I was just reading this article from the Ontario side.
https://kenoradailyminerandnews.com/news/local-news/lake-of-the-woods-walleye-population-in-danger
I guess I didn’t realize how much netting was going on there and if that’s a factor, never seems to help…
shoot the link is not working
I guess I didn’t realize how much netting was going on there and if that’s a factor, never seems to help…
From what I’ve read, it’s recreation fishing…
“The MNRF told the Miner that the amount of recreational walleye fishing alone on Lake of the Woods is too high to be sustainable, before either commercial or subsistence fishing also comes into the picture.“
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Norsky wrote:</div>
I guess I didn’t realize how much netting was going on there and if that’s a factor, never seems to help…From what I’ve read, it’s recreation fishing…
“The MNRF told the Miner that the amount of recreational <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye fishing alone on Lake of the Woods is too high to be sustainable, before either commercial or subsistence fishing also comes into the picture.“
I’m sure it’s combination of all of the above. When you see the amount of boats out there, from private to charter, it’s mind-boggling to think of poundage of walleye taken out of there every week. Not to mention the pressure it gets all winter. I have to think if there is much of a hiccup in the spawn for a year or two, that lake would be in real trouble.
I’m sure it’s combination of all of the above. When you see the amount of boats out there, from private to charter, it’s mind-boggling to think of poundage of walleye taken out of there every week. Not to mention the pressure it gets all winter. I have to think if there is much of a hiccup in the spawn for a year or two, that lake would be in real trouble.
That is my thought too. I am not sure what kind of pressure from recreational anglers the Canadian side receives, but the number of anglers on the American side in both open water and winter is high. And it has probably gone up the past 16 months too because of the covid crowd. I know a few people that would often fish the Canadian side but since the border has been closed, they have fished the American side instead so pressure from that standpoint is not reduced, its just relocated.
I just saw this interview last week from the MN DNR’s perspective, this segment here talks specifically about the fisheries and how well its doing
The tourism lobby for American side of LOTW is very, very strong. They’ll take the profits today and worry about the effects tomorrow.
This is put out by the Kenora newspaper. I believe it’s primarily focusing on the Canadian side of the lake. I skimmed a little bit of it last week. I don’t believe it mentions the netting that’s done on the lake. There is a huge amount of netting on the Canadian side of LOTW, and it’s everywhere. We really started noticing it about 5-6 years ago, and we have noticed a decline in catch rate since. We watched one native boat pull over 200 walleye in an area that you would never fish, have never seen anyone fish, in one sitting. They dropped the net right back down. You can’t tell me that is having less affect on the area’s fishing than recreational fishing.
Gotta love the transparency.
In the presentation, Bobrowicz added that he is unable to share specifics about the meetings but that the group is looking at all options to reduce walleye mortality and increase the biomass of spawning-aged walleye.
Took a charter boat out last summer. It was amazing to see the long train of charter boats heading out in the morning. I’m sure all the boats are able to scrap a limit easily. That is A LOT of walleye being taken out of the body of water every day.
I don’t know any statistics or scientific research on this, just amazing at the amount of fish being taken. I have not experienced a lesser of a bite when I’ve been up though, so the ecosystem can for the most part handle it.
my observations from what I see fishing Ontario waters north of the Angle, Some fall netting, and really not that fishing pressure. but on the Minnesota side it is insane summer and winter, especially when not much snow so people can get out with the wheel houses
Pressure and angler success rates/efficiency are historic and will continue to climb. It’s impossible to comprehend exactly how big of an advantage anglers have today with technological advancements in travel, clothing, houses, bigger faster boats, sonar, etc.
For example: Just this weekend in ~15-20mph winds and steady 3′ waves (and cross current) I watched a guy using iPilot and his Ulterra never leave his captain’s seat and pull 3 nice eaters off a pod of fish we had found. He never once touched his Solix, trolling motor, wheel, bait, etc. until grabbing his rods out of the holders with fish hooked. I know the guy personally and he has everything dialed in and is a great angling mind, but technology just made it awfully easy for him to throw 3 nice fish in the livewell in sub-par conditions. Do you really think people envisioned this years ago when a lot of the limits were established? Just a couple decades ago nobody would’ve been out on this spot in the waves, much less having that kind of success. How many of us grew up in a world fishing this way? I enjoy the technological advantages that have come my way over the years, but I’m not blind to how much easier they make things.
The sky isn’t falling, but things are going to have to change on almost all systems. Go to URL, Mille Lacs, LOTW, etc. and look at the technology being used and number of angler hours skyrocketing. Limits have changed on URL, Mille Lacs, and LOTW in recent years and I’d wager more changes are coming.
Pressure and angler success rates/efficiency are historic and will continue to climb. It’s impossible to comprehend exactly how big of an advantage anglers have today with technological advancements in travel, clothing, houses, bigger faster boats, sonar, etc.
For example: Just this weekend in ~15-20mph winds and steady 3′ waves (and cross current) I watched a guy using iPilot and his Ulterra never leave his captain’s seat and pull 3 nice eaters off a pod of fish we had found. He never once touched his Solix, trolling motor, wheel, bait, etc. until grabbing his rods out of the holders with fish hooked. I know the guy personally and he has everything dialed in and is a great angling mind, but technology just made it awfully easy for him to throw 3 nice fish in the livewell in sub-par conditions. Do you really think people envisioned this years ago when a lot of the limits were established? Just a couple decades ago nobody would’ve been out on this spot in the waves, much less having that kind of success. How many of us grew up in a world fishing this way? I enjoy the technological advantages that have come my way over the years, but I’m not blind to how much easier they make things.
The sky isn’t falling, but things are going to have to change on almost all systems. Go to URL, Mille Lacs, LOTW, etc. and look at the technology being used and number of angler hours skyrocketing. Limits have changed on URL, Mille Lacs, and LOTW in recent years and I’d wager more changes are coming.
Nicely written Bucky. This should just be common sense at this point, but your words will still surprise some.
As a traveling tourist out of state visitor to LOTW for many years I would like to say I would personally support a more restrictive size and number limit if it would improve the size structure and catch rate in the future. I travel 14 hours one way to fish this lake and I want it to be an amazing experience. Keeping 6 fish per person is not really necessary for me.
Very true bucky.
20 years ago there was only a handful of people who had a boat BIG enough to be out in those conditions. I was not one of them. Not sure I would fish in 3 footers now either.
I’ve been fishing the lake for about 20 years. I am sure many here have fished it longer. Over those years I’ve watched the fishing steadily decline year after year to the point we are at now, where resorts are telling their guests to keep 12 inchers if they want a meal. It’s a shame. I have voiced my concern with the dnr several times and I was optimistic when they were surveying people for regulation changes a couple years ago. I was disappointed when they released the changes. Too little too late. They need to go further to restore the amazing fishery it was. The lake just can’t sustain with the amount of pressure it receives year round with the current limits. It’s get fished harder and has more liberal regulations than any of the big lakes in the state and it is showing.
I’m sure the resorts don’t want to see limits reduced but I really don’t think it would change the amount of business they get. Just look how much pressure red still gets with tighter regs. On the Canada side of the lake they have much tighter limits and people still go. At the end of the day most people want to catch a lot fish on their trip and keeping some is the bonus. If the resorts were smart they’d be trying to protect the lake. It’s their cash cow. Don’t kill the cow.
Per usual people will blame the nets. It’s always someone else’s fault and nets are an easy thing to blame.
They are only easy to blame when they are present & being used.
Well I have fished the lake for over 35 years myself and still go a few times every year. The last few years I have been starting to think that the winter pressure is as much or more as the summer pressure. 5+ years ago you wouldn’t see 1000+ fishouses scattered from Baudette dam near all the way up to Garden and over to 16 mile and Buffalo Point. The years with heavy snow keeps the crowds away some but this last year it didn’t happen.
The word from the locals is, it’s not if but when the limits are going to get cut.
Spot on,Bucky!
Just think what wheelhouses have done to fishing pressure.
Well I have fished the lake for over 35 years myself and still go a few times every year. The last few years I have been starting to think that the winter pressure is as much or more as the summer pressure. 5+ years ago you wouldn’t see 1000+ fishouses scattered from Baudette dam near all the way up to Garden and over to 16 mile and Buffalo Point. The years with heavy snow keeps the crowds away some but this last year it didn’t happen.
The word from the locals is, it’s not if but when the limits are going to get cut.
Oh man, it’s not even close dude. There is SOOOO much more pressure during the winter it’s not even funny. I know for a fact some of the bigger resorts alone put out 300+ people PER DAY in the winter. Maybe slightly fewer in the middle of the week, but on weekends they are pushing close to 400 I’m sure. Add in the dozens of other resorts and all the DIYers up there and you’re looking at probably 2000+ per day. Keep in mind that for the most part, the lake is fishable EVERY day by that volume of people in the winter. With the track vans and other stuff in use, people can comfortably fish even when it’s 20 below.
During open water season there are many days that the lake is just unfishable, or only fishable by the most extreme anglers and launch boats. The bigger boats of today allow for more comfort, but there’s still a very small group of people who can afford the price tag. Anyone who has a couple hundred bucks can go up there and ice fish for a weekend.
Let’s do some back of napkin math on it. Let’s say conservatively the lake averages 2000 ice fishermen per day on the US side. And lets say they each keep 4 fish per day. Ice season up there is generally mid-late December through end of March(maybe this changed to end of Feb this year?).
That’s 8000 fish per day, for ~14 weeks ~~ 98 days. That’s 784,000 fish, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a conservative estimate, I’d say that number could potentially be twice that and I wouldn’t be surprised. Is it sustainable to remove over 1 million fish every winter, before summer totals are even taken into consideration? It’s a big lake…but is any lake big enough for that?
Spot on,Bucky!
Just think what wheelhouses have done to fishing pressure.
I doubt the wheelhouses are even a blip on the radar compared to the resorts.
Winter fishing up there is an absolute shadow of what it used to be, and it’s only going to get worse IMO. Unfortunately the entire economy up there is basically built off that lake. If they ever need to close up shop for a few years a la Mille Lacs, there will be a lot of people out of work. Polaris and Marvin can only employ so many..
Who’s fault will it be? Well…how big is too big? If I was involved I’d try to start some sort of resort co-op to talk long term strategy and sustainability up there. The question used to be, “Will people really drive 6+ hours up here to go ice fishing?!” The next question is, “Will people really drive 6+ hours up here to go ice fishing and catch a handful of 12” sauger?
Time to ban wheelhouses from every lake. Ever.
I’m sorta kidding but when you see the proliferation on the big lakes of guys parking wheel houses all winter commom sense has to tell you there will be issues. I would bet that on ML, URL and LOTW the winter pressure is substantially higher than the summer. There are alot of boats on LOTW in the summer but it pales in comparison to the small cities in the winter.
Lower limits, charge more for accesses in the winter, limit the amount of permanent houses, etc. Not sure the answer but as Bucky mentioned tings will need to change. My experience on LOTW the past few years has been lights out and it’s a lot of water but better to be proactive than end up in an ML situation.
Need to be careful on the direction you go relating to fees. You don’t want to turn this hobby into a rich mans sport then it already is heading towards. How about rotating limits? Even numbered years you get to keep X number of fish. Odd number it changes. Easy for signage easy for enforcement. The limit corresponds to the year your license is valid.
I don’t know the answer. I just know that no lake is a bottomless barrel of fish. Hit it hard enough, long enough and you will have problems.
I wonder how related the biomasses are on the south basin vs up in the islands in Canada, like if the #’s follow similar curves or if they fluctuate separately. I don’t know what the right answer is management-wise. Short of going Catch and Release only, there’s not much that can be done if the pressure continues to grow at the current rate. Of course there is some free market principles at work too, when there’s few or only small fish to be had, the pressure will decrease, at least some.
I have thought for a long time there should be a ban on gill nets anywhere there’s recreational fishing, without getting into the legality/tribal issues, our natural resources are meant to be managed utilitarianly (i.e. maximize the public benefit of the resource) and the ROI on a walleye caught by hook and line is a huge multiple of what it is on a gill netted fish.
Need to be careful on the direction you go relating to fees. You don’t want to turn this hobby into a rich mans sport then it already is heading towards. How about rotating limits? Even numbered years you get to keep X number of fish. Odd number it changes. Easy for signage easy for enforcement. The limit corresponds to the year your license is valid.
I don’t know the answer. I just know that no lake is a bottomless barrel of fish. Hit it hard enough, long enough and you will have problems.
I was just spitballin’ but I hear ya. However, when you have $150K wrapped up in a wheelhouse and truck you could argue it hs become a rich mans sport!
As an armchair biologist who has not researched the science of LOTW in depth, I’d like to see a smaller limit that’s proactive and maybe a look into protecting a few smaller fish. The big resorts I’ve been through in day houses are not so subtly telling people to keep 12-13″ fish to get an almighty “LIMIT”. Something like 4 walleyes/saugers in a harvest slot of 14-19″ and 1 trophy fish 28″+ seems responsible.
People flocked like sheep to URL to harvest their 2 eater walleyes last winter. I cannot buy the argument that suddenly the resorts would see any less business if they dropped to 4 fish on LOTW.
For starters, providing more protection for the spawning fish in that fishery would be a great start. I don’t really understand why that fishery is the only place in the state that allows an extra 6-7 weeks of fishing pressure compared to the rest of the state. Granted it is catch and release, you can’t tell me all those spawning fish getting caught and handled (perhaps multiple times) on their way up to spawn is helping the population. If catching and releasing spawning fish wasn’t detrimental to the population, why is it illegal pretty much everywhere else in the state (besides P2, P4, etc)? Is it fun to catch 12 lb 30″ walleyes that are full of eggs? It sure is! but not at the expense of a [formerly] world class fishery.
I have a feeling the local resorts/economy would not be supportive of eliminating the March 1st – April 15th season, but the writing is on the wall. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take two steps forward.
I agree with most that’s been said here. The lake is nothing like it was even 15 yrs ago.
One thing I think that needs to change that hasn’t been mentioned. The common theme up there is the deeper you go the better. So many guys sit and catch and release 10-13″ fish from 30+ feet of water (sometimes 35-36ft in the long point area) all day. The vast majority of those fish are dying from barotrauma. The 4 fish limit means nothing if each fisherman kills and “releases” a dozen fish (or more) a day. The best remedy for that problem would be catch your 4 and be done. Obviously that won’t work for the guys wanting to spend the weekend on the ice.
It’s already happened with the crappies. Resorts advertised them for years and now they’re seeing the decline. In recent years their tune has changed and now they are telling their guests to catch their limit and stop. They can see the writing on the wall….
The best fishing we had up there last winter was in 14ft of water without another soul in sight. So deeper isn’t necessarily anyways better.
The resorts up there seem to be blindly digging their own graves by greedily puting as many fishermen as possible on the ice every day. The crash will happen eventually unfortunately. One or two bad spawning years could be catastrophic for the future. Luckily it’s a massive lake that’s obviously very resilient. Hopefully changes in laws and attitudes can happen before it’s too late.
I wonder, how much control does the state really have on LOTW. It is after-all a border lake with another country. Maybe the Feds really control the lake?
I wonder, how much control does the state really have on LOTW. It is after-all a border lake with another country. Maybe the Feds really control the lake?
I think resort owners have a lot of clout up there. They bring in a lot of tourism $ and employ a lot of local citizens. That area would be pretty destitute without the money the lake brings in.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the DNR has some ‘understandings’ with the resort owners as well. I think they’d find a lot of people over their limit in the winter, if they checked people coming in and their freezers at their cabin rentals. But I’ve never see the DNR on shore, just out on the lake. I guess one winter I saw a checkpoint setup on the way home, but they were only stopping people with trailers.
I know some resorts keep their permanent houses out past the closing date and just send in the light fine money as it’s more cost effective than towing them in every night.
This eerily sounds like an old Mille Lacs thread
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