New Regs?

[thatoneguy]

Quote:

Are you suggesting that hooking mortality of larger fish is causing a depletion of smaller fish?

That's not what he's saying (I think) but it's probably part of the equation. Hooking mortality of larger fish = fewer spawners = fewer fry = adding to the recruitment problems. At least in theory.

[Kyhl]

Are you suggesting that hooking mortality of larger fish is causing a depletion of smaller fish?

[CaptainMusky]

The mortality of the larger fish has an indirect relationship to the mortality of the 14 to 18 inch fish. How so? Since you can only keep the smaller fish obviously that is what most people are targeting. They filter through the 22 to 26 inchers hoping for a "legal" fish. A legal fish dies because its kept. A portion of the 22 to 26 fish die due to mortality.

If the "slots" targeted larger fish the mortality of the small fish (majority of them being kept) would dramatically decline. My feeling is the mortality of the larger fish would decline as well because people wouldnt be sorting through 22 to 26 inchers to find the legal fish and quit fishing with their 1 or 2 fish (whatever the limit would be).

Concerns about hitting the harvest quota so fast are valid though, but IMO the mortality number should be dramatically reduced in a scenario like this.

[Bandersnatch]

Is he really going to argue that dead 22-26" walleyes are causing there to be no 14-18 size fish? Sheesh.

Do people even read what they are typing?

To save you re-reading my original post, and maybe not understanding what I posted all over again.

Over and above the hooking mortality, and the wasted fish that the slot causes in than manner, The Slot targets the same size fish as the Nets do.

What does that mean? ( I don't want you to be further confused so I'll answer that for you)

A) That means that most of the pressure has historically been on the 14-18 inch Walleye in the lake since The Slot was adopted.

and

That about a third of the Allowable Safe Harvest has been wasted year after year by throwing dead and dying fish back into the lake to rot.

[Red Miller]

Bandersnatch, Thank you for spelling it out for the some who cant or refuse to understand. Its not rocket science.

[eyechoholic]

Just two years ago it was anything up to 20" which the mistake in that is no minimum. They should have atleast had a 14" minimum because plenty of people just want to get a limit and would keep 12" to 14" to do so. The entire state is 6 fish with one over twenty their should be a minimum there to. But I think now mille lacs should adopt a 14" to 20" slot you can keep one and you can keep one over twenty with a two fish limit total. And put a ban on lead core trolling its not fishing anyways its driving around snagging to me kind of boring.

[Kyhl]

Over and above the hooking mortality, and the wasted fish that the slot causes in than manner, The Slot targets the same size fish as the Nets do.

What does that mean? ( I don't want you to be further confused so I'll answer that for you)

A) That means that most of the pressure has historically been on the 14-18 inch Walleye in the lake since The Slot was adopted.

and

That about a third of the Allowable Safe Harvest has been wasted year after year by throwing dead and dying fish back into the lake to rot.

A.) I guess you guys are better at this than me. I catch 24's in the same place as 14-18, if I see a 14-18 at all. I'm glad that others are able to target just the 14-18" fish while successfully avoiding the larger ones. I'd like to know your secret.

B.) That is sad. I agree. I feel sad every time I see a floater. It is a waste.

[CaptainMusky]

A.) I guess you guys are better at this than me. I catch 24's in the same place as 14-18, if I see a 14-18 at all. I'm glad that others are able to target just the 14-18" fish while successfully avoiding the larger ones. I'd like to know your secret.

B.) That is sad. I agree. I feel sad every time I see a floater. It is a waste.

Kyhl wouldnt you agree that pretty much every "legal" walleye that is caught out there is kept? I do, since they are few and far between. I dont believe he insinuated that the larger ones were avoided, but those fish are released and many do survive. I would guess that vast majority of legal fish are not released however.

[Bandersnatch]

A.) I guess you guys are better at this than me. I catch 24's in the same place as 14-18, if I see a 14-18 at all. I'm glad that others are able to target just the 14-18" fish while successfully avoiding the larger ones. I'd like to know your secret.

B.) That is sad. I agree. I feel sad every time I see a floater. It is a waste.

How much float fishing do you do Kyhl?

The Ol Man and I had been on flat edges , where it was all day 8" 10" 12" dinks with the occasional 24" 26".

In the past float fishing day time caught a lot of small fish.

[Kyhl]

Kyhl wouldnt you agree that pretty much every "legal" walleye that is caught out there is kept? I do, since they are few and far between. I dont believe he insinuated that the larger ones were avoided, but those fish are released and many do survive. I would guess that vast majority of legal fish are not released however.

Yes. I agree that there is probably a 99% mortality rate of the legal fish, and this leads to a narrow target size to be whiped out.

In my thinking, part of there being few fish in the 19-20" window was also caused by the slow action to narrow the slot or the limit. Last year and the year before there weren't any 17-18" fish that would grow into the "keeper" size. And there also were very few 15-16 to grow into the 17-18 size. And there weren't many 13-14.... You get the idea. Where do you suppose they went?

I'd also like to point out that it takes someone to make the choice to keep the fish to make it a 99% mortalitly rate in that keeper size.

Which is worse? The 99% mortality rate over 2" or 80% mortality rate over a 4" range. And who knows what the exact numbers are. It would be nice if the DNR published them. It might be 90% over a 4" range. I doubt it is less than 50%.

Which I'd like to point out is still 2.5 times worse than the highest point of C&R.

[Kyhl]

How much float fishing do you do Kyhl?

The Ol Man and I had been on flat edges , where it was all day 8" 10" 12" dinks with the occasional 24" 26".

In the past float fishing day time caught a lot of small fish.

I'd call that great news. I saw very few.

And I don't do much bobber fishing. Maybe a little in the spring but I put the bobbers away after memorial day.

[CaptainMusky]

In my thinking, part of there being few fish in the 19-20" window was also caused by the slow action to narrow the slot or the limit. Last year and the year before there weren't any 17-18" fish that would grow into the "keeper" size. And there also were very few 15-16 to grow into the 17-18 size. And there weren't many 13-14.... You get the idea. Where do you suppose they went?

I agree I feel that was a major contributor as well. I think most of us can agree it wasnt any one thing in particular that caused the problem so it will likely take multiple changes to reverse the trend we see right now.

[gregg52]

theres is no slots on nets

does the hooking kill fish

yes it does circle or no circle hooks

people bounce the fish around in the boat for 5 mins trying to un-hook it then throw it back and yes it gets worse as the water warms and the fish come out of that deeper water

the fishing was the best when it was one over 20 before the nets

i'm not blaming the dnr they were more or less forced into action which i'm sure the didnt like either cuz no matter what they did some were going to say its wrong

although targeting those same fish year after year i think might have been a mistake

i kinda see the same thing going on up on winnie over 10yrs at the same slot

and now its getting hard to get the smaller eatin fish

I hope they change it

I've said many time here ...dont fool with mother nature

man ruined a marvel of nature ....no 2 ways about it

[maxpower17]

Quote:

i'm not blaming the dnr they were more or less forced into action which i'm sure the didnt like either cuz no matter what they did some were going to say its wrong

I'm not sure exactly what action you are referring to. The slots that were implemented were advised against by people that know the lake.

Regardless of what people think, they just need to move on and admit what they did was wrong. That's the only way you can make it work again.

Slots ruined the lake.

[gregg52]

I'm not sure exactly what action you are referring to. The slots that were implemented were advised against by people that know the lake.

Regardless of what people think, they just need to move on and admit what they did was wrong. That's the only way you can make it work again.

Slots ruined the lake.

as i said everybody knows more than the DNR....lol

[kgpcr4]

Then how did we do so well for so many years with slot limits? In 92 we had slot limits and the lake was on fire. It has had MANY great years since then.

[Gordie]

Then how did we do so well for so many years with slot limits? In 92 we had slot limits and the lake was on fire. It has had MANY great years since then.

The lake has finally been bled out of the same size walleyes that everyone is chasing.

[fish_hunt_guy]

The lake has finally been bled out of the same size walleyes that everyone is chasing.

[river rat316]

The lake has finally been bled out of the same size walleyes that everyone is chasing.

+1000

[desert_bulls]

Just curious, when did the netting begin?