An interesting read. Walleye population declines are not exclusive to Mille Lacs. 
http://m.startribune.com/wisconsin-walleye-have-hit-a-wall-study-finds/478706063/
This piece from the article strikes familiar…
“Weakened “recruitment” of walleyes — sustaining baby fish into maturity — is central to the problem.”
Don’t fool yourselves, this has been happening here on the Mississippi. Look back to the 70’s and 80’s into the early 90’s. The fish that were there were unbelievable.
Things have changed big time on the river for walleye and sauger.
Ya, some will comment differently, but if you fished back then, there is a huge difference now.
Where have the white bass (stripers) gone. Another example.
Don’t fool yourselves,
No, not at all but I can imagine how that might happen?
This observation or conclusion from the WI Fisheries Biologists is what has me worried as we all should be worried.
“Weakened “recruitment” of walleyes — sustaining baby fish into maturity — is central to the problem.”
Without derailing my own thread, this is exactly the same conclusion the MN DNR is applying to Mille Lacs walleye recruitment (or lack thereof). Plenty of tribal netting accusations of the declining walleye population on Mille Lacs but the DNR has maintained this is the primary issue. The lack of YOY survival.
Now when you have a very similar situation going on far away in Wisconsin studied lakes, you have to wonder? Are the lakes in the northern ceded territory still netted and speared liberally?
And as for the decline in the Mississippi river?, there is no tribal netting or other harvest. Bag limits are in place, so I would not suggest that it is overharvest either.
Please don’t say it’s global warming… 
Don’t fool yourselves, this has been happening here on the Mississippi. Look back to the 70’s and 80’s into the early 90’s. The fish that were there were unbelievable.
Things have changed big time on the river for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye and sauger.
Ya, some will comment differently, but if you fished back then, there is a huge difference now.
Where have the white bass (stripers) gone. Another example.
Is the DNR covering it up then? Their surveys suggest the population is doing great. Could it possibly be because pool 4 has changed so much in the last 4 years? Genuinely curious not being a wise guy.
Global warming? – no no no no no. It is clearly removing wood from the lakes edge.
WT$? seriously?
as far as global warming, I heard a local weather dude say this is a normal April.
I can’t remember when we actually made ice in April.
It’s a wacky world we live in nowadays.
Andy in reading these reports I have come to the conclusion that common sense doesn’t seem to common. Either that or I don’t understand the meaning of common sense.
The biologists are all wrong. It’s the Green Sunfish resurgence that’s hurting the Walleye population…
Now when you have a very similar situation going on far away in Wisconsin studied lakes, you have to wonder? Are the lakes in the northern ceded territory still netted and speared liberally?
Good questions! Unfortunately there isn’t much data to go off of…
I have read that some of this is to do with all the salt we use on the roads that get washed into the water system. But WI doesn’t use salt on their roads (I believe). I am sure it is a combination of thing but who really knows what it is.
Maybe they can rent the same specialist Minnesota used. They already have the data Minnesota gave them so they would have to do even less work.
Don’t fool yourselves, this has been happening here on the Mississippi. Look back to the 70’s and 80’s into the early 90’s. The fish that were there were unbelievable.
Things have changed big time on the river for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye and sauger.
Ya, some will comment differently, but if you fished back then, there is a huge difference now.
Where have the white bass (stripers) gone. Another example.
I agree that some things have “changed big time” specifically regarding saugers. There simply isn’t the population in the system that there was even 10 years ago. I think angler harvest combined with less than ideal spawning conditions some years is playing a part.
Regarding the good ole’ days of further back – I think people forget how fishing truly was and assume it was always just “better.” I think the populations are probably lower today than they were for walleyes 20+ years ago, but not drastically. I also think that so many people fish the same exact spots repeatedly that when things change and fish aren’t there – there’s “no fish”.
There’s no reason for a 6 fish limit in my opinion, especially from March through May 1st. A 3 fish limit would suffice. This step would be cost-free to implement, and would not deter anglers from hitting the water. It’d be a logical step to preserving the resource for the future.
There’s no reason for a 6 fish limit in my opinion, especially from March through May 1st. A 3 fish limit would suffice. This step would be cost-free to implement, and would not deter anglers from hitting the water. It’d be a logical step to preserving the resource for the future
I agree 100% 
Another potential issue is the amount of tiling done in the crop fields. That water run-off has to go somewhere and ends up in the lakes/rivers. It wasn’t all that long ago that tiling became the norm.
So do people really not understand that fisheries are cyclical? No? Ok lets push an agenda and make more laws. that helps.
my opinion, you go to any of the local lakes around here in the summer and you will find allot of the old weed beds gone, they have been sprayed and killed off. these chemicals the lake associations keeps dumping into the lakes for weed control not only kills of the weeds, it kills off the food chain from small insects, to young fry, and the habitat that fish need to survive to become adults fish.
Where is “around here”?
I have read that some of this is to do with all the salt we use on the roads that get washed into the water system. But WI doesn’t use salt on their roads (I believe). I am sure it is a combination of thing but who really knows what it is.
I maintained the hill Hwy 8 at St Croix Fall for years ,on a good storm about 50 tons of salt is put on the hill , Where it ends up at the bridge,to the river, god only knows what Minnesota lays down
The walleye/sauger, crappie, and sunfish limit should all be cut in half immediately. Its pretty obvious with the technological advancements, the extended use of wheel houses, and the bucket toters keeping everything under the sun that we need to lower the bag limits before its all cleaned out. Minimum lengths for sunfish and crappies wouldn’t hurt either since catching large ones is like a big foot sighting now. Lets avoid the mistakes we’ve already made with pike and not have to basically beg people to harvest them.
You make good points Grant. How about closing the season on inland waters from say Nov. 1 until Jan 1 also? Might keep a few people from falling through.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Tuma wrote:</div>
I have read that some of this is to do with all the salt we use on the roads that get washed into the water system. But WI doesn’t use salt on their roads (I believe). I am sure it is a combination of thing but who really knows what it is.I maintained the hill Hwy 8 at St Croix Fall for years ,on a good storm about 50 tons of salt is put on the hill , Where it ends up at the bridge,to the river, god only knows what Minnesota lays down
holly crud around 1 1/2 truck loads? put a butter churn in the water and make your own butter or ice cream.
Mn announced a short time ago a warning of salts being introduced to our lakes and rivers.
I like that idea Dutchboy. The problem is, people venturing onto early unsafe ice is at their own risk. Their own stupidity is what is driving these people to do it and law enforcement should not be responsible for the actions of stupid people.
No doubt about it, less salt needs to be used on the roads.
No doubt about it, less salt needs to be used on the roads.
Reply
Hmmmmmm do you think that’s going to work??? Making roads less safe will never be an option VS saving the fish from salt!! In my opinion social media is killing the population in our lakes and rivers…I have fished pool 4 for 20 years and there were a fraction of the boats back then as there is now. A fishing report is made and within a few hours it has been shared and re-posted and shared 100 times and another 500 people have been tagged. I’m guilty myself of over posting my fishing reports and if I’m not being slammed for keeping fish I’m pushed off the spots by other boats. Yup, I can thank or blame myself…
Great point on social media Woody. I haven’t ever done a report nor do I think I ever would for various reasons. But, one reason is the one you mentioned.
It maybe a point to discuss but it could deflection.
my opinion, you go to any of the local lakes around here in the summer and you will find allot of the old weed beds gone, they have been sprayed and killed off. these chemicals the lake associations keeps dumping into the lakes for weed control not only kills of the weeds, it kills off the food chain from small insects, to young fry, and the habitat that fish need to survive to become adults fish.
Lake Mendota in Madison is a prime example.Absence of weed beds,and the water clarity decline.Once a top lake for perch and big bluegills,now it is a has-been.
Fish populations in the Miss river have always been cycling.White bass are on the down,but the crappie and perch are on a up cycle.Plus add in all the high water we had in the past years,the fish are more dispersed vs concentrated below the dams.
Plus I wish they would cut way back on the salt/corrosive crap on the roads.No reason to put down salt,just to plow it right off the roads.Kind of defeats the purpose,like wiping your butt and then taking a dump?
They put the salt on the road first to keep the slop from freezing on the road. If you let snow melt without additives it will freeze and turn to ice.
All the salt melts the snow,it then freezes turning to ice.Personally i find better traction on a snow covered road over a treated road that melts snow then freezes solid ice.
When I was a young fisherman 20-30 years ago we didn’t have a fish finder on our 14′ aluminum boat with throw-able cushions for seats and a 8hp motor that took us 15 minutes to get to the fishing spots. I then fished with the 1 or 2 rods I owned spooled with old school mono line and had a selection of a common set of lures.
Today, I own a big boat with a big motor and Side Imaging fish finders and GPS saved locations…I can get to those same spots in 30 seconds and then scan entire shorelines in minutes and then only focus on the spots that I can see fish at all while fishing in a cushy seat, with a cold drink thanks to a built-in cooler. I have many rods all setup for specific fish and spooled with the latest technology line that pretty much never breaks and a wide range of lures with advanced technology. On the more popular lakes I can also instantly look at my phone and read tweets or message boards where other fisherman are live posting what’s working and at what depths…
This modern day fishing setup (bigger boat & motor with multiple fish finders) is probably pretty common amongst most anglers (Just look at the rigs heading up 169 every weekend)…of course this is not everyone, but it’s becoming the majority…
My point is, how can anybody argue against technology not having a impact on today’s diminishing fish populations? Now some people will argue back that you still need to get the fish to bite, but that’s alot easier when you know your bait is right in front of a fish’s mouth vs blindly casting at water that might not have any fish for hundreds of yards. With the latest tech like Livescope you can even tell what species they are and when they are actually biting your bait. Technology’s impact on Ice fishing over the past 5-10 years is probably also having a huge impact on populations…
Tech plays into it. But limits have decreased and if you believe the DNR there are less anglers so things balance somewhat. I don’t think you can point a finger at any one thing that hurts a lake. It’s a combo of many, many things.
You guys are all wrong…it’s already been determined that it’s “the pill” causing the decline. Women taking the pill and the urine being flushed into our water resources is causing fish not being able to reproduce. Too bad big pharm trumps the fishing industry.
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