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Too much pressure!?!


InTheSchool

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I like your last sentence,there are those who love a certain lake and will fish it no matter what. There are others who will catch and keep all they can from certain lakes and than move on.

You see that a lot of winter crappie lakes where hords of people move onto a lake and fish it everyday,lake gets fished down,that crowd will disappear and may never come back.

Not sure what you are implying to me. But I to have lakes that I fish no matter what. They are all within 10-30 minutes from where I live. As far as URL goes...I have made 1 trip up the past 3 winters and it wasn't to take a bunch of fish home with me. It was for the experience of catching them. So...no I won't make a 6 hour drive once a year to catch 1 or 2 fish, but I will to catch 20-30.

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Quote:
In the last 3 years I have made about 10 trips a year and have seen the DNR 12 time. One trip we saw them 4 different time.

You must look suspicious. gringrin

The CO’s now need permission to enter a fish house even if they suspect illegal activity. There are fishermen that will not allow CO’s into their houses. With our rentals one of the “House rules” was “The CO’s are always welcome in this house”. The CO’s also knew that if anyone in one of our houses ever refused them entry the CO’s were to contact us immediately. In the rental business the future business in the years ahead depends on a healthy fishery in the lake.

An interesting sidelight is that the Band has a lot of CO’s compared to the number if fishermen. If you go fishing you can almost plan on being checked. Looking through the Technical Committee reports I noticed that for the 2014 open water season they only had a total of 3, THREE!, citations issued.

Crestliner61, we will always look at URL differently. For you it is a lake to fish, for me it is “home”. Even after the crash when walleye fishing was closed I didn’t go fish other lakes. I had been part of the problem that caused the Red Lakes to crash. I felt that I should live with the results of my past actions. I have never ice fished any other lake then URL. Only twice in my life have I open water fished a lake other then URl. URL is my “home”, it is a part of me and this community so I will always care about it more then the people that fish it once in a while.

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Just saying some people cherish certain lakes and others it is just a lake with a name to catch fish and move to the next lake once fishing success drops off.

That is just the way it is now with the mobility of many fishermen.

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I've fished the lake now for the past years through kelly/Patsy, and now Beacon Harbor. was checked once nin the creel census, i have never had the pleasure of a visit from a CO. Always happ to have them stop buy a,d sharesome info, it just hasn't happened. Must be my honest face, or else they know I can't catch fish with a short spool of line......got plenty of reserve this year..... cool

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This message is for Cookie ! First off i have never met you . From reading this and other forums I see that you are very dedicated to your paying customers , and you are a very , very hard working man , who loves your life and seems to love your working livelihood , and the great Upper Red Lake.

Sometimes I think that gets in the way of doing the right thing when it comes to one of your paying customers. By this i mean when back a few weeks ago you stated that one of your customers , who was fishing alone in one your houses had four lines in the water at one time , and you stated that it was '' bad juju '' . We'll be it bad juju or not ,you should have called the TIP LINE and had this game hog busted for doing such. This type of thing goes on way too much , along with other game laws that are being broken by other game hogs on upper red lake and other lakes in our state.. Our CO's can't be every where at all times ,and it's up to us fellow fishermen to take control and do what we can to help save this Great Lake.

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hey Bigfatbert thanks for the constructive critasisem. Thinking about it I very well could of turned him in. I can tell you I made him feel like [PoorWordUsage] and made a very snide comment. The last thing I want is any kind of poaching going on in my houses. The co's stop at my houses and I have no problem with that. I can also tell you I did not offer to move him and gave him no other fishing options if I remember write.

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I'm late to the party on this whole issue, but most of it reminds me of the struggles that have, and continue to take place at Mille Lacs. One of the most confusing and confounding issues over the last decade at Mille Lacs has been hooking mortality. However, it is a legitimate concern, and one that is a part of the overall puzzle of management.

One of the interesting parallels in this thread is talking, or not, to the creel census folks, and making sense of the information they gather.

Be advised of two things, you are not under any obligation to speak to them, but if you choose to do so BE HONEST. I see countless numbers thrown out that may suggest some folks are exaggerating their catch numbers (imagine that). Why is it ALWAYS 40, 0r 50, or 80 ?? never 33, 46, or 74. All those monster "CPR" numbers go into the pot, and become part of the number crunching. Particularly hooking mortality.

So just saying folks, you are going down a dangerous path when you brag about your catch, and chest thump about pulling up the lines in the middle of the night to get some sleep.

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We may be better off going to 2-3 during certain times of the year and 3-4 during other times of the year. One of the things I like about wheelhouses is they are built right here in the good old USA and most are built in Minnesota. The sport and growing winter camping opportunities have been a blast for all of us that get to participate in this outdoor recreation. What do you guys think of going to

2-3 Fish November-January 15th. 3-4 Fish January 15th-Febuary 28th

2-3 Fish May-June 15th. 3-4 Fish June 15th-October 31st

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Bigfatbert, if the guy with 4 lines down is not keeping any of the fish, what is the difference of you using 2 lines and releasing all your fish? Yes it is illegal but as every one states catch and release does not hurt the fishery. I think hooking mortality of the 50-60-80 fish days is doing just about as much damage as the fish taken home, especially the rattle reel fish caught at night while sleeping. I have to believe that most of these fish are gut hooked, and unless the line is cut and the hook left to dissolve that fish is more than likely going to die. just my 2 cents worth!

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What do you guys think of going to

2-3 Fish November-January 15th. 3-4 Fish January 15th-Febuary 28th

2-3 Fish May-June 15th. 3-4 Fish June 15th-October 31st

Okay by me....

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I'm late to the party on this whole issue, but most of it reminds me of the struggles that have, and continue to take place at Mille Lacs. One of the most confusing and confounding issues over the last decade at Mille Lacs has been hooking mortality. However, it is a legitimate concern, and one that is a part of the overall puzzle of management.

One of the interesting parallels in this thread is talking, or not, to the creel census folks, and making sense of the information they gather.

Be advised of two things, you are not under any obligation to speak to them, but if you choose to do so BE HONEST. I see countless numbers thrown out that may suggest some folks are exaggerating their catch numbers (imagine that). Why is it ALWAYS 40, 0r 50, or 80 ?? never 33, 46, or 74. All those monster "CPR" numbers go into the pot, and become part of the number crunching. Particularly hooking mortality.

So just saying folks, you are going down a dangerous path when you brag about your catch, and chest thump about pulling up the lines in the middle of the night to get some sleep.

Go barbless mid summer and mortality rates would drop bigtime.

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The mortality rate is figured in the cenus equation. None of our walleye come from any thing deeper then 15 feet and that's pushing it. I have never found a dead walleye on my beach. We have found a big pike or two. I also saw a eagle fly over one day with a crappie in its talons. I have seen a few dead walleye floating in the river after opener. I'm sure birds get most of the dead fish before they hit the shoreline Maybe? Or the pike scavage them off the bottom?

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You cannot operate under the assumption that mortality only occurs as a direct result of fish being pulled from deep water. Unfortunately The DNR does not make that assumption, and they recognize, correctly, that there are plenty of ways to damage a fish other than swim bladder damage.

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I'majigger, I totally agree with you on hooking mortality, as catching these large amounts of fish day in and day out has to be taking its toll on Red lake or any other lake , be it winter or summer fishing.

I also believe that the allowing of eating fish while on the lake was/is a mistake. This opens the door for illegal activity , big time.

I also believe that the use of rattle reels should be allowed , but not while people are sleeping. What's the difference between that and having unattended lines. It's impossible to attend any lines while your asleep , is it not ?

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Bigfatbert: Not sure your scenario on rattle reels would be enforceable. If folks have them down, and they're sleeping, and the CO comes and bangs on the door, someone conceivably needs to get up and respond, and they may or may not allow them entrance. But now they're "awake". This all comes under the heading of doing the right thing, and being a conservationist, and taking care of the resource.

Agree 100%, eating fish on the ice is a huge mistake, ridiculous.

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What is the difference if you eat them on the ice or take them to shore to eat them. Still getting eaten and still fishing after fish are eaten.

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Let's say you fished and caught your 3 fish limit . And then while on the ice , or going on to the shore , or to a resort that frys them up for you , (and they all do a great job ,for a reasonable price) that's your daily and your possesion limit of fish , correct ? Well at this point you cannot keep any more fish , correct. What I'm getting at is that once they are eaten they are gone , and then this opens the door for game hogs to believe that they can take another 3 fish, and that would be their limit then,and no one will know what has just happened.And these illegal activities are all just another piece to the over harvest of Red lake Walleyes .

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I'm not so sure the wheelhouse brigade would go to shore to eat their fish, hard to say. Your argument is certainly valid, but in my view it's simply another aspect of the overall problem of MANAGING the resource. I guess at the end of the day it's no different than the guy who lives on the lake and goes out and catches a limit, comes in, cleans them, cooks them, eats them, and goes out for another limit. It's just strikes me as a sort of double dipping,legal though it may be.

Then there are those few slobs who insist on throwing all the entrails etc. onto the ice. Not so bad this year, no snowbanks to bury it, but it happens.

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its not double dipping if no fish are kept until the next day, as long as your possession limit is now under the possession of that species.

when we were up a couple o weeks ago, using a rattlin flyer, pounded it off the bottom and when it was pulled up there was a piece of fish intestines on the hook. ya think maybe there was a gut pile down there???.. this was a rental house

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Don't believe you could construe this as double dipping if a legal limit is consumed, wherever, and the next day you catch another limit...which right now is 2 walleye on Red not 3. You could not legally possess another limit until 1201a.

As far as consumption on the lake I agree with this being a mistake. Two weeks ago one of our guys was bangin a Rattlin Flyer off the bottom. He pulled it up because it didn't feel right. There was a piece of fish entrails hangin on the hook. Think there was a gut pile down there ????? frown. This was in a rental

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Tripping, and dipping, and gut pile ripping. Overall it's a long term recipe for disaster. What Bill's group encountered is just a small needle in a very large haystack of management challenges. Some people simply do not care, and long term, the resource will suffer from every selfish act that takes place out there. The slobs move on, leaving whomever to clean up the garbage of their trip...

This is why the "tree huggers" have such an easy job finger pointing at "sportsmen"

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It kind of drives me nuts that there is a attitude by a lot of people that everyone that pulls a wheel house is out to pillage/rape on a lake. The vast majority aren’t being irresponsible.

My wife and I went up the end of November this year and we brought 6 fish home and had a meal of 2 while on the ice. We caught a lot of fish the 2 ½ days we were there.

You want to blame individuals? I can suggest some for you.

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Not sure anyone was singling out wheelhouse owners for anything, I simply alluded to the fact that they most likely would not go ashore to eat their fish, nothing wrong with that, nor would I. and Bill pointed out the guts were under a rental. Unless it was back in the thread, nobody blames you for anything.

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If I remember right the law past to be able to eat fish on the ice because when red opened for walleyes by the member of the MN senate from the area up there. He introduced the bill and it was supported by the resort owners because of the 2 fish limit at that time. Fast forward a few years now everyone wants it repealed. I love the fact that we can have a big fish fry when we go up to red for the weekend. Around Christmas every year it is 8-10 guys in 3-4 wheelhouses. Don't get me wrong, if we where not able to have it on the ice we would go to JR's or another resort and have our fry there. But when it my wife and kids, there is no way I would take young kids there to have a fish fry. It's part of the experience of taking a long trip and I would hate to have that taken away.

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I'm not so sure the wheelhouse brigade would go to shore to eat their fish, hard to say.

Maybe this statement wasn't meant to suggest all wheel house owners are eating a bunch of fish on the lake, but it reads that way.

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I have been going to upper red lake now for a few years with 4 of my buddys we rent a sleeper shack for 3 days and we kind of always thought our limit was this year anyway 3 fish per guy per day. we did eat fish on the lake but i can tell you this we didn't even come close to eating 15 walleyes a day and we did not have more than 14 walleyes in our possession at any time, even though it would have been real easy to go over our limit but that is not why we go, we go for the fun not the eats and I think most groups that go up there share the same feelings.I hope to take my kids up there and show them what a grand lake red lake is and not drive by there and say that used to be some of the greatest walleye fishing you could ever imagian so me and my buddys are in for what ever rules have to be done to keep it this way

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I want to say I seen on this forum somewhere that around 2000 wheelhouses, shacks, portables or whatever else were counted on a single day on red and maybe I misread that number but ifthat was correct just imagine if just 1% of the 2000 overfished or double dipped. Say there were 2 people per shack on average so 1% of 2000 is 20 shacks X 2 per shack for 40 people total and those 40 people double dipped with a meal and another limit. Even based on the current 2 fish limit that's 80 fish overharvested on a single day... now go back a few weeks to the 3 fish limit that's 120 fish overharvested on a single day. Now multiply that by days weeks months = SCARY. I realize that there are not going to be 2000 shacks on the lake every single day but its just an example of how only 1% of sportsmen can ruin a fishery for everyone. Just because its not against the law and you are "entitled" to it doesn't mean its right. Eating a meal of fish on the ice opens the door for the 1%...don't be in the minority. Consuming fish on the ice is a bad idea imo.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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