Fish Populations Diminishing in the Metro

[JBMasterAngler]

So far this discussion has mostly been geared towards panfish, but I'll throw this is in about walleyes because I'm curious to know everyone's opinion...

Of all the walleyes that are stocked in metro lakes, they are not able to spawn in about 95% of them. Therefore, wouldn't walleye fishing around here be considered "put and take?" So does it really matter if you selectively harvest walleyes out of the metro since they can't reproduce and will be stocked again the next year?

Hopefully nobody gets mad at me, I don't even fish for walleyes, like I said, I was just curious to see what people think about that.

[Infishquinn]

TIP - Most definately, if you have a large family and want to have a fry, go right ahead. There isn't anything wrong with that. 10 craps and 15 gills is enough for about 5 meals for me, but if there are 5 people eating, then thats what you need. There isn't anything wrong with keeping a couple meals in the freezer either, as long as one doesn't continue stock piling. All it comes down to is respecting the resource, keep what you need to eat from an appropriate size class. That is ideal and the more people that commit to that theory, the better off the resources will be.

[crappiefisher26]

Some Very good points brought up here. And I agree with the people who are talking about making some metro lakes catch and release only. Because wats going to happen like others have stated is that the DNR is going to step up the regulations. I think that it would be useful to put in place slot limits on the walleyes and pike on some metro lakes. Theres one metro lake that Ive fished for years and used to always catch Pike, and now the past two years everyone I have talked to cant catch any. But the point is Like I said before, the lakes are getting a lot of pressure. Its common sense conservation, so lets get out there and protect Fishing and Our Lakes!

[turn_in_poachers]

 Originally Posted By: Infishquinn

That is ideal and the more people that commit to that theory, the better off the resources will be.

Thats the biggest challenge right there, getting more people to commit to it. Do you guys think its a lack of educating people about it?

[broman]

 Quote:

You are selecting to keep the larger fish. I suspect you'd be pretty unhappy when the day comes that the lake you are fishing is full of undersized dinks. Keep some medium sized fish, but let the biggest and smallest go. Put the best genetics back in the lake by releasing the superior fish.

Uhmmmm.. you don't even know what size I am keeping and what size those bigger fish are. So before you criticize me maybe you should ask what size I am keeping before scolding me.

I also want to ask why is it that everyone says put the big ones back when it comes to fishing. But when everyone hunts they shoot the biggest buck with the biggest rack. Isn't that doing the same thing by removing the best genes from the pool. Are you selecting which size pheasants, geese, or ducks before you shoot? I would guess not.

[borg0196]

I believe that we are especially talking about the smaller lakes in the metro area. Deer are vastly over populated and aren't restocked by the DNR. Fisherman are paying to have fish produced and restocked. The problem is that the DNR can't get enough money to keep up with all the fisherman. Look up "Holland Lake" in the forum chat. Its small lake, but is stocked often, yet all the chat in that forum is about how small the fish are. The DNR can't keep up with the fishing pressure that the lake gets. That plus most of the fisherman taking the big fish right after they are stocked, adds up to small fish. I personally feel that the little fish taste better, but thats just my opinion.

[blackdog1101]

 Originally Posted By: broman

Uhmmmm.. you don't even know what size I am keeping and what size those bigger fish are.

 Originally Posted By: broman

I too agree with LindyRig. I am a meat eater. I have the right to keep the legal limit. I practice select harvest as far as size. I would rather clean 3 larger crappies than 10 dinks.

Ummmmm... unless I'm missing something, your own words say you are harvesting the larger fish.

[broman]

 Originally Posted By: borg0196

The problem is that the DNR can't get enough money to keep up with all the fisherman

The lottery was supposed to be a funding source for the outdoors, but then the politicians got their mitts into the money. But I don't think money would solve it. If you want to improve the fishing on the lakes, then the DNR has to impose the limits or close the lake for some time. I will listen to the DNR more than anyone here since I would assume they are a little more educated on the issue than you or me.

[broman]

 Originally Posted By: blackdog1101

Ummmmm... unless I'm missing something, your own words say you are harvesting the larger fish.

What size do you think I am referring too? You have no idea, do you. I have never caught a crappie larger than 10 inches, my biggest walleye is 5 lbs (Missouri river in SD), all others were under 2 lbs. My largest northern, maybe 2 lbs. Sunfish and blugill, I doubt ever hit 1 lb. Also, I have been in the metro for over 10 years now and have maybe kept less than 2 dozen fish in that 10 year span. Now what do you think? Am I the problem?

[goose89]

I think the metro still has alot of good fishing opportunities. But it's my experience that's it's not as good as when I first moved here in the early 90's. Bald Eagle, Waconia, Spring, Prior, Harriet, even Nokomis ...hmmm ...had some really good fishing. Way better than I've experienced on them lately.

I remember getting one of the Metro Lakes Fishing Guide books, which was pretty new back then and it's seemed pretty accurate. I've still got the book and look back to those days. Those species rankings (poor, fair, good, excellent, small, medium, large) don't really apply to many metro lakes anymore. IMO.

[Craig Plummer]

I kept my limit yesterday, they were tasty

[MuleShack]

 Originally Posted By: Craig Plummer

I kept my limit yesterday, they were tasty

are you stirring the bucket...

[turn_in_poachers]

 Originally Posted By: Craig Plummer

I kept my limit yesterday, they were tasty

I'm jealous.

I kept my limit of walleye yesterday............................................. for $4.57 a pound at Cub.

[blackdog1101]

 Originally Posted By: broman

 Originally Posted By: blackdog1101

Ummmmm... unless I'm missing something, your own words say you are harvesting the larger fish.

What size do you think I am referring too? You have no idea, do you. I have never caught a crappie larger than 10 inches, my biggest walleye is 5 lbs (Missouri river in SD), all others were under 2 lbs. My largest northern, maybe 2 lbs. Sunfish and blugill, I doubt ever hit 1 lb. Also, I have been in the metro for over 10 years now and have maybe kept less than 2 dozen fish in that 10 year span. Now what do you think? Am I the problem?

Broman, I apologize for making assumptions, and stand corrected.

[2izm]

First and foremost - please don't get offended - what I am going to say is not an opinion - it's a fact. We live in Minnesota - state of more than 10,000 lakes. It's hard for me to believe any lake can be fished out unless there are serial fish poachers who keep coming back to the same lake to take more then they should home.

Anyways...individuals who take their limit of fishes home may do so as long as they follow the rules, regulations, and/or law.

I'm sure the DNR have completed their research before clearly stating what fishes and how many fishes could be taken home and during what season. That's why there's a DNR Regulation booklet to read and follow accordingly so there wouldn't be any debates, disagreements, and arguments about who should do what and/or who should not do what.

As a fisherman who loves to fish for sport and eatin'- finding fishes has never been the issue. It's finding the litters that other human beings leave behind - now - that is the issue.

[Infishquinn]

Thats a great thing to bring up, people leaving their trash on the water, its outrageous. I can't imagine what drives someone to be so disrespectful towards the environment.

Fishing pressure on panfish is one thing that impacts a fishery, practicing or not practicing selective harvest, but that pressure doesn't compare to the pressure that predatory fish have on most lakes. Something to ponder is whats happening with the bass, northern, and even walleye. Those fish are the ones that truly make or break a fishery. If anglers are harvesting those without regard, there will be a direct impact on the panfish. With a shortage of bass and northern, a lake's panfish population is thrown out of whack and will produce less large panfish because they become overpopulated.

The DNR is the most knowledgable about fisheries management, but they don't survey lakes annualy by any means. In addition to that they are primarilly concerned with pleasing anglers, hence implementing slot limits for a period of time and then removing them when the fishery comes back around. This only pleases anglers for a period of time before it happens all over again. This is primarilly with walleyes (Mille Lacs, Leech, and Red are prime examples), but as for panfish, reducing a lakes limit or closing it for a period of time is what they do. That does wonders for a lake, but it also draws attention to it. If I hear of a lake with a reduced limit, I'm going there because there is a pretty good chance that there are some big fish. Overall, the DNR does a great job for having so many lakes. They can't go around to every metro lake and place individual regs, its not realistic, but it would be great. Anglers get mad when there are tight slots or reduced limits so the DNR tries to avoid those when possible. I'm from Brainerd and new to the metro and I can't beleive that panfish are stocked, so there is obviously something that I've not been exposed to around here. I and my Dad talk to fisheries biologists on a regular basis and its a tough job deciding where and what to stock, place special regs on, etc. Those guys are doing their best, and they take anglers suggestions to heart, so drop them a friendly note, it may go further than you think. One last thing that can enhance a fishery is anglers watching other anglers and using the TIP line when you see violations. COs depend on tips to catch poachers, and one fish stealing poacher can have a dramatic impact on a small lake. Sorry for dragging on, I am very passionate about fishing ethics and management and get a bit long winded.

[LindyRig]

My posts never intended to start a fire storm. My point is this, I go fishing 30 times a year. Better then most, but not that much for the regular Joe on this board. Out of that 30, I will keep fish probably 10 times. And of that 10, I keep my limit 2-3 times. I do find myself on big fish very often. But that is because I do my research, know a few tricks, and for the most part have the knowledge on the lakes I fish. A fair estimate would be that I keep 4 paper lips that are in the range of 12-13" a year. Most are around 7-8". I have thrown back many fish bigger then this while out. Mostly because I hook into them with 10 min before I am planning on leaving. I do not keep it because I don't want to clean one fish, and have it sit in my freezer for 4 months. So if that makes me the ugly fisherman, well then so be it.

My problem is that people on this board like to attack others just because they don't go along with what they believe. We all have our beliefs on what is rite and what is not. I have enjoyed this forum and though I don't post as often as I would like, it is always fun to sign on and read what others have posted.

[broman]

 Originally Posted By: blackdog1101

Broman, I apologize for making assumptions, and stand corrected.

Apology accepted. Thanks.

[markkstanley]

Regarding stocking the vast majority of it is walleyes and musky which are not native to Metro waters. Muskies have been reproducing on their own but for most Metro lakes walleyes don't have suitable spawning areas. So yes the walleye in the Metro are more like a put and take situation. Panfish and bass are not typically stocked in this area. Harvesting panfish is a good idea otherwise we tend to end up with stunted populations. Throw back the 7 and 8 inch gills or crappies over 9" because those are the genes you want in the system and these fish produce more fry. The real key IMO to improving panfish size is the northern pike population. Let those bigger pike go and take out the little slimers. Pike will stunt in size as easily as panfish and the whole chain breaks down - you just end up with lots of little fish because the panfish and pike populations explode and overrun the forage base. This also is a reason to let the bigger walleyes go. Big fish eat lots of litle fish, reducing the pressure on the forage base so the surviving fish have more to eat and can grow larger. Taking out the big predators in the 60s and 70s has resulted in smaller panfish size and it will take awhile to rebalance the Metro lakes.

[crappiefisher26]

How about Possession Limits? How many of you know what they are and follow them? And yeh how about all the trash on the water. This winter alone on a local lake there was trash and empty propane cylinders all over the ice. Wat is the Point? Are people to lazy to pick up there F-ing Trash? COme on People

[goose89]

Mark,

Right on about the decline in Pike coinciding with the stunted sunfish. I'm all for protecting pike in some manner, as the muskies are. Small ones are great pickled.

[iFishMN.YT]

Quite a few post on here of people defending themselves for keeping fish. To most of you, you are not the problem and this post isnt about trying to convince you to stop keeping fish, not at all. As stated several times, were not talking about everybody who keeps fish, there is NOTHING wrong with keeping fish, the point is that this website and most of the anglers on here support selective harvest, and for a very good reason, it helps our fisheries support decent fish, not overrun with dink, stunted fish. Its not our "beliefs" as I have read that we are trying to impose on others, its truth. It is pretty much fact that selective harvest will help our metro lakes sustain the fishing pressure that they get, so its not a matter of belief or opinion.

The more anglers that practice selective harvest, the better our fisheries become, and we will all benifit, even those of you who totally disagree with me benifit from all of us who do practice CPR & selective harvest.

If you dont keep more fish than you eat, stay within the law, and dont keep tons of big fish that are rare in these lakes, then this post is not really targeted at you so dont take offense.

Just my 2c, good fishing!

[Duffman]

Selective harvest is the main reason why I think muskies, bass, and even walleyes hold their own in the metro.

As for pike, crappies and sunnys. That type of harvest cycle is leading to more of this;

[Thunder]

So I've been fishing Lotus Lake a lot the last 4 weeks, and there are TONS of borderline keeper crappies. A couple nights I've managed enough a couple 9" fish to keep for a meal, but typically it's 7-8" fish only, all of which go back down the hole for me. Also, I haven't noticed an overly large number of people fishing this lake. So for this lake, is it that people are taking too many big fish? It seems as though the abundance of 7-8" fish would eventually lead to a large number of 9"+ fish, but it's strange I'm not catching any. Is it overpopulation of fish?

Same holds true for Sunnies in that lake...TONS of small-medium sized, but I don't think I've caught one worth keeping yet (and I've caught MANY out of there).

[goose89]

I've never done it, but am gonna implement it starting now. True Selective Harvest. I've always been "good" about throwing back large fish (crappies over 12", walleyes over 20", ect.) I read recently here on FM a fellow Selective Harvest fisherman say that he kept 6-7" sunnies and 8-9" crappies, INSTEAD of the rarer 10" crappies and 8" sunnies. Sure made sense to me, esp. today. I used to laugh at people keeping all those small fish, in reality if done responsibly, it makes sense. Let's those 9" craps in your lake grow up to 10,11 and then 12"er, when alot of us would throw it away anyways. Same theory as before, with a little adjustment to the "slot." I hope it catches on, and I'm not too embarrassed to bring in a mess of "little ones." lol.

[icefishing21#2]

possesion limits are a good thing to bring up. i mean i no my limits what to take and not to take but some guys that i have personally came incontact with have more fish in there bucket than what is required some of these fisherman have no clue whats going on and some are new to fishind and i have no problem with new people who want to learn the great sport of fishing but but if they are new and have no idea whats going on just inform the people which is the nice thing to do. and for new people its good to learn the rules befor venturing out!

[icefishing21#2]

and also people say that fish populations are declining because people are keeping there limit. i say b.s. to a certain extant if you are a crappie/sunnie fisherman there is plenty of fish. thats why the dnr sets limits so there is no overfishing. and panfish there are tons and tons of sunfish probly most with genes from small fish. and another thing comes into play also, muskies muskies muskies, muskies eat every dam thing they can get awhole of if there are to many preditors in the lake obviously the smaller fish aregoing to decline in size and numbers . and its not just muskies .and people thats how the food chain works.

[icefishing21#2]

alos there is to many sunnnies for any of them to get to be desent size

[Thunder]

 Originally Posted By: goose89

I've never done it, but am gonna implement it starting now. True Selective Harvest. I've always been "good" about throwing back large fish (crappies over 12", walleyes over 20", ect.) I read recently here on FM a fellow Selective Harvest fisherman say that he kept 6-7" sunnies and 8-9" crappies, INSTEAD of the rarer 10" crappies and 8" sunnies. Sure made sense to me, esp. today. I used to laugh at people keeping all those small fish, in reality if done responsibly, it makes sense. Let's those 9" craps in your lake grow up to 10,11 and then 12"er, when alot of us would throw it away anyways. Same theory as before, with a little adjustment to the "slot." I hope it catches on, and I'm not too embarrassed to bring in a mess of "little ones." lol.

Interesting angle, and I've never thought of it that way. Perhaps if I keep the smaller ones and throw the bigger ones back, eventually there will be more larger ones. I know what it takes to feed my wife and I for a meal, so if I take 1-2 more smaller fish rather than larger fish, it might balance out. There certainly seems to be an abundance of 7-8" crappies in that lake, specifically.

[fishcast]

 Originally Posted By: goose89

I hope it catches on, and I'm not too embarrassed to bring in a mess of "little ones." lol.

Great to hear goose89, and I think more people are catching on and hopefully it continues.

Like has been said there is nothing wrong with keeping fish, but if you want bigger fish in your body of water you better be picking from most abundant sizes, not the 1 in 12 fish that reaches what used to be considered "keeper" size. I eat "small" fish and they obviously taste the same, and at the same time it can be helpful to the future of the fish in the lake.

Its also good to hear people mention how important it is to release the large predator fish too cause it not only affects there size but also the size of the panfish, especially in the case of the northern pike.