pool 4

not sure what a slot would do with fish being brought up from 60 feet

Common sense rule should take care of the 60 foot hole, but then common sense should also fix a lot of things that it does`nt

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Would be 100% behind a C&R period thru the winter months. At the very least there should be a reduced bag limit in the winter and also a slot imposed in the winter months. There is very little question in my mind that the Saugers have been hurt by all the pressure. Which pressure will be fixed by a slot any of the three mentioned above.

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Thank you for a reasonable response Brett. I agree with you 100%. I doubt that there will be a change, but I’d support something along the lines you suggest.

And yes, I have an opinion and an (in response to one of the posts above).

Saugers hurt?? I doubt it. They were doing very well on 5# FIVE POUND saugers off Minnesota Pt??? thru the ice this winter. Not my bag, but i know the guys that were doing it. Got invited to go with em.

Doesn’t sound to me like those fish were hurting…

Stuwest how much time have you spent on 4? I did not say they were gone but they are defiantly not what they were 3-5 years ago. The numbers of saugers over 18″ has been on a steady decline and whats the next five years gonna do if we keep this up. The sauger fishing is what has made pool 4 great and that is the fish that most winter time anglers are able to catch. Yes pool 4 has never had regs like I mentioned earlier but it also has never had the pressure day after day like it has been getting the past few years either. How common do you really think FIVE POUND saugers are anyways??????????

I think Stu just started fishing pool 4 last year.

I agree wit Brett on the thought that the big saugers are losing ground.The last few years have seen an increase in fisherman with no thought of returning a 3 lb sauger to grow some more,but they will scream about you keeping one 20inch eye for a meal 2 times a years.
Then we have a “guide” that sets in the scour hole for hrs feeding the eagles 9 inch saugers for hrs until he gets a limit of 14’s for the boat.Makes a guy sick.I’m all for a lowered bag from Dec to March.

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Stuwest how much time have you spent on 4? I did not say they were gone but they are defiantly not what they were 3-5 years ago. The numbers of saugers over 18″ has been on a steady decline and whats the next five years gonna do if we keep this up. The sauger fishing is what has made pool 4 great and that is the fish that most winter time anglers are able to catch. Yes pool 4 has never had regs like I mentioned earlier but it also has never had the pressure day after day like it has been getting the past few years either. How common do you really think FIVE POUND saugers are anyways??????????

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My thoughts exactly!!!

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I agree wit Brett on the thought that the big saugers are losing ground.The last few years have seen an increase in fisherman with no thought of returning a 3 lb sauger to grow some more,but they will scream about you keeping one 20inch eye for a meal 2 times a years.
Then we have a “guide” that sets in the scour hole for hrs feeding the eagles 9 inch saugers for hrs until he gets a limit of 14’s for the boat.Makes a guy sick.I’m all for a lowered bag from Dec to March.

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Yep!!

Hey Brett, You’re DEAD ON with your theory! I agree 100% you can’t keep taking fish of that magnitude and expect the fishery to just keep on producing forever..Wake up guys..

Can anybody really backup the scour hole accusation, or is that just an accepted rumor?

I think almost anyone who fishes P4 in the spring can back this up. There are a ton of little sauger pulled up from over 30 ft deep that are tossed back.

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Can anybody really backup the scour hole accusation, or is that just an accepted rumor?

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I won’t name names but there are a few boats that seem to be in the scour hole quite frequently.

To be fair I love driving over the scour hole to image the fish down there.

I would love to see a slot on the river. Both for the big walleye and the big sauger.

A very simple deal for at least the scour hole problem is extend the no fishing area below the dams.

I am not saying it doesn’t happen, but it seemed that the comments were pointed at a specific person, and it is a pretty strong condemnation of a persons ethics. I prefer truth to the rumor mill. It has been made clear that it is a bad practice to fish out of the deep water, and I agree with that most whole heartedly. I am in favor of respecting the resource, but I also do not think that we need more burdensome laws and rules. I would like to think that common sense would prevail, but common sense is not that common.

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Can anybody really backup the scour hole accusation, or is that just an accepted rumor?

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I will back it up 100% since every trip that I do end up fishing upstream in the area of the dam I see him back trolling back an forth over the same stretch of the hole. This has not just been a time or 2 either but there are plenty of others guilty of it as well….that’s besides the point though either way the Sauger size has dropped quite a bit over the past 5 years i will agree. I really see it in May and June in the lake trolling leadcore. Not saying the big dogs are gone ,as there are still plenty out there. The amount of 20″+ fish I see the past couple years I will agree though is far fewer then what I would see in the years past.

Fair enough, but really disappointing. Isn’t there a sign that marks a safe zone away from the dam for spring time?

the hole goes below that point

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Fair enough, but really disappointing. Isn’t there a sign that marks a safe zone away from the dam for spring time?

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I doesn’t extend out past the scour hole and it’s only for a select time (Mar 1-April 30 I think). So even during those months the scour hole is fair game. The “safe zone” only really protects the “kill box” where the spring spawners pile up.

I would think C & R only would be good from December to the end of March .

I only fish pool 4 for a week in the spring, and sometime a few days in fall. I mainly fish Lake Wisconsin, where we do have a slot limit. Anyone that has fished Lk WI for more than a couple years would probably agree with me when I say it is UNBELIEVABLE what the slot has done on that body of water. No fish between 20 and 28 inches can be kept, walleye and sauger included.

Prior to the slot, I don’t think there were a lot of fish over 20 inches caught. The first couple years, I may have caught 3 or 4 slot fish in the entire year. As the years have passed, the catch rate of big fish has increased, and we have had a couple of fantastic spawns, part of which I attribute to more spawning sized fish in the system. I don’t have my numbers handy on how many slot fish came to the boat last year, but I do know I had 6 fish over 28″ last year.

Lk WI and pool 4 are vastly different. Who knows, maybe a slot would do no good there. I am not a fish biologist, but I know what it did on Lk WI, for both the walleye and the sauger population.

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Can anybody really backup the scour hole accusation, or is that just an accepted rumor?

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Have seen it with my own eyes and have no reason to lie.It not against the law but very bad practice.

Living in this area for almost 33 years and as much as I would like to see a C & R period or a slot limit, the question arises. When do you start it? There are often numbers of Saugers up in the dam area in October of which the females are already developing eggs. So a fish removed in the fall is not going to spawn anymore than one removed in March.

Personally I think a 3 bag/6 poss. fish limit from Dec. 1st till April 15th. Just my 2 cents.

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Personally I think a 3 bag/6 poss. fish limit from Dec. 1st till April 15th. Just my 2 cents.

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Honestly I have always liked tighter regs year round. I would love to see this state wide year round. including border waters. Plus slot limits.

I am all for it but thought start with the time of year when they are so stacked up.

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I am all for it but thought start with the time of year when they are so stacked up.

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Ah, baby steps. I understand.