Walleye Tourney

[jimmer]

The decision has been made regarding the walleye tournament a few years back that was held on Sturgeon Lake. They lost some fish and this was the result.

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/2013/12/17/tournament-boss-let-walleye-die-mnr

 

[mike rousseau]

Soon enough we won't have tournaments because of stories like this...

 

I'm sure there were plenty of people around that would have liked to keep their catch... Or bystanders that would have kept walleye caught by others...

 

We are responsible for our catches in our tournaments... Each boat must drive their walleye out to deeper cooler water for release... We weight... Drive out to release... Then return for results and refreshments...

[NAW]

I'm not a tournament angler, so I really don't have any idea about it all works.

 

To bad that they didn't follow the proper protocols. I'm assuming this sort of thing happens quite a bit. Fish dying due to tournaments that is....

[jimmer]

I haven't seen what Mike describes, but it would probably work better and the fish would get spread out more on release.

[fishindevil]

It was a total disgrace and it was caught on video and pictures there was also 2 garbage bags full of dead walleyes and for the next day there was dead walleyes all around the shore by the park right near the tourney dock !!!!! It was very hot that day and it was a gong show from the get go !!! Should have been fined a lot more than that and there was a lot more wrong than that a lot of people were really upset about what happened enough said ....

[captpierre]

I wonder how badly this incident set the walleye fishery back on Sturgeon.

 

Likely most were females. That's a pile of eggs.

[grt1]

in red lake at the fall classic on Labour Day, the fish are checked in the live wells when the anglers are called in the docks. stressed fish and dead fish are assessed penalties in the weight allowed for them and then as soon as they are weighed, the good fish are released by way of a tube into the lake and the sressed fish are put into a solution to try and help them revive. sure some die, but those are cleaned and given to senior citizens and the homeless shelter to make use of them so no waste is happening.

[esoxansteel]

I wonder how badly this incident set the walleye fishery back on Sturgeon.

 

Likely most were females. That's a pile of eggs

 

 

Not so sure about your statement as the slot size is in place to protect the larger spawning females, and with the 35 to 50 cm slot, there would be likely a split between males and females, then without the slot where the majority would be females.

 

 

[esoxansteel]

If you are going to do a tournament do it right, and the emphasis should be on the safe return and well been of the fish, and not how much money one can make by running the event, or winning the event.

[Richie Razor]

Totally disgusting. Just make it a catch and keep tourney, Then Everyone's happy.

[irishfield]

Yep.. that would have fixed it and everyone would have gone home happy. 497 fish LEGALLY dead vs 72 and nobody would have cared.

Edited December 18, 2013 by irishfield

[chris.brock]

Totally disgusting. Just make it a catch and keep tourney, Then Everyone's happy.

I hear what you're saying, but no, not everyone's happy with a catch and keep tourney

 

-a lot of tourney guys don't keep fish for the table, and don't want to

-the people leaning towards the "tree hugging" side of the debate, definitely won't be happy

-the locals and cottagers on the lake won't be happy with the influx of skilled anglers hammering their lake for a weekend

 

edit- but I guess you can't make everyone happy, so who knows

Edited December 18, 2013 by chris.brock

[Richie Razor]

Yep.. that would have fixed it and everyone would have gone home happy. 497 fish LEGALLY dead vs 72 and nobody would have cared.

LOL - sure, just have a giant fish fry at the conclusion of the tourney. Everybody happy happy happy.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Chotchkies House

[nancur373]

Yep.. that would have fixed it and everyone would have gone home happy. 497 fish LEGALLY dead vs 72 and nobody would have cared.

Funny isn't it? I've heard (don't take my word for it) about bow hunting for carp tournaments on Rice Lake where all the fish were trucked away. No one cares when it's not the 'elite' fish.

[Steve]

I recall a number of hard core bass tournament guys denying that this occurred when first reported after the tournament.

 

I recall a fellow (can't remember his name) who was adamant that the deaths occurred and he was quickly damned by the tournament anglers who fished the tournament saying he had alternate motives.

 

Very interesting the fellow was right.

 

Can someone dig up that post? I did a search, but like usual, could not come up with what I was looking for (likely cause I couldn't remember the threat title).

[Garfisher]

http://ontariofishingcommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63415

That's the one I think you're looking for. It's too bad that it happened, successful tourney with lots of anglers and many fish caught. The only problem I see with a catch and keep tourney is that it could be a lot of fish removed from the lake (although perfectly legal) if the bite is on that weekend. And I'm sure the locals wouldn't exactly like to see that many walleye harvested from their local waters (although a nice little boost of money to the local economy).

Edit: Don't mind the highlighted words in the thread, used the search tool so the terms used are still highlighted.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Garfisher

[fishindevil]

Yes the MNR was called when people noticed what was going on and took pics and the whole nine yards !!!! Again it was lousy planning and everything that day it was very hot and you cannot have walleyes in hundred degree livewells sitting there being held up and not released properly they cannot take to temps !!!!! The tournament is now several weeks earlier than it was just for that reason alone !!! All the special walleye regs were put into place here on the kawarthas to help the walleyes then this happened the MNR should have shut it down for good !!!

[Terry]

I still think catch and release tourneys work

they need to be as careful as possible

and I hate to see it happen, the guy was charged so lessons have been learnt

I think the shame is the fish were wasted

I am pretty sure over 72 fish are removed from the lake every weekend

[Sinker]

I'm pretty sure there were well over 72 fish killed in that tourney. In fact, I'm positive.

 

Bass tourneys....sure, go for it. Walleyes.....no way.....too much pressure on them already, and they don't do well with live release.

 

S.

[captpierre]

I'm pretty sure there were well over 72 fish killed in that tourney. In fact, I'm positive.

 

Bass tourneys....sure, go for it. Walleyes.....no way.....too much pressure on them already, and they don't do well with live release.

 

S.

 

Agree

[Terry]

the only problem is tourneys will not stop

 

and I can see them going back to catch and keep tourneys, cause measure and photo will never work for big money

[mike rousseau]

and they don't do well with live release.

 

S.

I've never had a walleye die in my boat in a tourney... And some days we are smashing 4 foot waves with our fish in the well...

 

It's all about anglers running their pumps STEADY ALL DAY and putting the weigh in in a smart place... Not in a shallow bay or creek if possible... If that's the case every boat is pumping really warm water into their wells right before they weigh (stress) the fish... Also if the anglers are fishing deep water the fish are likely to have a tough go regardless of how their treated after capture...

[glen]

Wow. I am glad the truth came out.

[jimmer]

Just read in the Lindsay paper that he also got banned from organizing, managing, working at or running any WALLEYE tournaments for two years.

Edited December 19, 2013 by jimmer

[Garnet]

I fished the tournament and my fish went to the scales in perfect condition, excellent color and lively.

 

Mike is correct in you need to keep fresh water steady for walleyes. They are H2O hogs.

 

A high percent of the anglers fishing this tournament were bass guys and I think they used their livewell timers and got there fish in trouble.

 

If the anglers send fish to the scale in poor shape bad things happen. The live release boat should never get these fish and can't fix H2O depleted fish.

 

So the last guy in the chain takes the hit and it should be the anglers.

 

The organizer have done a decent job educating there participants on good livewell management and now scrutinize ever fish being weight in.