Vermilion Slot Limit?

[Casey Sunsdahl]

The fish are there, maybe not where you used to catch them however they are there to catch.

[trolloni]

Capt H try a trip in fall ,last week of sept . or first couple of weeks in october ,it is absolutly beautiful the fall colors !try a little float plain ride a whole new angle and just as pretty !youre right its not all about fishing but it sure is hard to come off the lake when have this nice of scenery!

[jonesen]

I think they (DNR)should put a bottom end on the slot (say 13" & under go back) then increase the upper end to 18 or 19 OR maybe one in possesion over 17. Just my opinion based on what I have observed over the last few years.

[JerkinLips]

jonesen - I agree with you completely. 14 inch minimum and one fish allowed 17-22". All walleyes over 22" should be released.

[Uncle Boney]

Keeping one fish in the 17-20" range would sure make me more excited about coming up again for my annual 2 weeks. I have a hard time fileting a 15"er or less. I have a hard time with a 20" plus, too. Too hard to find enough 16"ers to feed the family a fish fry. Just one 18-20" fish would do wonders and we've been catching a ton of them that size.

Just my 2cents; not going to change the DNR's mind by any means.

[delcecchi]

Keeping one fish in the 17-20" range would sure make me more excited about coming up again for my annual 2 weeks. I have a hard time fileting a 15"er or less. I have a hard time with a 20" plus, too. Too hard to find enough 16"ers to feed the family a fish fry. Just one 18-20" fish would do wonders and we've been catching a ton of them that size.

Just my 2cents; not going to change the DNR's mind by any means.

The issue is keeping the harvest at sustainable level. One in the slot would up the harvest considerably.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Del,

You are right about the sustainable level of harvest.

Our Guides League had a meeting with Duane Williams, DNR, last week and he indicated that there will be no change in the slot anytime soon. Mostly because the sustainable harvest is already above what they want to see and also because the slot was implemented on a 10 year plan. They have no desire to change that plan at this time.

Cliff

[Casey Sunsdahl]

Duane Williams.. he is the large lake specialist for Lake Vermilion for those of you that are curious.

All of you that live on the lake in the summer.. it may help to tell your neighbors to stop keeping and bringing home coolers full of fillets.. I know there is alot of this going on and it is a serious NO NO..

Under 13" wouldn't be a bad idea in theory but I belive it has been proven that it has little effect on the number of fish that make it to the next year? Not sure on this?

[DaveSorensen]

Casey you hit it right on the head. I know people want to eat fish and bring back fish and that's okay but the rules are possession and someone who has waleye's in their freezer at home and then keep another limit are definetly disobeying the law. I think with the advent of GPS and lake chips along with sophisticated electronics the poor fisherman has become average, the average has become good and the good fisherman have become excellent all able to catch a lot of fish. The last piece I would add is to look at the year class of fish and it is different on both ends of the lake as far as how good the survivability has been. All of the complaints two years ago about 10 inch fish, was because of a strong year class it was unbelievable how many people complained about not being able to catch anything abouve 10 inch fish, well this year there should be a lot of 15-16 inche fish being caught. Last year was a strange year, early ice out and people fish their memories of where the fish are supposed to be at that time of year, the fish weren't there but people kept fishing there anyways. I think this year will be a very good year based upon the data and year classes of fish, but if we get goofy weather again don't keep trying the same thing. Last year a lot of people told me they were hammering fish in 6 feet of water, yet most people were fishing in 24 feet because that was where the fish were "supposed" to be, funny thing was no one told the fish that. I guess my yammering on here is really to say follow the rules and try something different if you're not getting fish where they are "supposed" to be. The slot limit is a tool to help manage the lake and my own opinion is that I think it's working but what really works is Mother Nature herself in getting a good year class of fish, nothing will be able to replace that.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Thanks for the correction Casey!

Cliff