I just want to give a shout out to the guys in Redwing RELEASING the female walleyes so they can spawn. Was out a few days last week and saw plenty of people releasing healthy females. Also saw a lot going in livewells. Just remember the future generation! Specially when some of the people I saw are so called Guides that make money off this resource.
I do, but I wonder how keeping all males affects the resource. I’m sure we’ll never know.
This maybe dumb to ask but how can you tell if it’s a male or female.Why isnt there a rule to release all females until after spawn
This maybe dumb to ask but how can you tell if it’s a male or female.Why isnt there a rule to release all females until after spawn
They have a huge belly full of eggs right now.
The rule in my boat is anything over 18″ gets released. Anything over 23″ gets photographed. Anything over 28″ gets a girth measurement. Anything over 30″ gets a replica.
Saw a lot of nice healthy fat females get put back today. I seen my buddy caught a 23/24in
And it was so fat I couldn’t believe it. He put it back immediately. Those are the fish that need to be well cared for prolly the healthiest fish in the river in that range. (mid 20’s) that is.
Its nice to see guys care about the fish/sport as much as me. I keep fish just like the next guy, but now is not the time to keep females for me personally.
I Specially when some of the people I saw are so called Guides that make money off this resource.
…1st of all what do you mean by SO CALLED GUIDES.?…And as far as MAKEING MONEY OFF THE RESOURCES. Why shouldn’t so called guides make money off the resource. There are tons of people that make money off the resources. Like Bait Shops, Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Guides for Elk, deer, Bear, Goats, Sheep Waterfowl, etc. etc…Resorts, Tackle companies, Boat makers, Boat Sales and Service, Motels, Bait Dealers, Gun Sales for hunting, etc. etc. etc. etc. … River Rat Randy Guide service ” SO CALLED GUIDE” Retired. … …rrr
No need for specifics. Won’t go there!! 99% of the guides I know or heard of I respect including you rrr. There’s always the 1%. I’m all for people making money, god knows I spend a lot on the sport. All local as much as I can.
CPR for me. Everyone will do what they think is right. Good luck to all the next few weeks. Then this topic will be mute till next year.
No need for specifics. Won’t go there!! I’m all for people making money, god knows I spend a lot on the sport. All local as much as I can.
CPR for me. Everyone will do what they think is right. Good luck to all the next few weeks. Then this topic will be mute till next year.
Wait. What? You go there but when confronted you refuse to respond?
I went far enough biggill. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m out.
I myself won’t eat anything that swims! So mine are all released. For those that fish with me in any body of water, nothing over 18″ is kept, and if the 18″er is full of eggs that to will be released!
Nice avatar pic DC…..did that one go back?
There are a lot of guides on this site, most of whom I have never met and don’t know, and some who I often disagree with. Over the years of reading what they stand for and how they conduct themselves I’d have no problem saying that they are about as ethical when it comes to safeguarding the resource as one could get. Taking a back-handed shot at these guys is low.
RRR- we all know there is a perception out there amongst some people that guides “take advantage” of our resources and that will never change. I just find it interesting that when resources are mentioned, a few of the following manufactures never get mentioned:
Any Coal burning power plants
Any tackle manufacture that uses lead or metal
Any trade that uses lumber
Any electricians or plumbers that use copper
Any electronic manufactures that use precious metal
Any automobile manufacture that uses steel or other products in manufacturing
Any live bait companies
Any petroleum company that produces end user oil or combustion fluids (gas, diesel, ethonal…)
Any Farmer that makes a living off the ground or livestock
Any Forestry
Pretty much anyone that manufactures anything or installs anything uses our resources in some capacity, yet they never get called out. But because I sell a service to educate people on a common resource that “you” use, I’m a bad guy.
The reality is no matter what, there will always be the few people that think they have a level of entitlement and greed. I couldn’t readliy pull the report up from the DNR to see how many licensed guides are in WI, but I’m quite sure it is out numbered by so called sportsmen that double dip on bag limits, violate laws, and practice urine poor resource management.
If a client catches a 22″ female and wants to keep it, it is within their right to do so. Would I do my best to convince them to let it go? Absolutely. Bottom line though is it is their fish, they caught it, and if the laws say they can keep it, they aren’t doing anything wrong.
Maybe you should go talk to everyone you see throw a female in the well and take a count on how many are guides and how many are just fisherman.
I’m glad this post came up.
Ski and I were talking about this over the weekend when at least 3 fish over 30″ were brought home to have mounted.
We came up with the thought that replicas are a good thing. Much easier to keep clean too.
But we couldn’t figure out who’s right was more important. The fella that takes a trophy home or the CPR fella that brow beats an angler that takes his legally caught fish home (no matter what the size)
I know one thing that does not work, and that’s posting to an excited anglers photo in a forum or social media complaining that the fish wasn’t released.
That just tee’s off the angler and sets up a wall between the “conservation minded” angler and the fella that wants to take home dinner (no matter what size).
I would suggest private messages to folks if you feel that strongly about killing those (relatively) old females. I’ve found people are more receptive to listening when they aren’t being embarrassed on the internets.
I’m getting to be an expert at the above with all the gill held sturgeon photos showing up lately.
I feel it’s a win/win/win ending when an angler catches a trophy fish, has a replica made and allows the fish to be caught by another lucky angler.
A great memory ends up on the wall, the replica fella makes some money and his/her business grows and lastly there’s a chance that you can catch it.
Forget about the spawn. But that’s just my opinion.
Oh,and by the way,so called guide River Rat Randy has probably caught and released more female walleyes than all of us put together…..
Just sayin…..
WKW
River Rat Randy Guide service ” SO CALLED GUIDE” Retired. … …rrr
Say it aint so 
I’m glad this post came up.
Ski and I were talking about this over the weekend when at least 3 fish over 30″ were brought home to have mounted.
I’m not suggesting every trophy fish be kept, but I never feel bad about someone that wants to mount a 30+” fish. The fertility rate of them OLD females are next to nothing compared to those 18-22″
I am getting tired of the judgmental comments. I always let any big fish go, but I do keep fish to eat. For me as long as the fish are legal to keep there is nothing bitching on social media can be a positive.
It’s a tough spot for a guide to be in, telling his paid clients to release a legal fish they want to keep. Countless times when I’m out with clients I put in my two cents near the beginning on what a good keeping and releasing size would be for the target fish. When they catch a fish I considder too big to keep I quickly say, so are we putting this momma back to get bigger and make more? And just leave it up to them. Something silent pulls at my throat when they say “no I want to keep it,” but I’m getting paid to help them catch fish, not to manage the resource. If I was there to play babysitter and tell people what they can and cannot keep, I would be sitting behind a desk with a green shirt on and not on the lake catching fish. The best we can do as guides is offer our two cents and encourage conservational fishing practices, once a legal fish comes up it’s up to the client not us.
Just like the world of whitetail deer hunting is it big enough. Catch and keep what makes you happy. Shoot whatever deer makes you happy. We all have different opinions, but we all enjoy the same sport!
…1st of all what do you mean by SO CALLED GUIDES.?…And as far as MAKEING MONEY OFF THE RESOURCES. Why shouldn’t so called guides make money off the resource. There are tons of people that make money off the resources. Like Bait Shops, Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Guides for Elk, deer, Bear, Goats, Sheep Waterfowl, etc. etc…Resorts, Tackle companies, Boat makers, Boat Sales and Service, Motels, Bait Dealers, Gun Sales for hunting, etc. etc. etc. etc. … River Rat Randy Guide service ” SO CALLED GUIDE” Retired. … …rrr
[/quote]
Whats your deal rrr? dairycats original comment was not calling out every guide out there, and if you know you are ethical than what does it matter? You took the whole post to another level.
Personally I can see that its not always the guide that is keeping the big fish, it is the clients that pay them, which puts those ethical guides in a tough spot. But if guiding is your sole/ first source of income than its hard to say no to a paying customer.
Everyone’s getting their panties in a bunch!
If you want to keep it, Please feel free. Only if everyone is kept will it make a differance.
If you want to keep it, Please feel free. Only if everyone is kept will it make a differance.
Not when we’re talking the river.
The MN DNR’s data shows angling does not affect the walleye population of Pool 4.
Now I know there will be a few of you (Mike) that say taking out 1 female has to hurt the population. If there is 1 less there is one less to spawn. Agreed in principle.
But looking at the whole picture, it’s like being worried that you’ll sit on a pin in a hay stack.
I’m more worried about this years low water levels.
Pollution from a train derailment, the nuclear plant, 3M or any source of instant death to the whole ecosystem.
After saying all of that, I still support catch and release- not only of females walleyes in the spring but all big fish through out the year.
Conservation of wildlife populations is a very complex science with many moving parts. There are entire departments at many major universities that study this stuff full time. We have made major progress over the last 20 years or so in understanding all of the moving parts. I like to believe that the DNR uses the best science available to determine annual harvests for all bodies of water. If harvesting fish was detrimental to the entire fishery, they would change the regs.
Example: We recently discovered that to combat desertification of some parts of the west, more animals were needed. This is very contrary to what you would assume on the surface. But it turns out that hoofed animals do a very good job aerating the ground allowing it to absorb and retain more water. However, just adding more hoofed animals wouldn’t do a thing because the would just hang around the water hole- leading to erosion and the overconsumption of the vegetation in a very small area. Then they discovered that if there are more predators, these hoofed animals wouldn’t just stay in one place and thus will aerated a much larger area and their food consumption will be more spread out.
Anyways, harvest what you want from what the DNR allows. Don’t just take fish for the sake of taking fish, but if it is going to go to use (i.e. your dinner plate) then that is a good thing. If you didn’t harvest fish, but instead bought it from the grocery store, that would lead to an increase in fish farms and other things. I now know exactly how much fish me, my wife and my daughter will eat for dinner (1 16-17″ walleye). I will take one of those fish, if I catch it, but I won’t take more, because it would go to waste. I fished probably 40 days this last ice season. Probably harvested 8 walleyes, 5 northern, 10 crappie and 2 lake trout. All were eaten and the remains are even used in my compost/garden. And we have not bought farm-raised fish in years.
Anyways, that is my 2 cents.
I’m with BK on this one. The river in this area is an exception. I somewhat trust the DNR that when they say fishing pressure here does not affect the population, I run with it. That being said, I am not so much hung up on the size of what I’m taking out: to a degree. I look to take 2 walleye (or whatever it takes for a meal for two) on each trip and make a half dozen trips or so each year to the river. And yes, if they are 17-20″, that is ideal. But I won’t get hung up on taking the occasional 21-24 either. I probably only take 10-15 walleye a year on the mighty Miss (mostly because I cannot seem to catch any more than that…lol) and think I am honoring the spirit of conservation with such a tiny harvest. If this were a local natural reproducing lake, then I have different standards that are more conservative.
I say “Fish em til they’re gone and we’ll all head to Wisconsin and deplete their waters while ours rebuilds. Hah!
The bigger question is whether to take larger females from lakes that are non-reproducing lakes (all stocked)? What say you?
I’m not smart enough to make these decisions on my own, therefore I rely on the DNR rules book. If it’s legal it’s ethical…now if I keep a legal fish or not, that’s my own damn business and none of your’s.
The topic ‘Who lets the females go?’ is closed to new replies.
