Zone 12 Slot Size

[Lenny]

Hi all,

Just a friendly reminder to those that fish in zone 12 that the slot (max 40cm 15.7 inches) for walleye is in effect until March 31. Tight lines!!

[smitty55]

Good post Lenny. Great reminder.
Time to Pike fish anyway. The big girls are ready to move in soon. A short thaw would be nice.

Cheers

[Doug]

Hi all,

Just a friendly reminder to those that fish in zone 12 that the slot (max 40cm 15.7 inches) for walleye is in effect until March 31. Tight lines!!

Is the slot size not in effect during the entire open season? And your number LOOKS wrong. In FMZ 18 the slot size is between 15.7 and 19.7 for keepers, so your "MAX" size listed appears to be in error - unless FMZ 12 rules are different?

Doug

[Lenny]

Hi Doug,

The slot runs until June 15th during the open season of course. Surprisingly that isn't an error. It's the max size with no minimum. Not a huge fan of the slot as I enjoy eating walleye but it's good for the river as lots of big fish are caught around opener and befor the season closes.

[Doug]

Hi Doug,

The slot runs until June 15th during the open season of course. Surprisingly that isn't an error. It's the max size with no minimum. Not a huge fan of the slot as I enjoy eating walleye but it's good for the river as lots of big fish are caught around opener and befor the season closes.

WOW!!!!

Thanks for the education. I thought we had it bad here in FMZ 18..........

Doug

[smitty55]

Hi Doug,

The slot runs until June 15th during the open season of course. Surprisingly that isn't an error. It's the max size with no minimum. Not a huge fan of the slot as I enjoy eating walleye but it's good for the river as lots of big fish are caught around opener and befor the season closes.

WOW!!!!

Thanks for the education. I thought we had it bad here in FMZ 18..........

Doug

Pretty easy to take compared to FMZ 18 Doug, when for 8 1/2 months of the year there is no slot at all and half of that slot time is unfishable anyway.

Cheers

[Doug]

Hi Doug,

The slot runs until June 15th during the open season of course. Surprisingly that isn't an error. It's the max size with no minimum. Not a huge fan of the slot as I enjoy eating walleye but it's good for the river as lots of big fish are caught around opener and befor the season closes.

WOW!!!!

Thanks for the education. I thought we had it bad here in FMZ 18..........

Doug

Pretty easy to take compared to FMZ 18 Doug, when for 81/2 months of the year there is no slot at all and half of that slot time is unfishable anyway.

Cheers

RIGHT. I really did not get that part, guess I should look at the regulations.............

Doug

[RJ]

It's all about protecting the productive fish in the systems. It'll take awhile to see the results...

RJ

[Lenny]

I agree RJ. One thing that it needs to work is to be followed. I have a cottage on Black Lake near Perth and I can assure you that none of the locals on the lake follow the slot for FMZ 18, and most fish setlines they leave in front of their houses, although there aren't many walleye left there. Nobody I talked to in the parking lot at Shirley's knew about the regulation, and one dude had a few fish over the slot. None of them are intentionally poaching, but what I'm getting at is it will also take time for people to catch on as there are lots of anglers who aren't well informed about the regs. It's definitely a step in the right direction

[CyrusG]

I agree RJ. One thing that it needs to work is to be followed. I have a cottage on Black Lake near Perth and I can assure you that none of the locals on the lake follow the slot for FMZ 18, and most fish setlines they leave in front of their houses, although there aren't many walleye left there. Nobody I talked to in the parking lot at Shirley's knew about the regulation, and one dude had a few fish over the slot. None of them are intentionally poaching, but what I'm getting at is it will also take time for people to catch on as there are lots of anglers who aren't well informed about the regs. It's definitely a step in the right direction

I see too many guys keeping oversized walleye on opener, most of the guys i talk to weren't doing it intentionally but they never seemed to care. Last year it was rare to find any eyes under 16 inches at my main spot when it opened, the average size was around 18-20 inches. Once June 15 came around most of the eyes were under 16 inches and you would need a boat if you wanted to find bigger ones. There's also those guys that think the Ottawa River is in zone 18, best thing you can do is inform them and hope for the best, its good to the have the MNR tip line if needed

[rustyhook]

I think a lot of people play dumb when you ask if they knew the slot size on the river from March 1st to June 15th. It has been in place for a number of years now. They aren't going to tell you they knew about it and kept a fish over the slot on purpose. What would you do if they said "Yes I know about the slot" and still had 2 or 3 over? easier to say, Oh man I didn't know there was a slot size and hope you buy it.

BTW a 15.6" fish is still 1.5 to 2 lb's, which is still a decent size to eat.

[RJ]

Ignorance of the laws are no excuse. It surely irked me to see a photo on Facebook of a 14-15 lb Walleye caught in FMZ 18, the photo was of the guy in his garage....

RJ

[Lenny]

I agree RJ. One thing that it needs to work is to be followed. I have a cottage on Black Lake near Perth and I can assure you that none of the locals on the lake follow the slot for FMZ 18, and most fish setlines they leave in front of their houses, although there aren't many walleye left there. Nobody I talked to in the parking lot at Shirley's knew about the regulation, and one dude had a few fish over the slot. None of them are intentionally poaching, but what I'm getting at is it will also take time for people to catch on as there are lots of anglers who aren't well informed about the regs. It's definitely a step in the right direction

I see too many guys keeping oversized walleye on opener, most of the guys i talk to weren't doing it intentionally but they never seemed to care. Last year it was rare to find any eyes under 16 inches at my main spot when it opened, the average size was around 18-20 inches. Once June 15 came around most of the eyes were under 16 inches and you would need a boat if you wanted to find bigger ones. There's also those guys that think the Ottawa River is in zone 18, best thing you can do is inform them and hope for the best, its good to the have the MNR tip line if needed

I fish the same stretch of the Ottawa that you do (judging by your avatar) and have seen lots of poaching walleye there as well, most pull the "no speaka english card." Why can't they just stick to the sunfish and out of season bass at Dow's Lake like the used to?!

[Relic]

I've seen guys on the Ottawa with their cottage close buy, catch one over, run to shore drop it off then come back out.

I watched one guy do this twice in a matter of minutes, when I went over to inform him he tried to tell me they were pike...