Lake Preston and Allie

[shawn1982]

Has anyone fished preston this year? I heard of a few ppl going out there this year but the water was really clear. Just wondering if its worth the time to fish with the winter kill last year. Also havent heard much about allie this year. Maybe ppl are keeping quite because of what happened last year at Preston and whats going to happen to Star after this year! Smart thinking on your part! I think i will take a drive out that way later today!

[usmtsrocks]

What's gonna happen to Star? The other post says it looks like a city out there? Havent been there for almost a month...thought about bringing the house, but not if its a circus?

[My_Key]

Let's put it this way.

Guy A goes fishing at Hotbite Lake by chance. He slaughters the walleye taking his limit of fish 14-18 inches long. Next day, Guy A tells Guys B & C. The 3 of them limit out that night. Those 3 can't keep a secret, they have to brag and show what great fisherman they are. So they tell a couple other friends, who limit out, tell a couple other guys, who limit out. All the while, Guys A, B and C have been taking limits with more friends. What happens? Pretty soon, the lake just doesn't have the same resources it once had, bacause heavy fishing pressure heavily reduces the lake's population. Then the lake is the dead sea for 3-4 years until the small fish have grown to acceptable size, and it will happen all over again. And what's even worse, if a lake counts on the mature adults spawning to produce the population, it will take even longer, because those fish they kept never reached that stage of their life before they were taken from the lake.

Now by no means am I saying that the eyes are biting on Star, I still to this day have not fished the lake.

[aanderud]

How may of the put and take lakes around hutchinson have spawning habitat for walleyes? I will guarantee you that the walleyes that were put into star or any other lake around there were stocked, and the reason they were stocked is so they could be eaten. You don't want people to eat 14-18 inch walleyes? What size would you like them to be before they're eaten? Seems to me like 18 inchers are the best size to eat. The DNR must agree, since they use 18 inches as an upper limit on slot limit lakes quite a bit.

[Avid Angler]

I agree with this post. If the DNR is stocking these lakes with our license dollars, we should not feel bad about keeping walleyes to eat. Just don't abuse the lake and stuff the freezer full.

I think we should do more to protect crappies and sunfish during spawning. These fish need to spawn in order to sustain a fishery. They very rarely get stocked.

Avid

[Brownton]

Thats what happened at Lake Marion this year.

[workin4bait]

How may of the put and take lakes around hutchinson have spawning habitat for walleyes? I will guarantee you that the walleyes that were put into star or any other lake around there were stocked, and the reason they were stocked is so they could be eaten. You don't want people to eat 14-18 inch walleyes? What size would you like them to be before they're eaten? Seems to me like 18 inchers are the best size to eat. The DNR must agree, since they use 18 inches as an upper limit on slot limit lakes quite a bit.

I have to agree too disagree to some extent.

If you check the D.N.R.s lakefinder website you might be surprized[as I was] to find some of the lakes in this area will at times pull off very good natural hatches,[one such lake near me 60% of the walleyes in the nets were from non-stocked years] just my two cents.

[shawn1982]

aanderud....I think 14 to 18 inch walleyes are great to eat. Thats a perfect size and people should keep them to eat. And yea the DNR do stock walleye in our lakes for people to catch and keep. Now since your so smart how many 14 to 18 inch walleyes were caught and kept by anglers on lake Preston last year?? NONE! Cause they were all 10 to 11 inches! My point is this...The fish in the lakes around here get to a size where yes you can clean them but they should go back for 1 or 2 more years so that they are WORTH cleaning. I know that the 100 houses out on Belle lake right now arent there to catch and release all them 8 inch crappies. In 5 years you will be down to cleaning 6 inch crappies... Oh and hey dont forget about the cheek meat, I heard they almost have some!!!

[My_Key]

I guess now that I read what I wrote, it sounds like I meant they shouldn't keep that size. I said keeping those fish, because that is the size that I DO keep. What I was getting at, is that people fill the freezer. I'm not saying everyone, but too many people are out there catching limit after limit.

You're right, the DNR does stock these lakes for our enjoyment, but as a previous post state, the walleye do spawn, and there is survival of their spawn. How does the saying go? Nature finds a way. So if people used some discretion, the fishery would be even better.

Shawn, I agree 100% with what you are saying. I should have said 12" walleyes in my last post. I've tossed back plenty of 12's already this winter hoping they make it another year or two. I know a guy that went to Preston quite a few times last year, he always bragged about the eyes he caught, but oddly, he never had photos. I went there once, 1 hour of fishing, probably 12-15 fish, none bigger than 10". What was worse, is I saw about 6 walleyes that were 8" frozen in the snow.