinion

[The Donk]

I grew up thinking walleyes and panfish were the only fish worth eating... and then a friend whose mom is a farmer practically yelled at me when she learned I went bass fishing and caught fish all day and didn't keep any.... Well, I caught a few and brought them back to her, she cooked em up, and I tell ya, you cant tell a difference. The old farm gal knew what she was talking about, man

[carpshooterdeluxe]

yeah we dont keep any bass over a pound; we just tend to catch a bunch of them fishing for crappies or sunfish, and when you've got a girlfriend who is smart enough to say "well why did you through that bass back? its the same size as that little walleye you kept!" its hard to explain that bass arent "desirable table fare" when we only get to go fishing 6-10 times a year. i really dont think the bass in waska taste different, or the northerns for that matter, at any point winter to summer. a good trick is to chill your fillets on ice as soon as they are cleaned instead of soaking them in cold water. seems to firm up the meat better.

[angler903]

I have seen lakes with 15" min and you catch nothing but 13-14.5" fish and very rarely a bigger fish. this lake had it for7-8 years? finily went with a 4 fish limit and one over 20. I fished Waska last winter and was wondering if there was alot of 15"ers this year? what happens is a lake gets over populated with 14"er and they depleet the forage so most die before 15"es. if fish are comitting suicide that should tell ya something.

[goose89]

angler903,

Explain "committing suicide." If they are running out of forage before 15", that's starving. BTW, Minnewaska seems to have plenty of forage (quarter to silver dollar sunnies, schools of shiners in the spring), as they don't appear skinny. IMO.

[Smallie]

This whole walleye topic to me is alot like Mn deer hunting shoot the 1st thing u see. Little bucks turn into big bucks, little walleyes turn into big walleyes and make a baby walleyes.

Shoot the does if u don't have an opportunity to harvest a mature deer. All this stuff common sense we just need people start having holes in there 5 gallon buckets and maybe things will change. It's called taking responsibilty meaning all anglers and not blame it on this or that, but to us who is ultimatley resposible for great or poor fisheries.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH!

[angler903]

I put my two cents in so people think? there is no one fix that cures all. what works well on one body of water doesn't work on all. I favor a slot of no keep unless gilled, 20"- 28" no keep. that to me is how you protect spawners. I'd eat the 14" if thats all that bites, but next day or trip find bigger, for fun & pics.

This is my ideal plan, is it right is yours right? In instances we are all right and all wrong. just don't break the law a daily limit is the possition limit, eat your limit before you keep anymore

[fishfarmeat]

You've got a friend!! I agree with you totally.

[fishfarmeat]

Carpshooter---- What type of BEER batter do you use & how much BEER do you drink when you make it for those summer bass frys??

[waska]

I will not eat a bass, summer or winter, but man if you like them I will support you over 100% waska has more than enough of them green carp in it

as for the walleyes.. my personal slot is about 13"or14" to 17", nothing over

if I dont catch a "eater" Oh well... just gives ya one more reason to go back

I'd rather C&R in the first place

[muskie18]

Why,if you only fish walleye, do you think you are purists I fished walleye and it was fun. I have fished muskie and it was the biggest rush i have had. I now fish minnewaska about 2 or 3 days a week for bass. I catch more walleye on my plastics in the weeds than all my relatives could eat. If you are fishing minnewaska and can"t catch wallewye you should switch to sunnies.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

 Originally Posted By: fishfarmeat

Carpshooter---- What type of BEER batter do you use & how much BEER do you drink when you make it for those summer bass frys??

the bass taste just fine...especially with leinny's honeyweiss.... we dont eat the little snots from the shallows; its the deeper weedline bass we keep when fishing for craps walleyes or sunnies. welcome to the forum, i c you are from benson...small world i grew up north of danvers.

[lucy1205]

waska needs like a 1 inch slot. Poeople should only be able to keep 2 walts on that lake 16 inches only. Waskas walts are seiriously hurting.

[waska]

I dont think waska needs a slot. But the lake gets just Pounded! in the winter. The walleyes aren't hurting as bad as people think. They're just a little bit more tricky to catch with all those weed beds and so little structure. A reduced limit to 3 or 4 would do it for waska.

[goose89]

waska,

why don't you think a slot would help? I don't claim to know what any lake needs, but I'm curious to why you think what you think.

[waska]

Im not saying it wouldnt help! I just believe a lowering limit would be for effective.

Anyone that has fished Waska a fair amount has caught walleyes in various sizes. There are different depths and structures to focus on when targeting different size fish.

If you look at the dnr's fish sample it shows a good even range of walleyes; with the majority in the 'eater' range

I believe Minnewaska has fairly good reproductive success, many people do not.

Theres plenty of forage year round so that no fish will starve.

Slots are in place to protect optimum spawning fish, personally I think there should be a state wide slot to release all walleyes 19"-26" but I just dont see that ever happening.

[goose89]

Waska, thanks for the reply.

A 4 fish limit might help, but not help immediately. I understand that a great majority of the walleyes harvested are not coming in with 5 other ones. IE - not many limits, overall, are reached these days. Mostly 1,2 at a time. It would only save about 7% of the total walleye harvest is what I read somewhere.

BUT, I do believe it would hasten the change in "fish for meat" mentality that's still prevalent. If it does, in fact, drive some to not fish, so be it. But putting a damper on some of the overharvest, especially when a lake gets "hot", is needed. If the fish are biting, you don't have to quit when you catch that sixth fish!! Throw it back, or better yet, throw most of em back and be selective with what keep. I'm not preaching at you Waska, but to all of us fisherman. A fisherman respects his prey. Stocking up freezers for the next 3 months and keeping 12"ers is not respecting our prey.

Why can't you see a state-wide slot ever happening?? Politicians?? Too hard to enforce?? Just curious.

I'd love to think Minnewaska has fairly good reproduction success. I don't claim to know either way. What makes you believe that. thanks in advance.