Dnr walleye# report- How much do you believe them?

I am glad the DNR does these nettings just wondering how good of an indicator they are-2 different people PMed me to tell me to try a lake that gets less than 2 a net. Heck tomorrow I am going to one where they got 4 a net (good # for the metro) Will probably fish bass too, also like that the lake is close to my house.So what do you guys think?
I remember I fished a lake that was awesome for crappies but the report said the #s were fair. I was surprised until I started to fish the whole lake and it was only fair, that first bay I fished was packed and everything else was so-so. Guess it comes down to where they put those nets.

Down here in the southwest corner we have any number of lakes that show very good numbers of walleyes in the test nets at times. They are there but doesn’t mean they will bite. A prime example would be Lake Benton. The nets last spring showed it was full of nice walleyes but the fishing last spring and this past winter was mediocre at best. This spring it was lights out from the get go until recently when it has slowed down. Lots of factors determine what the bite is going to be.

Shallow lakes tend to turn off in the winter-thanks Steels

Don’t focus too much on numbers but instead, look at the trends.

Tell me about it. I’ve got 3 trips into a lake 20 miles from my house that avg 8.5/net. It’s only a 800 acre lake. I have yet to catch a walleye, but have caught literally everything else that swims in good size and numbers.

MNdrifter wrote:

Tell me about it. I’ve got 3 trips into a lake 20 miles from my house that avg 8.5/net. It’s only a 800 acre lake. I have yet to catch a walleye, but have caught literally everything else that swims in good size and numbers.

I think I know which lake. The couple times I’ve been out , it’s been a bust. 1 14” eye in about 10 hours of fishing. Is the one you’re talking about way low?

I don’t put a lot of emphasis on net numbers except for lakes that have potential to winterkill in my area (southern MN area). One lake is only a few walleye per net yet I had great fishing. Another was 5.5 and I had great fishing. Another was nearly 14/net and I only got 1 walleye in 2 trips.

So for me it’s more about fish kills and stocking data.

Joe Jarl wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>MNdrifter wrote:</div>
Tell me about it. I’ve got 3 trips into a lake 20 miles from my house that avg 8.5/net. It’s only a 800 acre lake. I have yet to catch a walleye, but have caught literally everything else that swims in good size and numbers.

I think I know which lake. The couple times I’ve been out , it’s been a bust. 1 14” eye in about 10 hours of fishing. Is the one you’re talking about way low?

Not sure. I’ve never fished the lake previous years. Sent you a pm.

I believe the numbers especially when they are high. Low numbers don’t always mean the fish aren’t there. It means the fish aren’t going into the nets. Remember Mille Lacs, when the DNR said the population was down but all the fisherman said otherwise? The fish weren’t in the same areas that they put the nets that year, due to weather, zebra mussels or ???
The best walleye bite I ever experienced was in a <500 acre MN lake that had test data from the previous year of 52 walleye/net. I’ve also fished a lake that the fisheries manager said has a tremendous walleye population. Fall electrofishing that measures young of the year were consistently well over 100 walleys/hour. We never caught more than 6 in a day over 5-6 years. I still need to crack that nut. I know from talking to others that we weren’t fishing shallow enough.

Here how I use the DNR numbers.
I use it when I am looking for a new lake to try.

Take the total lake area in acres and divide it by the number of walleyes netted. You come up with a number.

If I remember correctly, it takes about 5 acres to support a good sized adult walleye. That doesn’t mean that there is a walleye every 5 acres, but it gives you a guide how many adult (20″ plus) walleyes you can expect.

Even though some lake association may stock a 200 acre lake with hundreds of walleyes the odds of finding a nice size walleye is mighty slim.

Here are a couple of lakes that you might know:
Big Sandy A/W# 73.35
Minnewawa A/W# 196.25
Upper Hay A/W# 35.0

I have fished two of those lakes and caught walleyes in them, but I would tell you that finding them in Minnewawa was much harder than the other.

So, if you had to pick a lake that you didn’t know where would you go?

You might look at the lake maps and pick Upper Hay.

I didn’t answer your question, do the math and draw from your experience. It is a good indicator.

Doesn’t fishing prowess enter into the equation?

I know anglers that refuse to use the techniques and equipment that are required to be successful when fishing certain areas. Then there are those guys that couldn’t catch a fish in a barrel.

Buffalo Fishhead

Dj-not sure you need to do all that calculating, what you get with all of this is an average from the samples in the lake. The more sampling that happens the better the picture of what is happening.
Talked to a dude who fishes Pulaski a lot, his take is that the report for that one is high because the report is a couple of years old, the lake got hit hard BECAUSE the numbers were high, when they sample again he says the numbers will be much lower. I mostly fish bass and you don’t see a good bite get harvested away like that

Tim, I am a retired engineer and have it in a spreadsheet, who calculates anymore. Every once in awhile I update it.

The idea was to get a method to pick one or two NEW lakes to fish close to my home that show some promise. I like to try different places to test my skills.

My spreadsheet only has lakes that have concrete ramps, and are in Aitkin or Crow Wing Counties. It is easily over 100 lakes long, I haven’t gotten to more that 25%.

When searching for a new lake to try, you can ask a stranger, but no smart fisherman is going to say “go fish xxx is a great place to fish”.

You can talk to the bait shop, or some fisherman in the bar, but how do you do it from a distance.

I feel that there are many hidden gems out there. Each new lake gives you an opportunity to hone your skills.

I am always happy with a day on the water (hard of soft).

Fish ON……