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Whitefish Chain


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well said spearhead. I guess if people have a problem with catching fish, they should go to mud lake. Most people I encounter are happy to catch anything. not bicker about catching a fish they are not targeting.

the 18lb pike I caught this past year, thru up a 18" pike, so I would have to say they are working on the #'s themselves. so I guess it was actually a 17lb pike after the little one came out...lol

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  • Moses2531

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Would love to see a 24-36" protected slot on the pike. If you think the size structure in the chain is doin just fine you are delusional.

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Would love to see a 24-36" protected slot on the pike. If you think the size structure in the chain is doin just fine you are delusional.

+1

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Delusional? you must be from the cities. you would probably complain in 5 years when those pike are in there upper 20's or low 30's

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I've fished the chain my entire life 32 years. You could go out and troll a floating rapala on upper whitefish and catch 2-5lb pike all day. Now you catch dinks. Don't say fish deeper because that is bull. I have not caught a pike bigger than 3lbs in the past 3 years I bet, and I've probably caught about 100 pike out there. The size of the pike is horrible out there, yes there are big ones to. You don't need to fish deep water to find a 2lb pike.

My report last weekend fished a few hours trolling in the late morning on upper whitefish, just dinks.

Also talked to a guy who was anchored out in front of the old driftwood resort, who said he lost 2 eyes saturday morning to the jaws of a big muskie?? He said he has seen 2 others in the chain as well, in bertha and in clamshell.

I love muskie fishing, and would love the chain to be stocked. Not sure if it would help the pike or not. But something needs to be done to help the pike out there.

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Spearhead,

My only question on that lake survey is the number of pike from 12-19". I put those in and Whitefish had 275 vs the 62 on Leech! That is where you have the problem.

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Predation by Muskies could be the reason for lower numbers of juvenile pike in Leech? But has the presence of Muskies done anything to increase the size of the pike? No, there are just less small pike, if you look at the numbers they're nearly identical on the top end.

I'd much rather spend all day catching and seeing fish and have to weed through a few to keep a couple for the frying pan.

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Oh I don't care so much about Muskies in WFC. I'm just saying that that is the problem where you have way too many 12-19" Pike in there that there is too much competition for the bigger fish so it's hard to actually have much luck with larger fish. And by larger I even mean a 3lb pike.

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Well said JPZ. FF15 nice try, but I actually live up here full time and get out on the chain a lot, would love to see those see those upper 20-to low 30"s fish, wouldn't complain one bit about them. What I will complain about is 12-20" pike whacking every lure you throw or troll whether it be walleye, bass, or pike fishing. It is just a shame that a great chain of lakes has such a snake problem.

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Couldnt agree more with B420! Nice numbers with the leech - whitefish comparison but like its already been said.. its the 12-19 inch snakes that are the problem! You have 88 boats fish a tourny a couple weekends ago and 99% of them come in with 3 snakes baaarrely legal at 20 inches, there's an obvious problem. Same experience as others, no matter what I am fishing, how I am fishing or where I am fishing in the chain its the same 18 inch snake! Muskies would be a great addition to an already exciting fishery.

Absolutely would like to see the 24-36 inch protected slot, for the futures sake, even thou it wouldnt help much considering how rare it is to even get one 25 inches. Again I dont need the lecture on fishing deep or trouble finding the big ones in August, I have put so many hours in early spring and late fall right up to ice with cooler water temps and same results, imagine that. Obvious problem with the Pike size structure! Have fun catching fish, I do too.. just also care about the fishery!

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I've even started catching snakes after dark on WFC. I used to hook up while trolling cranks at night and feel pretty certain it's an 'eye. Now, if it's within an hour and a half after sunset..I still see many snakes. I'd rather catch snakes than nothing, but if drastically reducing their numbers improved walleye fishing, and the overall health of the chain, I'm 100% for it. They're fun, but if they're getting in the way of bigger pike and walleyes...get them out.

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Go age those fish like mnspearingguide has done, it shows that they had a great spawn. but talking to you people is like talking to a brick wall, you get no where.

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Go age those fish like mnspearingguide has done, it shows that they had a great spawn. but talking to you people is like talking to a brick wall, you get no where.

Pot, meet kettle... wink just funnin' ya!... But I agree with the folks who are talking about the snakes, and how it used to be, only handful of years ago. And I consider myself a newbie on WFC, only been fishing it since '94... Good luck.

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I've been fishing the chain steady since the early 70's and have seen a few cycles like the lakers now being much smaller and a steadily declining population of eater walleyes.

there are a good pop of large walleyes in the chain but are found deep except at night.

The pike that are 18-24 inches are going to decimate the young of the year and small walleyes. The perch forage is good but only accounts for a certain percentage of the base as do sunnies and crappies and ciscos and suckers.

after the gator fest that I already experienced twice this year I hope everyone starts keeping limits of northerns. there are not enough large northerns in the chain to keep in check the smaller eatable size northerns, especially given the whitefish base for large preditors. the big northerns I have taken (over 32") have all come on leadcore or the riggers when I am chasing eyes and whitefish.

remember that the chain has a strong night bite well after the lake settles down from all the big powerboats.

has anyone seen the stocking data from this year yet?

good luck and see ya on the chain.

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Fishgutz, well said, I know there is a ton of little snakes out there, however, we can't control the spawning without the help of the dnr. We have had 3 great years of the spawning, witht he fish bioligist I guided this year, has opened my eyes, I thought there were stunted pike like most people, but after I found out how to age the fish, I was really surprised to see the age class of the last 3 years account for the pike under 27". I don't know what the answer is for this, but am guessing that its a cycle like everything else. I have another well knowledged trip booked for this winter from Michigan, Hoping to learn a little more about all this puzzle. He is actually quite knowlegable on muskies. they allow one muskie harvested a year in michigan. doean't matter if its by line, open water, thru the ice, or by spear, once you register your fish, you are done fishing for them for the year. they do have a minimum size, not sure what that is off the top of my head. I like to know the most facts possible before throwing opinions out. Unfortunately our own dnr is scared to an extend of making a group(s) of people upset, so they try to please everyone instead of the best interest of the fish.(most of the time). lets all get some facts to battle this if it appears to be a problem. right now it seems to be a excellent couple year class's of pike. lets enjoy them, harvest them. and do what we can right now. best of all, have fun doing it, take a kid.

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Been fishing the Chain since the mid 60's and I have never seen more lil snot rockets then now. Drives me nuts.

The eagles love them though. wink

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What's with the terrible stigma surrounding rock bas?!?!? : ) I love to take my kids over to Big Trout and catch them for hours on the South side in the shallower sandy areas. Oh, dangit! I just gave away my rock bass hot spot. lol.

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I don't think this pike problem is just in the last few years. This has been an ongoing statewidwe issue that the MN DNR has been talking about for years. I am on the Chain for the last week and i have fished shallow and deep. The biggest pike i caught was 24 inches. I have caught many between 12 an 18 inches. I think the best source for what is going on would be the Brainerd DNR office. My problem with the DNR is that they know there is a problem with the pike on Whitefish and they did nothing. Maybe there was not support for a slot limit on pike but they did'nt even make an attempt. I think it is pretty apparent from most anglers observations that there is a problem. Unfortunatly there is no more slots for pike until the year 2020 because of legislation passed 2 years ago.

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Good point with the Rock Bass.. Over half the kids in the family are hooked on fishing due to all the readily biting Rockies in WFC! I dont have a problem with them, they just tend to pound my rigs, at times I cant seem to get away from them! Haha!

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Upper WF does not seem to have as many Rock Bass. Down by Folyes is a different story however. On another topic though be alert when boating the chain now. We can see the whole of Delta Bay from our cabin and for the last week logs, bog pieces and whole trees have been coming downriver into the lake. Add to that dock sections and boards and its a bad situation. Also give everyone a break, watch your wake during this time of such high water. Take a little more time to be safe, the fish will wait.

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Re: the rockies, was on Trout last year, and just using bro-in-laws crappy cheapo rods, and was catching rock bass like crazy. Even more than the usual sunnie fest on many lakes. I could believe how many rock bass were over there. Just on North side in the shallow area anchored up and swimming around. Kids had a blast!

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Ugh please catch all of them u can.. keep them all they are great eating wink i live on trout would do anything to get those pests out of there. and my 2¢ is that id love muskies in the chain but am scared of what they would do to the trout population. not worth the risk.

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And to ozzie: i can guarantee the dnr has no way of proving how may fish could naturally reproduce in the river if they were allowed. they estimate numbers based on average statistics of other systems. the bottom line is they need somewhere to get the eggs to stock other bodies of water and the WFC is the place they decided to rob... (in my opinion). Not the first time the dnr has mismanaged wildlife in our area.... (fact).

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Getting back to fishing, I do a lot of night fishing out on the chain. I have found success anchoring on a few humps on whitefish and I'm able to pick off a few here and there. The humps I have anchored on are usually shallower like 10-15 feet and the fish are usually 12-16 inchers which are great for the pan. What about the bigger fish? All my bigger fish come trolling the weed lines at night. Just wondering if any of you have bobbered up on deeper humps and have found larger fish?

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Im not too sure how much more successful walleye could spawn naturally in the Pine as compared to the other bodies of water where the success rate is dramatically decreased in the natural setting. I agree the netting stresses the fish out maybe slightly more than uninterrupted spawning might which puts the bite back a couple weeks but as far as the total fry produced each year I think the DNR puts back more than would naturally grow to that size. Unless they are just claiming they put some back! haha! All those praire pothole lakes down south need our Whitefish Strain 'eyes too I guess!! smile

As far as the Rock bass numbers, I agree its crazy I feel like I can get a mess of Rockies over sunnies even alot of the times!

Finally, whitefishchainfisher.. I dont know how much Muskies could/would effect the trout, with the abundance of Whitefish and other forage I dont really see them making the effort to go track down the Lakers down deep in Big Trout? Do you think they would?? I see them more patrolling the deep weedlines going crazy on the little snakes in the other 13 lakes! smile Ofcourse thats in my own little perfect world maybe! haha! Plus thats a stocked fishery anyway, could always put more Lakers in if they think its necessary

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Ha yea just scares me as its a favorite past time of mine in the winter months. know the northerns that have been put in some of the mine puts sure become pigs feasting on the trout. Have heard of muskeis being caught in palegic patterns as well so trout could be a food source. obviously im no expert. just feel like some sort of change needs to be done for the walleye fishery ... A lotta structure, a lotta food, and a little catch rate. And yes i like to slip robber the humps out there at night as well for eaters but cranks on the edges produces bigger fish... here and there but there's always a chance.

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whitefishchain - do you typically fish up near the top of the humps, or off the side a bit?

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I just read an article in the Brainerd Dispactch about the WFC and walleyes. Here's a clip that I found interesting

“When Mike (assistant area fisheries supervisor Mike Knapp) wrote a study in ‘06, there was an estimate of 24,000 adult walleyes in the Whitefish Chain. It was the first version of this study that’s continuing now. And that’s just adult fish — 15 inches and above. Just adult spawners that are running,” Bacigalupi said.

Is it just me, or does 24,000 adult walleyes seem really low. I would have guessed 10s of thousands, or hundred of thousands at minimum. Maybe that's a normal number, just a lot lower than what I would have thought with my uneducated guess.

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I know when the DNR officer told me that number 2 or 3 years ago I thought that sounded low for the amount of water that is out there but I am not a fish biologist and I don't catch too many walleyes out there so....

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
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