RiverEyes… Actual research has been done in the field but I have not seen one on walleyes and saugers. In the research, fish where collected with their stomachs in their mouths, fish were marked, than put in a weighted net and lowered to bottom. After 4 days the net was raised. I’m sure there were some fish dead from the stress of being in the net. The only other test would be to decompress them in an laboratory.
Anyway good luck fishing…I’m going fishing.

RiverEyes.. I think we are on the same page but are talking about different pools. What I am saying, I don’t believe there is a significant mortality associated with the gas bladder in walleyes and saugers taken from 35 and less feet of water. ( Guttenburg ).
If you are serious about pursuing the facts about gas bladders, size limits and daily limits, you can find them in NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES MANAGEMENT, any university library should have these books.

HI RiverEyes:
Maybe you can answer a question for me. Guttenburg has a higher mortality rate then Bellevue, but Guttenburg’s fishable waters are 35ft and less and I have never seen a stomach protruding from their mouths. Bellevue has 40 to 50 ft of fishable water; so why is the mortality greater at Guttenburg???
I like your statement: “I think therefore I believe”: but the DNR should know through studies before they make new fishing rules. I also have a copy of a study where black sea bass were caught at 140 to 170 feet and had a 61% survival rate. If the fish can swim to the bottom it recompress it’s self, if it floats on it’s side it may take up to 72 hours before regaining neutral buoyancy and is vulnerable to predation and adverse environmental conditions.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for whatever it take to improve the fishery, but I think the DNR should have the proof from studies that their proposal will work and with WI not agreeing with IA tells me something.

I would like to point out a couple of fallacies in fishsqzr’s posting. He states, ” We think a large part of the increased mortality we have documented in the last 6 years is due to catch and release during the winter period when fish are in 30+ feet in depth”. I have fished the Guttenburg area for the last eight years and have not seen one fish that has had it’s stomach protruding their mouth or gills. Guttenburg does not have 35+ ft. of fishable water.I hope the DNR have studies to prove the mortality is caused from this and not the ” We think – WE believe “. If WI does not close the river and IA does, think of the pressure this is going to put on the WI dams.
Also I don’t understand WI not wanting a slot limit on walleyes, when you state, if a lenght limit is concidered for sauger you would favor 15 or 16 inches to protect the spawners. What’s wrong with protecting the walleye spawners?
We need to do something to make the fishing better and it should be up and down the river, not just the IA side, and let’s do it on studies that show they help and not the ” We think – We believe”.