Fish-Hawk.Net

Something I felt I wanted to share




Noticing ALOT of photo's from this weekends Opening Day here locally of guys keeping big female fish. The water is only 39-40 degree's , we are PRE-SPAWN, the females are feeding and being caught, and kept - NOT GOOD
The fish will spawn between 44-48 degree's here locally on the river as they do each year

Personally I feel the Ministry should have done something, but they didn't and our fishery here on the St Lawrence is surely going to pay for this in the coming years. Why the MNR did not delay the opening day date given our extended winter is beyond me. This isn't rocket science, and seems another example of our tax dollars going to waste at the expense of the environment. If there are any MNR reps reading these forums, by all means, I welcome you to contact me to discuss the matter

Hope more local guys realize that keeping big females only harms our fishery here....it's come a long way and we should be thankful for it
This is a very rare year where the fish haven't spawn because of our brutal winter. ...BE RESPONSIBLE
The small males will there for the taking in another week or so

And they're better eating by far

Just my 2cents


Here's some STATS I wanted to share:

As few as 10 percent of a female Walleye's eggs will hatch and 50 to 75 percent of the hatched fry will not survive. Studies in the wild indicate that fewer than 10 percent of the hatched Walleye fry will live to be 3 years old.



an average adult female walleye lays approx 400,000 eggs
( ministry stats approx 300,000 for 5lb female, up to 500,000 for a 10lb fish )
with the percentages ABOVE the final survival rate of one 7lb fish can be 750 future fish or more

keep that in mind the next time you think about keeping a big fish full of eggs


Everyone wants to catch a trophy, Myself included, and this year is one of the best years for that to happen, but get a nice picture , take your measurements and release


Cheers
Spenc

PS: fish shown, weighed and released

Had heard that gill-netters in Quinte are already getting bigger spawned out Lake O fish in their nets. Sign that some spawning was over??? Surprising too with how late winter held on and how cold most waters still remain now. Thing is, some of the fish in the Larry may be spawning now or even done in some areas too, there's no 100% sure answers. Years like this happen though, and just two years ago all protected fish might have been able to spawn in early April when that season was well advanced. Maybe then too having a much better than average survival rate? Finding balance? Again, no sure answers as it's a huge picture to consider.

Do understand the sense for worry when big fish are being taken, and it's sad that not all anglers see their importance as better to be living fish, versus a meal. But, it happens all fall and winter long (heck all year) on many fisheries around here. Any big fish are big reproducers just the same... doesn't matter when they are taken. My guess is a big body of water such as the Larry (like Detroit River or Quinte as example) will probably be OK overall. Any folks fishing within the regs right now and bonking fat hens... well it sucks, but some years it just happens that more get taken.

Agreed, but none of our females down here have spawned

they spawn here on the river in temps like mentioned 44-48 - that will come late this week or into next with an expected warm front coming in

I would imagine the water temps in the Bay are higher than we are seeing down here, could be wrong

Looking at your picture I take it you were fishing off the wall? Seemed like a so-so day for the folks on the wall. For lots of them guys especially some of the fellows on the wall it's they're only window of catching walleye that close to shore. Lots of folks that fish make legal decisions over ethical for some it's cheap meat in the freezer or a trophy to show off at home. I used to get all jazzed up over what other people did but nowadays if its legal than its none of my business. I choose to let the big ones swim same as you but to each their own. I think overall the traffic was down this year.

I used to get all jazzed up over what other people did but nowadays if its legal than its none of my business.

Very well SAID

Was at Cardinal as well on Saturday.Number of boats was definitely down.(app.100 or so).Last two years we counted between 120-150 boats in Main area.When you consider fishing area is less than 2 km long thats a LOT of boats!!Unfortunately there are a lot of big females meeting their demise.However,I've talked to some "local" fisher-guys who said they were catching LOTS of 6-10" Walleyes thru ice in area this past winter.To point where they were becoming a nuisance when fishing for other species. Will not give out location to protect these fish for the future.As with everything to do with outdoors it can and will always be "Feast or Famine" depending on good Ol Mom Nature.

Maybe I shouldn't have shared that..... was just something that urked me

there was a time you couldn't catch a walleye out here if your life depended on it... if everyone had the mindset of some of these guys I speak of we would be quickly back to that time again and the river would be polluted with Pike


Cheers

water-werx.ca wrote:Maybe I shouldn't have shared that..... was just something that urked me

I think it's still ok to share your opinion...Fingers crossed the Larry continues to produce. Need more people keeping pike

Don't worry water-werx, many of us share your view but unfortunately these things happen and you just have to hope that enough anglers are practising catch and release with the egg laiden females. Most of the fish we landed were ripe females spewing eggs in my boat and they were sent back as usual while a few smaller males were kept for a mid-day shorelunch. Overall we felt that the bite was noticeably slower than the last few openers and we didn't see the usual full stringers being taken home by every Tom, DIck and Harry. Based on water temps I believe the spawn started about a week ago and it is now in full swing. This is likely why the bite was tougher as many of these fish are preoccupied with family relations. All the documentation that I have read refers to 38-40F as the staring point for the spawn and 44-46F as the end point. The post spawn feedbag is just around the corner...

hear ya.........and thanks

as far as the spawn, they haven't started down this way, we scouted 3 major spawning shoals on the weekend not 1 fish on them yet

will be full of fish as soon as water warms up

I hear you.

For what its worth. I personally, seldom keep ANY fish for the pan.

I do from time to time but not often.

Apart from myslef and my folks, the kids don't like it and my fiancee really isnt that keen on most fish anyway.

I fish for sport and like to say I am 99.75555555555% C&R

water-werx.ca wrote:as far as the spawn, they haven't started down this way, we scouted 3 major spawning shoals on the weekend not 1 fish on them yet

will be full of fish as soon as water warms up

Weird, we were fishing Cardinal area too and catching fish near the spawning areas. I'm curious as to how you were scouting? By sight? Electronics or underwater cameras? Studies show they typically move onto the actual spawning structure under the cover of darkness and are generally off by midnight. Maybe they were just hanging adjacent to the areas you scouted if it was during daylight hours.

First off, pardon the ignorance as I don’t fish for walleye, but this thread made me question the angler’s ethics on spawning fish.

Its mind bottling how anglers will still target and catch walleye during the pre-spawn and spawn, considering the negative impact this may have on the fishery (does it actually have a negative impact?)
Does walleye not spawn in the same locations year after year? Are prime spawning hours targeted as well?

It’s my understanding, that provided anglers don’t overharvest the key spawners (3-6lbs) it makes it ok to target and catch them, but aren’t those odds significantly reduced considering 150-200 boats are cruising up and down “the wall”?

With that being said, is it any less damaging to the fishery/species to catch spawning walleye to let’s say spawning Bass?

Another possible assumption would be that I’m jealous and wish I could catch them big’ol spawning Largies on the beds lo0ol

@ i got worms

by all 3 - Electronics, cameras, and sight

don't believe everything you 'read'

they will sit on shoals in high current areas durring the day you will see normally 2 to 3 males with 1 female
the males will also hold on the shoals for a bit after the females depart

they have by no means spawned down here yet in 30-40 degree water

perhaps a photgraph of fish on the beds during the day would clear things up but it's not easy as they are shallow shoals 6-12 feet with extreme current, very hard to keep the boat motionless

it is amazing to see 3-4 walleye come directly to the surface together if one takes a nip at something, something to see for sure!

not everyone has this opportunity and less will if we do not change the mindset of the 'ignorant' and 'uneducated'

but then there are just as many welching and leaching off society unemployed with no desire to work while others are busting their butt 24/7
- we are unfortunately all "DIFFERENT"

just say'n

water-werx.ca wrote:don't believe everything you 'read'

Hey at least we can agree on that!