I've personally been fishing since around 2000 and don't have enough years on the water to know whether or not fishing is better or worse nowadays.
I hear stories....I see pictures....but I truly wonder, was the fishing better back when, or is it better now? Or, is it about the same? Why do you say/think so? Chime in!!!
Bago's been "raped" for decades... the "off" years coincidentally occur the same years when the bait fish are exploding... huh, how bout dat
sorry, wrong. you don't fish bago much I can tell. This year is great. It's also had an explosion of bait fish, higher numbers of trout perch, shiners and shad in 20 years. The year bago got raped was when there were Zero baitfish. Caught eyes ALL year long. fish classes got nearly wiped out. Clear water because of zebra muscles and no bait fish made bago easy for a crack head to catch a limit.
The last two years the lake was loaded with 8-13 inchers. this year they are all 14-17 and being taken by the boat load daily. So all the whining that happened last year and they year before people quickly forgot about. I hope they wipe these 14-17 age class out so people can complain again. they are doing it to themselves. Very few eye's in the 21+ range in the system. Look at the tourney weights. I caught one over 20 all year. Like I said, do your research on bago before you talk jibberish.
What data do you have to back up that claim? It is very niave to think that tribal spearing is solely responsible for the perceived decline in walleye fishing. I am not defending the practice (I'd rather they excersized treaty right by just fyke netting lakes and sorting fish) only trying to get people to see the bigger picture. While there may be instances where years of overharvest have contributed to declining populations, more times than not it is a death by a thousand cuts type of situation. Lakes are constantly changing, water chemistry changes, precipitation patterns...most seepage lakes in northern wi are now FULL after a decade drought. That will be huge. And invasive species. Just look at rusty crayfish, many lakes where they've shown up are totally devoid of any weeds now. That weed edge you used to slay walleyes on no longer exists. The fish may be still be there just not where you expect. Just ask yourself if there were no tribal spearing and bag limits were still five fish would fishing be any better? Most likely not. If 400 fish get removed from a population in two days in April or over the next 363 days, that's still 400 fish that won't be spawning. The time of year is irrelevant.The end result is the same.
Big Carr incident is old news happened 11 years ago. Nice try though.
Took me about 1.5 minutes on google to come with this baby. Actually spearing does follow a pretty nice curve. 82 something percent of all fish speared in the last decade plus are male and average 15ish inches. Contrary to what most people think the tribal spearing is pretty tightly regulated. They are only allowed 1 fish over 20" and 1 "oops" fish. Not to say there aren't bad apples among them but you can say that for any group. Plus it is not in their best interest to "rape" the lakes if they want to continue the practice.
Winnebago gets raped because other lakes are so bad. After this year, it will suck again like the last two years. People just keep taking taking taking. It's conservation. simple as that. People are greedy as Eff and the feeling to brag and give away fish is killing a lot of spots. I wish more people would fish to fish and have fun. Like my old man, he is 74, the dude is such a meat hound and I can't change him. he ain't happy unless there is fish in the box. he physically can NOT go fishing and release a good walleye or perch or gill. Even crappies which he doesn't eat, he finds a person to give it to. Makes me wanna puke. one main reason for chitty fishing in many areas is the HUMAN. Point the finger at yourself and ask what you can do and how you can educate others that bragging and multiple bagging is NOT cool. it's gotta start somewhere.
I don't want to be a debbie downer, but when people post pics or reports of limits of walleye on Winnebago....ggreat job, good for you, but you aren't doing anything special that hasn't been done 500 times that day. Bragging has to stop. fishing isn't a competition, it's a god given right and a privilege. Can we all just go fishing, keep what you need and practice some conservation .
I now you are fired up about it but I still would disagree with your analysis. I actually think you missed fishsqueezer's point.
If you catch a fish any time of year, it cannot spawn the following spring. Just because they are speared in spring, the entire previous year fish were being taken away from having a chance to spawn the next spring. That's why the argument isn't a good one. Its like shooting a Doe in September but saying its bad to shoot one in December. Still a dead deer and can't reproduce. Same thing with fish.
When they spawn, sure its fish in a barrel. Like you said they spear in a few days. The rest of the year hook and line guys take fish. Slower paced, but they have 300 days to do it. That adds up in a similar fashion. Bag limits were reduced to account for the spearing, so similar amounts of fish were still being taken. Do some indians violate? Sure, just like the possession limit violators, always someone. After the yearly fish are harvested, go back to my first paragraph.
Personally I think hook and line anglers were already starting to piss pound the walleyes and spearing just helped put it over the top. Things were probably not adjusted properly to account for it all. Years ago when there would be 30+ boats on some of the popular lakes for opening weekend, how many fish were taken? Everyone talks about the lack of tourists compared to years ago in the northwoods. That means there were more people than now taking fish home prior to spearing even starting. That's why I think spearing just put it over the top, we were headed there anyways. If spearing didn't do it, technology would have.
Did you hear about the bite on Big Arb? Here's how I did it and where I was. Next weekend = 100 people.
At 62 have fished for a long time early 60's.for inland fishing for trout its way better now.For bass both large and smallmouths its way better now.Panfish its not as good, flashers during ice fishing have hurt the population of larger panfish.Than here we go I have to agree with others walleye are way down for lot's of reasons.Greenbay walleye fishing toped out around 2008 but it is still good,bass fishing is about as good as it gets,perch are down.Big pike are down on the bay,and they are on inland water also.
Fished here in Wisconsin since the mid 60's (1960's) . It always has been good until about the mid 90's when population growth and the internet began to over expose areas of good fish populations to the general population . Now, I believe most lakes have been over fished . The lake I live on now has deteriorated for walleye fishing, as has many of the more famous lakes throughout the state . Even most reports from the well known lakes report more now on Crappie fishing than walleye .
