new regulations are bad

[FishdogCo]

I am very new here yet this is the same issues that I see all over the US. I have had the pleasure to fish many places, including a recent trip to Hawaii.

For my wife and I, it is not about being able to catch and keep fish, or what size, or how many, it is all about being able to spend time with her doing what we love. If our trusted bioloigists are saying that for the health of this fantastic fishery, impliment this slot limit, I am not going to question it one bit. 20 years from now, I want my grandkids to be able to experience the same fishery that we enjoy now.

I live in a state where very few slot limits are in place. Most regs are minimum size limits. Having fished in other states that have slots in place, I can attest that the quality of fish have been superior to areas where the slots have not been in place. I respect that one wishes to keep a few more fish for the table, but even with reduced creel limits in place, does it actually distract from the pleasure of enjoying that art of fishing? These trips to these remote areas (for me anyways, I know some of you are lucky enough to live there) are a special treat for us.

Mark

Team Fishdog

[MasterClear]

The new regulations are the result of a DNR recommendation and meetings held with public input. With the variety of fishing available in the area and the opportunity to help the fishery continue to improve I totally support the new regulations. And like complaining about our politicans, if you didn't vote, or in this case make your feelings known to the DNR, you don't have a right to complain. Our family will enjoy catching a meal now and again knowing this great area will be there for our grandchildren to continue one of the great Minnesota traditions.

[guts]

ODL, good to hear from you, the water is coming up, I expect low water for opener, but it has been lots worse in previous years. A nice thing to consider on the plus side, the walleye spawn season has generally favored low water.

Early ice outs seem to have contributed to a poorer spawning success, the eyes spawn earlier and more often than not, cold temperatures come stormin in and the big temperatue fluctions raise havoc with the spawn. Late ice outs are generally followed by more consistent, and warmer temps favoring the spawn hatch.

That being said, lets hope the lower water and late iceout provide a good year class a few years down the road.

good luck guts

[overdalimit]

I agree with you GUTS. I am all about the future of the resource. We all want to catch fish here and now but if we invest a little bit today the dividend will be worth it. Too bad that some can't see that far ahead. I would rather C&R 10 nice fish than take 2 more little ones home. If I really want to eat fish I know where to get it I am looking fwd to the season and will be up with the boat on the 5th. I have been working on changing out all the pumps on her and hope to be done by friday. Missy's mom is coming up sunday afternoon/evening and should be at the resort monday I think, but you probably are more in the know than I am on that one. By the way this is a nice site. I will have to get my other uncle hooked up with it. Lots of relevent information. overdalimit

[Wade Joseph]

Heres a question for those who think the new limit is bad. If I were to fillet three saugers and threwe walleyes and cook them up they way you like, do you really think you could tell the difference? I seriously doubt it. In fact, Id almost be willing to kiss your behind in downtown Mpls and give you 30 minutes to draw a crowd if you could.

And by the way what is the limit if one were to keep strictly saugers?

[guts]

WJ, On all the lakes in this area, the law says if the limit is 6 fish walleye sauger combined, not more than 4 may be walleye, hence you could have six sauger. On Rainy, the limit is 8 fish, of which not more than 4 can be walleye, hence you could have 8 sauger. guts

[Wade Joseph]

Thats how I thought I read it, but wanted to be sure. Thanks Guts.

[enduro67]

Quote:

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And if you really need the extra fish to eat, take a northern or two, fillet them up, cut out the bones, cut the fillets into nugget size pieces, beer batter 'em up and deep fry....MMMMMMMMM MMMMMM GOOD!

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I guess my fear is that people will keep more smallmouth to supplement their fish fry's and that their numbers will decline as a result.

I'm coming up for the first time this summer and planto practice catch and release on the smallmouth and only harvest walleyes. The people I am going with keep whatever they catch of either species (within the legal limits of course)...so I was wondering what the norm is as far as harvesting smallmouth.

I plan to release all the smallmouth I catch regardless...I catch enough crappie back home to fill my fish cravings.

[Wade Joseph]

enduro, your post would lead one to believe its ok to decimate the walleye population so long as you preserve the smallies. As far as shore lunches go, Im gonna eat whatever I happen to be catching when its close to lunch time within the regulations. If its smallies Im catching, then smallies will be eaten, that goes for eyes, northerns etc....The reg's are put in place to keep each species in check, yet allow us all an oportunity to harvest quality fish both for sport and for fun. Im happy you enjoy smallies so much, I for one don't care for them and feel they are taking up forage for the species I preffer (walleyes). Does that mean I should encourage everyone to eat smallies and CPR walleyes? Lets all practice as much C/R as we can and only keep the species we preffer to eat in an amount that is only what we need for a meal.

[guts]

Enduro, Wade speaks for a lot of us that we prefer walleyes, smallies compete with walleyes for forage, many of us believe that smallies are taken over the lake, as they have increased rapidly in numbers, considering they weren't introduced to this lake until the mid 50's.

Smallies may in some part be responsible for the loss of small walleye fry that seem to vanish with no explanation.

I think small mouth are great to catch, and if you would like to harvest them, have at it. Someone may disagree, but I think I represent the majority of Kab folk. guts

[enduro67]

I guess my views are biased due to my home locality...being from the south the bass is the #1 gamefish and is considered to be a treasure to catch...and it is the main species that is protected by our regulations. Where I come from you eat panfish but catch and release bass.

My post did not in any way imply that it was ok to overharvest the Walleye...nor did it say that I was against the lower limit. I merely was pointing out that the reduced limit may cause overharvest of the smallies which is part of the reason that I am coming up there to fish....you have the opportunity to fish for 3 species of gamefish in a very beatiful environment.

If the smallies do need thinned out then my guess is this will help. I am not a biologist so I can't make any predictions. I just hope that 5 years from now people aren't wondering where all the smallies went.

[89Bronco]

I don't care if the limit drops to 1 walleye. You won't have to worry about me substituting bass for walleye in my frying pan!

[JBMasterAngler]

4 walleyes is still plenty...if people end up keeping a few more smallies because of the rule change however, it'll probably improve the quality of bass fishing...keeping a few medium sized bass will help keep the fishery strong and healthy.

[overdalimit]

Green Carp is all they are. Green Carp I tell ya! They compete with the walleye frye for food and the adults eat the walleye frye. Don't like em, no sir, don't like em at all.(LOL) Now I do like people that like bass fishing though. They can catch as many as they want in my book. Enjoy! I just prefer walleye.

[guts]

Enduro, I wasn't comin down on ya for keeping walleye and releasing bass, but thats the opposite of what us walleye logic people think. Think about are state fish is walleye.

Believe me if the bass poulation suffers by the new regs, the DNR will readily correct it. We have several regulatory agencies watching and studying these waters, being a National Park.

The Bass in Kabetogama, are not native to this lake and are considered a exotic spieces in these waters.

A few years back, one of the interior lakes in the park was posioned to kill all the fish, primarily the bass which weren'y native to the lake.. The park restocked the lake with Northern Pike expecting them to do well and perhaps become a trophy catch and release pike lake. Guess what the bass bounced back and they have opened the lake again to fishing, the bass spoiled there plans. Moral of the story, the bass are here to stay. guts

[Southpa]

I don't mind the new regs at all. It's still a jaunt for me since I live in Mpls, but no posession regs would ever stop me from coming up there.

If it's about how many fish you can take home, I figure you can go somewhere/anywhere else. If it's about just being there it's a different story. The fact that there are people so upset about the regs makes me feel even better about them being in place. Maybe I'll have a better pick of campsites now.

The only thing good about 'eyes over 18" is catching them anyway. I don't want to eat them. As long as I can still catch them, I'll still be a regular visitor to VNP. The new regs aren't going to compromise that fact - and will probably help if anything.

We were up on Nam last June catching lots of 4-5 pound fish. If I was to say I was disappointed because we couldn't keep them, I'd have to question why I even bother to make the trek - or bother fishing at all.

It's called "fishing" after all....

[fishinfritz]

I need to add my 2 cents worth, too. I've been going to Kab for all but a few years, 2nd week in June, since 1976. Believe me, its not the fish that keep me going back, although overall its been good. I've been though a lot of "cycles", good year classes, bad stretches of year classes. Fishing is always good on that lake. Its the catching that sometimes is slow. But the 5am sunrises, the 9:45 sunsets, and everything in-between, are why I love it. As you say, the people are great. The resort we stay at (Snyder's Idlewild) is a great place to enjoy a week of fellowship. There are a lot of repeat customers we see each year. They could cut it to 2 keepers per day, and I'd still go. Good luck where ever you go, but I doubt wherever it is will be as great as the Kab area.

[NAMAKANWALLEYE]

Fishing has gotten better each year for the past 10 years we have visited.

It's plain and simple, or we wouldnt go back year after year.

Mark

[fishkab]

Enduro, Good Luck with the smallies. You will have a good time as the population is good. There are lots of smallmouth fisherman who frequent these waters. Two of the biggest events of the summer are Smallmouth BASS tournaments.. They draw some of the best fisherman in the midwest. The big thing is nothing will fight like a smallie. Lots of fun and throw them back or eat a few... Good luck!!! Fishkab

[cozzene]

. . . And there the four of them stood, stretched out in front of the resort sign proudly displaying a heavily laden stringer of perhaps 50 or more walleyes, ranging anywhere from 12" to 28"! They were a boistrous lot, and now all viewed themselves as the greatest of fisherman because the resort was going to feature their catch in next year's camp brochure . . . great publicity for the camp. They labored away cleaning and fileting their catch for the 12 hour trip back home the next day, hoping that the camp freezer would work miricles in preserving their prize. What stories they could boast about 6 months later, and even show the freezer burned evidence to their friends later on . . .

I hope those pictures that I see gracing camp brochures are a thing of the past . . . never to be seen or encouraged again . . . or will we just blame one species for the demise of another? I think we had just better let Mother Nature take care of her business in her own way, and lend a steward's hand when we can . . . that is what our role in this is. The regs are the way we do it, and they are needed.

[overdalimit]

Cozzene,

I get kinda angry too when I see those huge stringers of fish. What a waste.

overdalimit

[Wade Joseph]

Truer words have never been spoken cozzene.

[chris63]

Overgrown sunfish,'throw em up on shore,just kiddin' c63

[Wade Joseph]

Ok, I want to be certain I have this correct. I can't seem to locate the complete rule. I know anything 17"-28" must be released. Is there a minimum? I can't find it if there is.

Heading up tomorrow, from what I can find, its 15-17"ers for shore lunches?

[booter]

There is no minimum size for walleye or sauger on the lakes with the new regulations. Good luck!

[Xplorer]

Wade,

Just a personal note of caution, I would really consider not pushing the 17", I personally use a 16.5" personal max since fish can measure differently by different folks. And just to be clear, a 17" fish is IN the protected slot, a 16 7/8 is not. I've never had any issues with the wardens up there in the 10 years I've been camping, but there have been others on here who have gotten pinched for fish they thought were in the keep slot that were measured by a warden and found to be out and got ticketed. I do know that they are not lenient with regards to the protected slot, there are alot of tik's written for this and having filleted fish on the water. Have a good trip, hope the weather is better than forecasted!

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Truer words have not been spoken. Lloyd (local CO) uses a device that looks like a troth and has a vertical lip protruding from the zero point. He tips it up about 30 degrees and lets the fish's nose slide against the stop and then measures to the tip of the tail. We were laying them down against a measuring strip. Bottom line is we were off by 1/8" and got fined.

[SquirrelBait]

Sauger also from 17" to 28" must be released??

[Xplorer]

Quote:

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Sauger also from 17" to 28" must be released??

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SB,

Nope, just walleye.

Make sure any fish over 17" is measurable and identifiable as a sauger tho.

Personally I've never gotten one bigger than 17", but i dont fish Kab much past the end of June and can't recall catching many in Nam in the last 10 years.

[Big-Al]

Sauger are counted as walleye if filleted. From the regs:

• All dressed fish and fillets must have a 1-square-inch patch of skin

with scales intact from a portion of the body other than the belly.

Sauger prepared in this manner are counted as walleye.