ottertail lake experiment backfired

[constitution guy]

the dnr raised the size limit of northerns to 30 inch minimum a few years back. they said they were hoping to make it a trophy northern lake. and i'm hoping to turn 16 again some year. hmm, there were pike in there prior to the dnr doing this and guess what, this backfired and i get bit off often in summer now. nice. it gets worse.

then they stocked sturgeon in there "to clean up the bottom". here's what locals have noticed. last summer the 5 to 9 foot flats perch were GONE as were the walleye. oh we got some, about 5% of what we use to get. sturgeon eat crayfish like M&M's and there were no crayfish under the launch light at night when you come in after say 10:00 P.M. very few perch caught have crayfish in their bellies now.

so let's see what we have- huge pike and sturgeon hitting the flats day and night and the perch and walleye are now suspended out in space. good luck finding them in winter. hope you like moving the shack and drilling for oil.

wish they would PLOW the public access or something useful like net the millions of small sunnies and pike out of some of these lakes instead but that is a work. have a cat food company there to buy the nettings to subsidize it if possible.

not pleased with what we have now. EVERYONE i know who fishes otter feels the same way. i know i will get chewed out by some here for my opinion but as my name says, constitution guy has a pair still and when something is wrong, ADULTS still should be able to talk about it.

[hockeybc69]

Are you related to that lakebison guy thats not around anymore???

[tlbigstump]

He must have stepped in a hole, and got a wet foot today. In the summer tie on a smaller sized rapala and troll the flats in 5 to 9 and see how far you get without getting hammered by a perch. They are still there and how about the tournaments, have you checked the weigh in's on those lately. It takes 15 plus lbs to even place, and what depths do you think those bags are taken from, let me help you (same depth). I think it's also nice to have a lake with nice size northerns in it, and not all stunted hammer handles, makes a fun time spearing on it.

[RumRiverRat]

Yep I am sure the Pike have eaten all the perch and walleyes.

The Sturgeon better look out the Pike are coming after them next.

[tlbigstump]

No actually the sturgeon will eat the pike, because they are stealing all the crawdads

[alwaysonthemove]

Really! The only difference that I have noticed in the last 15 years is better quality and more fish. I Think the DNR had done a very good job with the Northern and Sturgeon programs.

[foo]

This thread starter is doing some winter trolling I see. At least I hope he wasn't serious.

[nroff]

there are plenty of walleye there. If your out in 9 feet of water maybe your to deep like previously posted. Maybe you need to change your fishing style because there are plenty of large fish in the lake. In fact, there has been numerous >25" caught this winter from what i have heard.

[FM_Mike]

Sounds like a person that can't catch fish, and is looking to blame anything and every thing

for their inability.

Pike fishing has been excellent and will continue to be. Walleye fishing the past 5 years have been the bet I've seen in 35 years.

If you think the DNR is the problem, I hope they continue to be the problem for years to come.

Mike

[SkunkedAgain]

...but as my name says, constitution guy has a pair still and when something is wrong, ADULTS still should be able to talk about it.

A pair of what? Grown up adults don't typically talk about themselves in the third person. Kind of an infantile ending to a rant. Did ya kick the dog after hitting the 'Submit' button?

[Musky Buck]

I got lost when ottertail lake is featured but yet it was netting out these small pike and sunnies out of area lakes etc. This thread must be trying to steer people away from the big OT. Anyway, I have several relatives that spear/angle Ottertail and they are seeing plenty of walleyes etc. If I have a seasonal beef with a lake I choose to try other lakes and revisit lets say ottertail the next year and if things are happening it'll get more of my attention. Couple friends that guide the big OT for walleyes have thrown back thousands of them over the recent years but they stay dialed in year round pretty much, not what me the average joe can do and they are completely in full command of understanding their electronics unlike I lol.