75′ Kills Walleye and Saugers in Pool 4

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90 percent of the people fishing in that hole know exactly what’s happening to those fish, they just dont care.

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Exactly… but they won’t be accepting blame if the sauger population goes south.

I’ve seen the sauger population go down since I started fishing it ten years ago hopefully it’s just a spawning cycle. Was it just from the scour hole or overtaking of fish in the Frontenac area in the winter also? Just what I’ve heard from other guys. I do think it’s pretty sad to see fish floating past me downstream. Why do people always need to take their full limit of fish anyhow. I strictly catch and release all walleye and sauger because they aren’t that good in comparison to actual clean water environments as in lakes

The problem is that you #1. A must be able to read #2. You can’t fix stupid

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they aren’t that good in comparison to actual clean water environments as in lakes

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Wwhhhaaat! They are delicious, even more so I would argue. You get those very eutrophic lakes and blah, might as well munch on the weeds that came with them too.

As far as the scour hole, the city of Mpls to deter the crime in parts of downtown some years ago started to play classical music, apparently the inner city kind don’t appreciate the arts much. Similarly what if someone was to setup shop right in the middle of the scour and start bumping some hardcore rap music? Guaranteed people would start flocking, tupac, eazy-e, oh the list goes on. Passive but effective. Call it campaign “Ghetto tunes for the sand dunes”

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I strictly catch and release all walleye and sauger because they aren’t that good in comparison to actual clean water environments as in lakes

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.. .. Sorry I can NOT agree with that…rrr

To me it’s the brown line in them that isn’t so tasty so I don’t bother keeping them I don’t see that in a lot of clear lake fish .and I’m not talking about shallow muddy lakes such as around the faribault area where I primarily fish that’s all

Shallow water fish are muddy. Scour hole fish are the best eating fish in the upper midwest.

I don’t see how Steve and Kari should be responsible for flyers or a sign If some of the anglers wanted to get one made up I am pretty sure they could find a place for it but it does not fall on them.

If we could get BK with his six shooter to act like he is snake hunting by the sign… That will surely get peoples attention and maybe they would read it? Oh no they would probably cover their eyes and run

It’s bad and all, but the guys ripping out their limits of 15-20 inchers every day do just as much damage. Sure do see alot of boxes plump full this time of year. Not that it’s a huge deal, take em if you want em, fish are for eating!
I rarely keep em out of the river myself because they are pretty soft texturewise compared to a lake fish IMO. Mushy.

You really shouldn’t fish in the scour hole there. What the heck fun is catching a bunch of dinks and the rare 15 incher anyway?
But, like has been said, you really can’t stop people from doing it and alot of them that are, know that their released fish are dying anyway and really don’t care.

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they aren’t that good in comparison to actual clean water environments as in lakes

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Wwhhhaaat! They are delicious, even more so I would argue. You get those very eutrophic lakes and blah, might as well munch on the weeds that came with them too.

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Put em side by side and have a taste test. I will guarantee you the river fish is much “mushier” than any fish taken from a lake. Even the greenest lake in MN. Not saying the taste is really any different, but the texture sure is.

The problem we are dealing with is that people don’t want to go fishing anymore, they want to sit at home read all about where and when the bite is gain more info from there and then just go catching, when they get there they give it 10+ min of fishing and give up to catching. Those who actually fish know how much more rewarding a productive day on the water is after you have toughed out some less than ideal days.

Where have all the fisherman gone

I don’t think that is new. I think the problem is change People that have fished there for years don’t see a problem because there is once again fish there… so why change. This is human nature… change is bad. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” Well with wildlife and fisheries, by the time its ‘broke’ fixing it takes a long time or maybe altogether impossible. Everyone with their head out of the sand knows that catch and release means more bigger fish, that catching fish out of deep water can kill them, and that keeping too many fish is bad for the overall numbers… but to stop doing those things means CHANGE… and change is bad.

In an instant results/reactionary society, the concept of ‘lag time’ is lost on most. “If I keep killing small saugers… big deal there are more down there. I’ve been doing this for years”. Lag time means that consequences of our actions may not happen immediately or even soon… but somewhere down the road so by the time the results are being felt… its too late to change. This is a problem… we can all see that I think. But some can’t or choose not to. But the problem should be addressed proactively… not re-actively when populations are depleted.

The DNR could regulate it but its a sticky situation for them not to speak of the fact that it will take time… maybe years for them to do something.
My suggestion is WE DO SOMETHING about it. There are 3 pages of posts on this thread… I’d be willing to guess that thats a large enough group for people to take notice. Someone put up a sign and put the names of people who support it hell I don’t know. SOMETHING… ANYTHING. I would but I live hours away… but I’ll be happy to support/sign something to educate/sway/encourage people to stop.

I hate being pessimistic, but what do you do about all the “other” deep holes that are fished? The scour hole at the dams (regardless of which one) all gets pounded and has the most visibility. But there are so many other deep holes that get fished that no one takes notice of. You can safe guard a few holes by restricting the distance from the dam, but you haven’t solved the problem.
I’m not saying its OK, but just that we need to use caution in what we recommend or ask for. It would be great if everyone had good ethics and more laws weren’t written. Imagine an extreme case if the river was shut down for game fish from march 1st through the first week of May

I thought about that too Randy… and you’re absolutely right. Pool 4 is a destination fishery for many though. So if someone comes there and sees that Pool 4 anglers are stepping up and making a change… maybe it will register and they will take it to their waters. I realize this probably isn’t going to start a fishing revolution overnight… I’m not naive. But its gotta start somewhere…

Why not make it uncomfortable for those that choose to fish the hole? Some peer harrassment could go a long way. Net the fish floating and return them to the poor guys who apparently have holes in their livewells.

PLAIN AND SIMPLE AND HAS BEEN SAID MANY A TIMES…

YOU CANT FIX STUPID

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Net the fish floating and return them to the poor guys who apparently have holes in their livewells.

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Meanwhile you have how many fish in your possession, and by what means did you take gamefish from this fishery?

Just an FYI in case you haven’t heard. Smoking causes Cancer, Asthma, COPD, Emphysema, cardiovascular disease, etc. Your second hand smoke leads to the same in your children. Anybody not know this yet??? You can educate all you want. people don’t give an EFFFF!!!!! Free country you know.

I can’t believe people would rather fish there over the spots downstream where you have the chance at a fish of a lifetime.

I fish pools 4-9, pretty much year round, and can tell you that the vast majority of the craddle robbing from scour holes happens right at the dams. I whole heartedly agree that the vast majority of the people fishing the scour holes know what they’re doing and the effects it can have on the fishery. It makes me sick to tell the truth.

The only thing I really don’t like about moving the restriction further downstream is that there are shallow areas near the dam that can produce great fishing, and I see nothing wrong with ethically catching fish from those areas.

I’ve said it many times, and will say it many more, “You can’t regulate stupidity”. Maybe this is profiling, but when I see somebody in a $40K + boat, dressed head to toe in high end gear, using legend elite rods etc….. I hold them to a higher standard. May not be fair, but when you are out there advertising yourself in everything you wear or do, then fish live bait in 60+ feet of water, you’re making yourself an even bigger target.

That doesn’t make it right for anybody to do, but I think a lot of people justify it because “Look at that guy, he looks like a pro, and he’s doing it”.

I think it comes down to a much more selfish group of people these days. I hear it all the time “I drove all the way here, I have to keep something”. Not my cup of tea, but to each their own I guess.

2013 Scour Hole Post<<

2012 Scour Hole Thread<

2010 Scour Hole Post<<

2008 Scour Hole Post<<

2004 Scour Hole Post<<

2003 Scour Hole Post<<

2002 Scour Hole Post<<

There’s over 20 pages of links to threads talking about the scour hole and it’s fish killing ability on Ido alone.

I am just glad that we are finally talking about this.

I don’t know what emotion to feel with that BK…

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PLAIN AND SIMPLE AND HAS BEEN SAID MANY A TIMES…

YOU CANT FIX STUPID

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So we should turn our backs and pretend like theres not a problem? Seems like that has bitten people in the plenty of times before…

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I don’t know what emotion to feel with that BK…

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It just is, no emotion needed.

If killing fish out of the scour hole is a problem to the fishery, you can bet MN or WI…or both DNR’s would be all over it.

If they decide to close off the scour hole completely to fishing, it’s going to be because of public opinion and not biology.

On the flip side of this, I don’t like seeing dead fish floating either. Not even walleyes and saugers.

I don’t want to be the debbie downer, but P-4 is an awesome sauger factory. What we are talking about here is ethics/personal philosophy and not biology.

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PLAIN AND SIMPLE AND HAS BEEN SAID MANY A TIMES…

YOU CANT FIX STUPID

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So we should turn our backs and pretend like theres not a problem? Seems like that has bitten people in the plenty of times before…

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youngfry – I think the point being made is that if you slam your head into a brick wall frequently enough, your a bit numb and realize you can’t walk through it. For as long as i can remember fishing the WI River (Sac dam), Genoa, Tremp,Winona,…and so on, this has been a problem. A very well thought out plan needs to be figured out before rushing into new laws. If you put a distance restriction your going to kill the fishing floats and possibly a lot of very good shallow water locations.
It is very much like the same group of hunters that feel compelled to shoot every flipp’n doe they see in the CWD zones. Just because they can get free doe tags, they shoot everything. Now years later, the same group of people scratch their heads and are pissed off at the DNR because they don’t see any deer. When it happens it will be abrupt. Pass a jar of skittles around a class room and tell every kid they can take as many as they can fit in a hand. The jar gets passed around and everyone seems happy. Suddenly, the jar is passed to a kid and he only is able to get a couple and the jar is empty….and there is still more kids sitting there waiting on their “share” or opportunity. Sucks to be them with all the greedy turds before them. Yet, along the way, there were a few kids that didn’t eat candy and just passed the jar along.
Personally, I think Nov 1st through May 1st – Required Sauger kill of the first 6 you catch within 500 yrds of the dam. No release and any/all sauger caught up to your limit of 6 MUST be kept in your possession as your daily bag. So if you elect to fish the scour, you can catch and must keep your sauger…… Now, how do you address the 11″ walleyes caught???????? If they are released, a high percentage dies. If they are kept, your creating another nightmare to manage.
Maybe we need to go to a system like they have in Germany. In order to get a fishing license, you need to take enough classes to dam near become a fish bilogist

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Just an FYI in case you haven’t heard. Smoking causes Cancer, Asthma, COPD, Emphysema, cardiovascular disease, etc. Your second hand smoke leads to the same in your children. Anybody not know this yet??? You can educate all you want. people don’t give an EFFFF!!!!! Free country you know.

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This is a great example. Many people still smoke, but there is a lot less of it now.

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I don’t know what emotion to feel with that BK…

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It just is, no emotion needed.

If killing fish out of the scour hole is a problem to the fishery, you can bet MN or WI…or both DNR’s would be all over it.

If they decide to close off the scour hole completely to fishing, it’s going to be because of public opinion and not biology.

On the flip side of this, I don’t like seeing dead fish floating either. Not even walleyes and saugers.

I don’t want to be the debbie downer, but P-4 is an awesome sauger factory. What we are talking about here is ethics/personal philosophy and not biology.

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Hey, Brian, try making the “if it were a problem the DNR would be all over it” argument over in the Mille Lacs forum.

Hypothetically if they moved the refuge line past the Scour Hole, can this body of water still handle this much pressure?[close quote]

Seems to me like the C O Engineers could just put a cable across below every dam and keep everyone away for at least 300 feet! The heck with the DNR’s, the Corps controls the dams. Yes? No? Seems to me back in the late 70’s there was a sign saying keep away 300 feet!

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Hey, Brian, try making the “if it were a problem the DNR would be all over it” argument over in the Mille Lacs forum.

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Completely different circumstances.