Shallow Water Lakers!

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

Yesterday I went out for a day of laker fishing on the local put-grow-takes. After a brief ride by snowmachine, we set up shop on the shallow side of a deep water point. Throughout the day we had success keeping on the move in search of active fish. Pearl and pink/white tubes seemed to be the most effective lure, although one fish was taken on a small 1/4 Doctor. All in all I caught 5 lake trout. It was a great trial run for my new flasher!

 

It was also my first experience with the new regs. In our fmz, you are now permitted 2 lake trout, one over 40 cm, one under... This made for some interesting measurements throughout the day as ALL of the lakers were in between 15-17 inches! lol

For our keepers we had to be VERY CAREFUL! I'm not sure why the same regs apply to put and takes as natural lakes however...If you want the PGT program to work better, why not maintian the full limits in stocked lakes, and increase stocking?

 

I'm always glad to see acts for conservation, but in the case of the PGT's, isn't this just trying to save money? Aren't our license fees etc. supposed to "ENHANCE" our outdoor opportunity?

Edited January 5, 2010 by Dr. Salvelinus

[Musky or Specks]

That would be great but not everyone is honest about were fish were caught. If all you have in the cooler is a fillet with a skin strip left on it its easy to tell the species but not were it came from.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

very true!

but there exists special regs in this area on specific lakes even... for example, some trophy lakes in my area don't open until feb 15th! others have a similar size restriction like one over 40 cm, one under...

what that sort of reg necessitates is the return of CO's in the field...a totally different can of worms i guess!

[Musky or Specks]

I have no answer for that can. Well I have an answer but spending more money on CO's even to the extant of doubling or tripling our license fees would be unpopular and wouldnt work because of the way our constitution is set up regarding tax laws, You'll notice you never see any politicians campaigning to get rid of the part of our constitution which prevent taxes specifically collected and spent. They love the general coffer law.

[pike slayer]

this is what i was complaining about before. most lake trout lakes i fish in our area are stocked lakes and theres always lots of fish. like saturday i fished 12:30-3 and my buddy and i got 12 lakers, i was fishing in 15ft of water. all were under the slot size and you dont get to many over in that lake that are over slot size. also like bone lake. only open feb.15-mar.15 and the limit is 2 and no live bait is allowed(not sure on the regs now) the lake is just stupid!! i dont even put a second line in and my buddy and i will get over 20 in a day. you may get one or 2 over slot size. then if you look into the regs and the slot size doesnt apply to upper island lake?!?!?! what!?!? how does upper island not have a slot size?! this lake is surrounded by camps and get fished hard! ive also havent seen a lake trout come out of there that was under the slot size. this new reg has me scratching my head, i'll follow it but im sure alot of angry ppl arent gonna follow it.

[Spiel]

I always figured that laying 'em out in the snow (on the ice) in sub zero temps to get an accurate measure of whether or not you have to release (or can keep) is likely killing more fish than just taking your first 2 and moving on.

 

Let's face it, if you don't have to measure them you could decide what to keep and what to release while they are still in the water. No exposure to the cold and no excess handling.

 

IMHO slots sizes during the ice fishing season is asinine.

[Dara]

2 lake trout with one over and one under 16" is rediculous anyway...its just trying to make us mad and stop fishing. next year i hear we are getting a 3 spec limit...not gonna be much point in fishing pretty soon.

 

 

PS...not a penny of our license fees should go to pay CO's.

CO's are for catching poachers and poachers don't buy licenses.

Linces fees should be spent on taking care of the fish

[Eazy]

Great thread with lots of good input!

[Eazy]

In my personal opinion, catching and releasing trout probably kills most of them, espescially during the hardwater season..

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

I always figured that laying 'em out in the snow (on the ice) in sub zero temps to get an accurate measure of whether or not you have to release (or can keep) is likely killing more fish than just taking your first 2 and moving on.

 

Let's face it, if you don't have to measure them you could decide what to keep and what to release while they are still in the water. No exposure to the cold and no excess handling.

 

IMHO slots sizes during the ice fishing season is asinine.

 

 

it's can also be rather difficult to release a fish you pull out of deep water. if they simply made the limit 2, without introducing the size restrictions, it would allow for an angler to keep only injured fish like i try to, while releasing those that seemed to be healthy. or, an angler could simply keep his first two fish he caught.

 

i sure hope i see a dramatic improvement in the fishery and a new set of regs to go along with it in a few years.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

also like bone lake. only open feb.15-mar.15 and the limit is 2 and no live bait is allowed(not sure on the regs now) the lake is just stupid!! i dont even put a second line in and my buddy and i will get over 20 in a day.

 

 

why do you think, with it being so close to town, that bone has good fishing? those are native fish, and some of those lakes are considered "trophy" lakes. i fish some lakes in the park for the very reason that they maintain it as being a productive "trophy" fishery with special limits. i'm just not keen on the entire fmz having to follow this limit, when a large portion of the fishing in the zone is hatchery based.

Edited January 6, 2010 by Dr. Salvelinus

[pike slayer]

everyone does sooooo well there. i went all 4 weekends, each time one jig line and i had my limit within 30min. i brought in 3 other guys and we fished till lunch time and we caught over 30 lakers all using one line each with no live bait. i go back in the spring for an afternoon and my buddy and i got over 20. the lake is stocked. ive never got anything over 3lbs and i wouldnt consider it a "trophy" lake. ppl were just a buzzing when my buddy landed a 6lber out of there. most of those "trophy lakes" in the park are usually harder to get to and average joe wouldnt go back in there so they maintain their trophy status.