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| 62 Lbs to make the cut, 103.5 to win.  |
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Location: Lincolnshire, IL | 42 lbs to make the cut...75 lbs to win...and for some reason I think those numbers are even high.... |
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| Green Bays big fish population has been desimated!!! I'll say 68pounds to win. |
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Location: Berlin | I know the male population was desemanated in spring... I will say 81.5lbs RB
Edited by Rich S 7/18/2011 3:28 PM
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | 40.67 to the cut, 66.78 for the win. This is not to say someone might have a 30# plus bag one day. This will be interesting. |
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| I'm guessing 87.5 to win. There are plenty of big fish out there just not as easy to target right now. If your convinced the bigs are gone take a look at last years MWS event. Couldn't even cash a check with 30#. |
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| Not a chance you will make the cut with less than 50....and 80+ for a win.... |
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| 8lb+ average for the win.
6-7lb average to make the cut.
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| I re-worked my math.
120 lb's for win
expect to see several 40lb+ days.
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| Storms might mess a few things up but I will say 58.5 to make the cut and 108 for the win, |
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| I can see around 40 for "one" day..... but, I don't think anybody will be consistent with that kind of weight. Some nice fish are coming north, but no numbers that I've heard of yet and lots of alewifes. Couple more weeks, ya....... but not yet. Too much competition.
I think this will be won south of Oconto. 25-26lbs a day to make the cut. I've heard of some good pre-fish reports. Somewhere around 85-90lbs to win??? Great time of year to have this! Make's it very interesting and exciting...... Can't wait to see how this thing shakes out! Whom ever wins this, will deserve it! I think this event will be close, right to the end. Nail bitter.... no blow outs.
Best of luck to everyone!
Edited by RodBend'r 7/18/2011 10:02 PM
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| Alewives are in tight up north. Might as well fish in your pool. As for the MWS comment and the big weights, that tournament is held the second week of August. Totally different bite. 44-48 to make the cut, 77-81 to win. |
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| Any word on how many players in this event? I heard nearly 70 pro's. Sonny, if you read this for my own selfish reasons, pick a different month for next year 
The big fish are disappearing, anyone that can't admitt that hasn't been fishing Green Bay long enough to know the difference.
5 fish, 6 in the box your day is done, 2 years ago was a struggle to box limits of 23" fish in the FLW League. I'll take 43.45# to make the cut. I also think someone will hit the "long ball" in this event because of the heat..things could set up just right but it won't lock in a win. 83.88# for the win. |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | Last count is 138 pros and cos. |
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Location: Port Washington, wisconsin | Any word on how many players in this event? I heard nearly 70 pro's. Sonny, if you read this for my own selfish reasons, pick a different month for next year
I'd agree with you on that Jayman.
It could be ugly up there. 75 to win.
Edited by bagz 7/19/2011 9:01 AM
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | Why do they need to change the date?
Edited by jerry 7/19/2011 9:17 AM
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | budsbud66_w - 7/18/2011 6:09 PM
I re-worked my math.
120 lb's for win
expect to see several 40lb+ days.
hahahahahahaha over the last 15 years in a 5 fish limit tourney there has not been 5 baskets over 40 and now we are going to have several? whew biggs, thats a mouth full. |
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| 138. Thanks, Jerry.
A different month for me....July holds our plant shutdown. |
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Location: Lincolnshire, IL | stacker - 7/19/2011 10:38 AM
budsbud66_w - 7/18/2011 6:09 PM
I re-worked my math.
120 lb's for win
expect to see several 40lb+ days.
hahahahahahaha over the last 15 years in a 5 fish limit tourney there has not been 5 baskets over 40 and now we are going to have several? whew biggs, thats a mouth full.
Agreed, even during the great FLW bite in '06 and MWC '05 I think there were only a handful of baskets over 35 lbs.
This is a 3 day tournament, Butz won in '06 with an avg. of 27.25 lbs per day for a 4 day tournament... |
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| Jayman I'm glad to finally finally finally hear someone say what I've been telling people for the last three years! Green Bays Big fish are steadily dissappearing. Not to say the big fish aren't out there but those large schools of big fish are long gone. |
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| The big fish have been dissapearing since '06. The Noll brothers and the FLW put the lower bay big fish bite on display for the whole world to see. The DNR aided the situation by changeing the daily limit from 3 fish to 5 fish, before you knew it all the meat hawgs from 'Bago were up every weekend coming home with their cooler that they had to show everyone to let the whole neighborhood know that they are the best figleaf fisherman on the block.
Prior to that I would say Green bay was mostly a tourney angler playground highly backed by C-N-R. The good ole days are gone.
I said exactly what you're saying, The General, about 3 years ago and I was ridiculed that I didn't know what I was talking about. |
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| Jayman I agree, but don't blame the Bago meat hawgs, I have plenty of friends right up here close to the bay that will not through a fish back to save there AS@#!$# but will be the 1st ones crying when its to late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  |
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| Couldn't have been said better Jayman! When are people going to wake up and realize what there doing. Pretty soon the size structure is going to be similiar to bago. Pretty soon they will all be 15" to 20". Enough said, 78# for the win. |
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Location: Badgerland | not sure on the cut, but you will need at least 105 to win |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | 6lb average seems quite common right now. unless im missing something? If you really think the big fish are gone, your probably thinking of Winnebago very very very few big fish caught in the majors this year. Green bay appears normal as in numbers of big fish to me.
Remember the growth rate of walleyes on green bay is extremely fast. The resource has increased in amounts of bait. Every species in green bay is has an endless buffet of gobies.
If there is anything to complain about, it is the farkles that are making instructional video's on how to limit out on 21 inch fish every day and then posting the videos on lake-link. 1 moron posting 1 video has as much impact as the entire FLW event.
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| Jayman and others you are right on. I can't believe the number of fish being harvested. I would like to check some of those guys freezers. I bet they are way over their possession limits! It makes me cry.
42 lbs for the cut and 74 lbs for the win. Too much pressure in one area and alot of guys will be sharing fish. |
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| La sensual actriz estadounidense Ropa interior de hombre volvió a dejarse ver en ropa interior, pero esta vez no fue mientras grababa un comercial. Ocurrió a su paso en el camisetas interiores de Los Angeles, en el que la protagonista de Transformers dejó ver su brasier fucsia.Hace unos Pijamas Calvin Klein la actriz posó como imagen de la lencería de la firma italiana Armani. |
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| I say a 7lb. average or better to win. Somewere between 105 and 110 to win.
As far as big fish in Bago you have to remember that it is a migratory system. Fish go upriver to spawn. Sometimes mother nature throws a curve and they stay in the river longer than expected and farther upriver than most would realize. For Merc there was not enough time to get to where they were to fish effectively and for Otter you can not even try. They will eventually get bake to Bago but who actually seriously fishes there in August and September when the Bay is going strong. I would like to hear from Kendal K. on his thoughts about Big Fish in the Bago System.
I am not sure if they are fishing or not but it could be a guy called Tom or Tommy for the win (Keenan Kemos or Skarlis)
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Location: Chicago IL. | 91.25 for the win. |
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| schrdr......not diggin at ya but conversation was bout Green Bay but your thoughts on Bago are interesting.
Now that i seem to have some peoples attention I'm going to carry on with why I think Green Bays Big fish are disappearing. First of all like Jayman said if your one of the bandwagon jumpers that hopped on the train once the tourneys painted the picture for everyone then in all due respect you really don't know what Green Bay was really like ten years ago. Green Bay is far from what it was ten years ago and I for one don't want to see happen to the walleye population as to what already has happened to the perch and northern pike population on Green Bay.
Now lets look at contributing factors of reasons Green Bays Big fish are disappearing !!!
1) Tournaments showing people how and where to fish
2) Lake-Link, Social Media,
3) The violaters up on little-big bay de noc gill netting tons of fish
4) Guiding and Advertising
5) The DNR allowing a 5 fish bag limit
6) All this contributes to a massive increase in fishing pressure and harvest
Another reason I'm writing this is because i feel about 75% of the users on here are from Winnebago land and I'm looking to get the word out that Green Bay isn't this MASSIVE INDESTRUCTIBLE WALLEYE ECOSYSTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Case and point number one. I've spring fished the Menominee River for the past 20 years. Every year there was about a two week span that you would crush fish after they spawned. It would not be uncommon to boat 20 to 25 fish over 26 inches in one evening and thats just the big ones. You could do this for about a two week time frame after the spawn then it would get slower for a bit but then, THEN and I mean hang on ...those Cedar River fish would start moving south and pull up in the river mouth for about a weeks time. How do i know because of the tag returns year after year spelled it out of what was happening.
Now the past three years my night fishing on the Menominee has yielded this
2009 3 guys 14 trips 60 fish
2010 3 guys 10 trips 17 fish
2011 2 guys 12 trips 15 fish
Years prior to this my friends and i caught hundreds and i mean hundreds of nice walleyes along with what many people would consider trophys. It was some amazing fishing and its just not like that anymore on the Menominee. I mean yes there still is some good fishing there don't get me wrong but it is nothing like it use to be not even close!!! Where were all the guides this year???? Why wasn't Eric "big fish" Haatiji plastered all over lake-link holding numerous pig walleyes from the Menominee River.....Now he's on the Peshtigo catching 20 inchers Oh ya How come I didn't see Dale Strochein pulling his rig back and forth this spring day after day after day from the Menominee??? Saw very few of the diehards from Michigan at the Menominee this year.....my point in mentioning these names.....cuz the numbers aren't there! Having a six to ten fish day with one 28 incher is not good fishing. So if your going to respond by saying you had a great time there and caught a trophy fish well then to each his own but thats nothing like it use to be.
Case and point number two. The Oconto Area Lots and lots of postspawn fish use the area off county park II. You use to be able to roll through there and catch pig walleyes all the time in april thru June.....now its just average fishing you actually have a tough time catching big fish there. Seems still plenty of fish but no size.
Case and point number three. The Geano region now this one didn't last long once those fish got discovered they got hammered and I mean pounded. In a 5 year time span those big fish simply are no longer "EASY" to catch there anymore. Yes still fish in the region but big ones are tough, tough to find.
I could go on and on about other spots on Green Bay but ya there actually are some honey holes left out there. I just want to make people who don't have as much exposure to Green Bay as I do aware of what really is happening out there. Regardless of what you see or hear on the social media Green Bays fishing is declining!!!! Years and years of experience on the water have been proof and I just don't want to see happen to the walleye popuation as the perch and to some degree on the west shore the northern pike and brown trout. Those big old fish on the bay are anywhere from 12 to 20 years old and when you start taking those out of the system they just aren't gonna show up in a couple years from now. Green Bay is not the fish producing system like Winnebago it doesn't have warm water year around to increase growth rates. Its water is cold most of the year and 90% of it is not suitable walleye habitat.
So maybe people disagree and I'm sure there will be but I'm speaking from the days and days of time i fish Green Bay. No I'm not a meat hog I release all the big fish and do keep some for the pan. Thanks for reading my post!!! |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | I have emailed Kent V and have discussed this several times.. Green bay walleyes grow at an extremely rapid rate.
a female fish can reach 28 inchs in less then 8 years. It is extremely hard to believe. I did not believe it at first either.
Personal experiences can not be used to gauge population, fish concentration in area's have several dependants. Now I am not saying the large fish population isn't declining at some rate. It is on a constant cycle that is dependent on natural reproduction.
I try to explain this to waterfowl hunters all the time.. If u kill 1 hen, you kill her future broods. If u have 1 spring that floods out an entire breeding area, natural reproduction has has just declined by Several several thousands / millions.
Maintaining good natural reproduction is key. Which the proof is in the pudding. Look at the lake winnebago sauger population. |
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| Ya thats right just look at the Lake Winnebago Sauger population!!!! What did they do to get it that way??!!! They protected the species and heightened awareness of what was going on because the guys on the lake in the 70's and 80's were taking garbage cans full of fish home and selling them and whatever else. Catching one while netting three other ones in the spring. They protected the species by eliminating harverst of any kind and enhanced habitat!
Now i didn't wanna base population on personnel experience but Green Bays Big Walleyes simply are not as boutiful as they use to be.
Also I can see 8 to 10 year growth rates in the warm waters of the southern bay but all the tag returns i have from northern and central parts of the bay don't agree with that. |
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| i concur with a previous poster.The damage is not being done by the tournament guy, moreso it has to do with the guides and others posting there info on websites.If you tell the average joe purple beads,gold blade, half ounce inline,35 feet back, 13-15 fow,1.3 to 1.5mph,straight out of bayshore, your grandma could catch her limit.Maybe it would be in the best interest of the fishery, if everyone just posted pics and left it at that.Most tourney guys i know, would lie to their dying brother about where and how the caught their fish.And most of those guys drive home with no fish,including myself. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | I agree and I agree..
Why doesnt everyone msg that moron on lake-link that is doing fishing videos for handicap fisherman. ?
update: enough people must have talked to him.. he removed the extremely inforamtional videos...
Edited by budsbud66 7/20/2011 3:16 PM
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| The General, I would love to hook up with you some time and discuss more. Spot on.
Part of the problem is Joe Fisherman goes up and catches fish and thinks it's great fishing, but Joe Fisherman has no idea or clue to how good it once was. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | I would like to see some statistics, I am willing to bet walleye population is up over 30%+ since the early to mid 90's..
in the 90's Fish were much bigger on average. it was extremely rare to catch a fish under 24 inchs. It was a different game back then. remember we have had several invasive species introduced to are system over the last 25 years.
And the fish have THRIVED on them. It has changed the population and feeding habits of walleyes. Main forage has done a 180 in the last 25 years. Unless your speaking of before that.. im not sure what green bays walleye population was in 80's.
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| You guys all have great points. I agree that the nature has a lot to do with population ebbs and flows. The large year classes of big fish are growing out of the system, and there are a lot of the smaller fish around. These fish are being harvested at a much higher rate than those fish were before. It would stand to reason that we won't see a population of big fish like we saw in the 90's and early 2000's. One of the worst things that happened was the 5 fish limit. Brought a lot of meat hunters that didn't think 3 fish were worth it. Also, you are right about the videos. These guys go out here and think they are the greatest fishermen in the world. I wish someone would wake up here! |
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Location: Lincolnshire, IL | fmwepoiq - 7/20/2011 4:49 AM
La sensual actriz estadounidense Ropa interior de hombre volvió a dejarse ver en ropa interior, pero esta vez no fue mientras grababa un comercial. Ocurrió a su paso en el camisetas interiores de Los Angeles, en el que la protagonista de Transformers dejó ver su brasier fucsia.Hace unos Pijamas Calvin Klein la actriz posó como imagen de la lencería de la firma italiana Armani.
SPOT ON! |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | Enough of the debate on whether the big fish still exist.
The heading is guess the weight of the FLW.
I've been on the water for 5 days. The bite is better than ever. There are many 20-28" fish with good schools of eaters too. Without making repeat passes over active pods of fish we managed 26-33 lbs each day. I'll guess that it will slow down due to this excessive heat but the top ten will need 32 lbs each day to qualify. The winner will have around 103-105 lbs. Good luck to all. |
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| OKAY WILL put a little input to this post. I truly beleave that the big fish are still there and the eco system has changed so that they are not interested in our presentation as they once were. there is an over abundance o0n aliwife going right now at numbers we havent seen in years, gobies, how many big fish have you caught that cough up 5 or 6 gobies. things are changing and we have to adapt to them. I have fished the bay for over 15yrs and know that there is a change I do blame it on the average fisherman taking those big fish infact I guy showed my at the landing 20 fish all 25 26 inchers which made me sick. It is up to us to start to put pressure on the dnr to stop the carnage will they listen dont know but without trying welllllllll
I am not a leader any more but if someone needs help i'm there to give support to stop this with a slot it will be a tough road because it is in the best interest of certian cities to keep this game rolling |
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| Why go to bago and catch a limit of 15's when you can go to the bay and catch a limit of 20's?Okada with 98 lbs |
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| they're getting big fish.kemos 107lbs. |
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| I fished yesterday with my son and spoke to a couple fisherman afterwards. Based on my experience yesterday and after talking to a couple of guys in the tournament here is my updated prediction. 58-64 to make the cut, 95 -100 for the win. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | budsbud, in all due respect, you were not around for the start of all this on the bay. 1997 mwc kicked it off on larsons. before that you could not catch walleyes during the day on the bay. hahahahahaah remember that Jerry?
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| Stacker.... Might be best to lay low for a while considering your recent posts. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | thank you jasper for looking out for me. hahahahahaahahahaha
Edited by stacker 7/21/2011 11:18 AM
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| Jayman I will consider it I suppose I could become a registered user and we could discuss further to start. If you register is your identification kept confidential??
I read all of your posts and alot of good discussion. To bad some individuals say "ENOUGH" LMAO we had a good discussion going. I guess there is "rules" to these postings If you look at the broad picture you see a fishery changing to one with a higher density of fish but smaller average size. I guess there is "rules" to these postings Good luck Everyone I hope you enjoyed my input I hope I opened some peoples eyes of how Green Bay is changing. Please respect the resource and release the larger fish!! |
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Location: Lincolnshire, IL | After watching a couple of baskets weighed I would like to change my prediction! LOL! |
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| There are plenty of big fish in GB. Maybe you guys that have been fishing the bay for "so many years" need to find a few new spots! |
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| weights were very WOW!! another place I gotta visit. Considering the heat wave... another WOW!
Also 141 boats, good turnout... |
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| Did anybody watch the AM interview with John Schnieder? |
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| Weekend warrior, so tell me how many times you have had 3 to 4 fish on at once on the bay and they were all over 30 inches. Very sure that those days are gone. Yes I have had that happen, but not in the last 4 to 5 years. |
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| Still waiting for that 40# basket. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | I missed the cut by 6.61#. How about you? |
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Location: Rhinelander | It was hot in that parking lot. |
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| 5.28 for me, but looks like I may be 10-15 pounds light on my final. A little better average weight than I thought it would be. I think some of the wind helped pick the bite back up. Where are all these 30+ pound baskets everyone says they would have? Pretty tough when there are 125 boats fishing a spot. Maybe in practice. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | sworrall - 7/22/2011 8:14 PM
It was hot in that parking lot.
Now thats just funny |
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| I was 18 lbs short, but at the average for the top ten. Congrats Steve. Crushed the field. |
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| The General - 7/18/2011 1:21 PM
Green Bays big fish population has been desimated!!! I'll say 68pounds to win.
This weekend the small ones went to the table and the big ones were all released. We absolutely had no problem getting onto big fish. I purposely fished the bay this weekend because of this post I read and to prove a point. My conclusion is "you have no idea what your talking about and need to get out there more often and fish smart while your there." |
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| LurePresentation - 7/24/2011 11:57 AM
The General - 7/18/2011 1:21 PM
Green Bays big fish population has been desimated!!! I'll say 68pounds to win.
This weekend the small ones went to the table and the big ones were all released. We absolutely had no problem getting onto big fish. I purposely fished the bay this weekend because of this post I read and to prove a point. My conclusion is "you have no idea what your talking about and need to get out there more often and fish smart while your there." ; )
LOL OK...... Maybe you should have put your money where your mouth is on Wensday, or posted some pics so your fishing report isn't so laughable.
Edited by Anonymous 7/24/2011 12:26 PM
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| I am wondering what he means by "Big Fish". when you talk the bay, big means 8# and up! |
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| I agree that is part of the problem. Winnebagoers feel a "big fish" is 22+...that is not the case on the bay...I didn't hear much of it during the FLW, but I've heard many tournament anglers on the bay in the past few years talking about catching a "kicker fish"...5 years ago that term didn't exist on the bay...you either got bit or you didn't....there are plenty of mid 20's out there yet, but the true big fish of GB are declining... |
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| I some help from a couple people out there on how to fish the bay. I won't use names but they know who they are. Last week I watched my 72 year old dad do battle with a 31.5 inch walleye. He was so excited he even hugged me. Were not a very hugging family. It was the biggest walleye he ever caught and he has been fishing all over the us and canada. I first wanted to thank you guys for your help. I can't say anything about what the population of big fish was and what it is now. I will say I don't think its any different then the winnebago system. I'm 46 and when I was a kid we would go out on the reefs and catch 30 walleyes like nothing. We also had a raft and killed every female we caught in the spring. This is what we were taught to do. Years later after the damage was done we realized this was not a good practice. Some people never learned that till this day. This is probebly whats going on up in the bay. |
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| I just thought of another thing. Years ago we never fished the mud on bago. I don't know who figured it out but once the word got out it didn't take long to clean out most of the big walleyes from it. I don't claim to be the best fisherman on bago but I have not caught a 26 inch out there in 6 years and those use to be common for me years past. Last year I didn't think there were any walleyes left because I could not catch squat in the summer. Didn't realize how many shad were out there till sturgeon spearing. This year has been crazy with fish because we pretty much are catching them everywhere. Mud,rocks,weeds and I'm still getting them in the river. Nothing over 21 inchs but there sure are allot of fish in this system now. Hope it stays that way and people keep letting the big ones grow. |
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Location: Chicago IL. | Crap I was .4 off. Did I win a all expense paid trip to Chicago? Wow I thought this was a quess the weight thread. |
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| Thank you George and Guest for explaining to "Lure Presentation" what big fish are!! I"m talking 27 to 33 inch fish. Not the 3 to 5lbers you enjoyed yourself with this weekend. Oh ya and my 68lb prediction was eighth place. A whopping 4.5lb average out of 140 boat tournament. lmao Thanks for reading my posts though |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | The General.....what are you laughing at? If you take a look back at the FLW Tour events from 2005 and 2006 you'll see the average fish is nearly the same as now. I will tell you that there is a great year class of 24-28" out there now and there are many bigger fish in the outer bay that will show themsleves as soon as the alewife's leave the reefs. The biggest issue with the lack of big fish is these fish have changed their feeding patterns due to the increased clarity of Green Bay from both zebra and quagga mussel invasions. The light penetration into the deeper waters of the Bay is at an alltime high and the biggest fish in the system are harder to find now more than ever. I am certain the big fish from the past that were found on shallow reefs and mud do not exist as they used to. They have evolved into fish that spend more time in deeper water and are harder to catch. I will agree that there used to be more big fish in the system and that those fish were caught by locals or tourney guys, but those "easy pickings" are gone. |
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| 6#'s avg. for central bay fish.....there was a time when it took 8+# avg's to win from the central bay. |
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| Jayman - 7/25/2011 12:08 PM
6#'s avg. for central bay fish.....there was a time when it took 8+# avg's to win from the central bay.
when was that ? Jerry was spot on with his comparison to the past Tour results. Also you will see the average go up on Sunday with a 3 fish limit and many fish ran through the livewell to get 3 central bay hawgs, for the MWS. |
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| "when was that ?"
You made my point. Thank you. |
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| hardly... |
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| Jerry the moral of my story is the fish in the central bay. The big dinosaurs....... they simply are not around in the large schools from cedar river to oconto like they use to be. I agree the ecosystem has changed but I dont buy that aquatic species and change of the ecosystem is hindering the catch rate on these big fish because they would still show themselves in the cedar river and menominee and oconto rivers in the spring and hands down Jerry there just not there. The spring runs have been getting worse and worse the past three years. The past two years is when it really became evident. |
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| Remember when the MWS used to weigh 4 fish for GB events? |
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| Ya Jman it was last year. Where's your stats to prove your point? |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | No more arguments here from me, I've said what I want to say. I will tell you that the fishing on the Bay is nothing short of spectacular and I will continue to enjoy it as much as possible. Good luck to the contestants at this week's MWS and I hope to see many of you at the SWC's Battle of the Bay!!! |
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| Jerry your input is appreciated and I will continue to enjoy Green Bay as well just won't enjoy it as much while the large schools of transient giants Green Bay once bolstered are declining. |
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| You can't tell from my second day weight but the fishing on the bay its self is better than it has ever been. I had my eleven year old grandson pre fishing with me two weeks before tourney, in a 2.5 mile pass he boated 17 eyes over 24, one being 28.5. But if this was 2005 on the same location we would have had 10 fish over 26 instead of 2, this doesn't mean the fishing is going down hill it just takes so long for those beautiful fish to reach the 28 inch and bigger mark. I have a question for you how old do you think a 28 inch walleye is on the bay, my guess is 18 years, curious to hear your response... John Schneider |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | just fish - 7/26/2011 7:56 AM
You can't tell from my second day weight but the fishing on the bay its self is better than it has ever been. I had my eleven year old grandson pre fishing with me two weeks before tourney, in a 2.5 mile pass he boated 17 eyes over 24, one being 28.5. But if this was 2005 on the same location we would have had 10 fish over 26 instead of 2, this doesn't mean the fishing is going down hill it just takes so long for those beautiful fish to reach the 28 inch and bigger mark. I have a question for you how old do you think a 28 inch walleye is on the bay, my guess is 18 years, curious to hear your response... John Schneider
Spot on!! Did I say that right? hahahaahaha John said that in one sentance. |
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| I would agree with your guess of 18 years, John, perhaps a pinch lower in age for the Fox River fish due to water temps.
And to clarify my point, I don't believe the quantity of fish is going down, I believe the size of the fish are. Bio mass, says Green bay can support so much, the trade off will be more smaller walleyes for less larger ones.
I also remember when you fished with Greg Erdman. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Jayman - 7/26/2011 10:26 AM
I would agree with your guess of 18 years, John, perhaps a pinch lower in age for the Fox River fish due to water temps.
And to clarify my point, I don't believe the quantity of fish is going down, I believe the size of the fish are. Bio mass, says Green bay can support so much, the trade off will be more smaller walleyes for less larger ones.
I also remember when you fished with Greg Erdman. :)
And I remember when erdmann fished with shrek! |
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| John I'm to go through all my tag return information and I will post information hopefully tomorrow when I get time. Jayman right on I think the same way the system is supporting more fish but the trade off is a smaller size. Ecosystems change and I feel we are definately in the midst of a change. Also agree with fish that tend to relate more to the southern portions of the bay would grow faster due to year around food and water temps. I guess my one comeback to your comment John of you thinking fish that are 28 inches long are about 18 years old then are you not concerned for the future of the big fish of Green Bay. Explotation rates are without a doubt at the highest rates ever on Green Bay. I will be back later with tag information. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | Green Bay walleye can reach 28 inchs in 8-10 years. Inland lake would be about 18 years+. Female's grow faster then males. Sexual maturity is around 5 years old for female. The men get it done a little earlier.
The whole lower bay theory of fish growing faster may have some truth.
I just don't understand why people have this conversation every year about the big fish being gone and they base it on personal experience in a body of water that is as big as it is. like your 3 humps off the west shore are an all time gauge to predict walleye population's.
Anyone that is arguing that there were more fish in the system 20 years is loading your ears full of BS.
Anyone that says big fish are gone need to check the AUG stats when the big fish are not GORGING themselves on alewive.
Actually please someone show me some averages from the marinette/menominee tournament over the last 5 years.. Im curious what direction that chart points to.
If you think the big fish are gone, maybe your old techniques are not working due to ecosystem changes.
MWS 2010 http://www.fishtfm.com/history/2010/MWSMenominee.htm
MWS 2009 http://www.fishtfm.com/history/2009/MWSMenominee.htm
MWS 2008 http://www.fishtfm.com/history/2008/MWSMenominee.htm
MWS 2007 http://www.fishtfm.com/history/2007/Menominee.htm
MWS 2006 (THE YEAR OF ALL THE BIG FISH STARTED TO LEAVE LOL)
http://www.fishtfm.com/history/2006/Menominee.htm
MWS 2005 http://www.fishtfm.com/tournaments/2005.shtml
Edited by budsbud66 7/26/2011 3:12 PM
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | I'm inclined to agree with budsbud66. I also agree that currently there are not as many big fish as there was 4-5 years ago but there are still MANY big fish in this system. The future looks bright and should get brighter over the next 4-5 years. |
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Location: Badgerland | AMEN BB66... |
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| Biggs, do you fish the bay other than Door County? Where's your data to support 8-10 years?
Not as many big fish 4-5 years ago, Jerry? How do you expect those fish to return when they are getting plucked at the ripe size of 15-24" and then some?
And lastly, Troy, if you agree with Biggs so much why does Bay de noc need a slot? we need a slot to protect all the big fish that still exist? |
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| Food for thought from the 2010 management report published by the WI DNR.
Catch and Harvest
Total catch of walleye from Wisconsin waters of Green Bay was estimated at 234,872 during the 2009
open water season (March –October 31), this was a 42% increase from the estimated 164,601 caught
during 2008 (Figure 4). This was two times greater than the average estimated walleye catch for the last
15 years of 117,396 and the largest estimated catch since the Lake Michigan Creel survey began in 1986.
The total catch of walleye increased in all counties surrounding Green Bay.
Total open water season harvest of walleye from Wisconsin waters of Green Bay increased from 47,820
during 2008 to 83,425 during 2009 (Figure 5). Harvest increased in all counties during 2009 compared to
2008, except for a slight decrease in Door and Kewaunee counties. Brown County and the lower Fox
River had a large increase in harvest of 67%. The average size walleye harvested was 21.2 and the most
common size in the creel was 23 inches, likely from the dominant 6 year old 2003 year class (Figure 6).
The walleye catch has been relatively high for the last five seasons, with the greatest contribution to the
catch from the lower Fox River and Brown County waters of Green Bay. This is likely attributable to the
very strong and abundant year class of 2003 (Figures 1 and 3). Angler attitudes appear to be changing,
and anglers are harvesting higher numbers of walleyes from Brown County waters. This may be in
response to the decrease in PCB contaminant levels and the increased size of fish available for
consumption based on consumption guidelines (WDNR 2009). However, the relationship between catch
and harvest of walleye from Green Bay is likely complicated by anglers: 1) targeting trophy walleye, 2)
catching walleye during the spring season with a one fish daily bag limit, 3) practicing catch and release,
or 4) some combination of these three scenarios. |
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Location: Badgerland | ONE REASON: http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=384090
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this regions population needs a shot in the arm after this happened. That's why the MDNR has reinstated the slot for 2012. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | So the dnr says in 5 years a fish can hit 23-24 inchs.. as the above article states. Do you still think it takes 18 years for a fish to hit 28 inchs?
Out of all honesty, I was on Jman's size thinking it takes 15+ years for walleye to hit 28 inchs,. A fish biologist put me in my place.
I am Just bouncing info that i got. I wish i could find the email.. it was a few years ago.
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| The General - 7/25/2011 10:53 AM
Thank you George and Guest for explaining to "Lure Presentation" what big fish are!! I"m talking 27 to 33 inch fish. Not the 3 to 5lbers you enjoyed yourself with this weekend. Oh ya and my 68lb prediction was eighth place. A whopping 4.5lb average out of 140 boat tournament. lmao Thanks for reading my posts though :-)
I don't need any explaining on this matter because your big fish are the same to me. All my fish over 20" get released and smaller ones get cooked. The exception is someday a 32"+ is going on the wall.
Larry
Edited by LurePresentation 7/27/2011 1:10 AM
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| "The average size walleye harvested was 21.2 and the most
common size in the creel was 23 inches, likely from the dominant 6 year old 2003 year class " Keep in mind these are Lower bay fish, which I suggested probably grow quicker than the rest of the bay.
5 years = 23-24"? Did I miss something, Biggs? Another biologist once said that the fish, the ones you like to fish (DC) are nearly 20 years old to reach 30".
Troy, I'm well aware of the illegal netting that took place in Bays de noc. I would be willing to bet that it is still happening, and was happening for sometime, even when the bite was fantastic. But the ecosystem has changed and I'm just not changing how I fish those walleyes. Perhaps you need to change too? I'm talking about the Bay as a whole, not 3 pieces, if you want to break it down by sections I'll be glad to. |
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| Look what I dug up.....funny how peoples attitudes change.
http://walleye.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1... |
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Location: Badgerland | LOL... You brought up LBDN, I didn't and we have changed how we put double didgit fish in the boat up there due to the ecosystem, it's called up all night sleep all day, the numbers of fish per night isn't far off from what it was during the day 8 years ago, maybe 15%. I'm in favor of the return of the slot, because those fish are your breeders and the overall quality and quantity of unders has been down the last 2 years.
Edited by 620 7/27/2011 8:15 AM
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Location: Manitowoc WI | Gobies have to be taking over main forage, when alewive/shad are not around. Perhaps they don't pack the nutrients that crawdads/alewive/shad do? adversely affecting growth rate?
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| I do know this that the alewife population is strong from Oconto north, hell the gulls weren't even flying they were so full. And I base my opinions on fishing from GB all the way to Escanaba. I don't just fish a small area and I don't talk about this without paying my dues on the water. But I don't have any facts to back up my beliefs, except for time on the water. I personally have never kept a walleye on the bay over 20 inches including a 33.5 incher out of Big Bay, the only fish of mine that have died were in a tourney and that isn't many. I absolutley love fishing the bay and want to see it prosper and grow in the hopes that a major tournament trail will come there every year. Oh by the way I miss Greg and all the rest of you guys, and the park bench experience..... |
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| hahaha LBDN, the numbers at night 8 years ago we're even better. |
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| Wow, I just visited the Lake-Link site and 50% of the posts are from guides. What an easy way to make a few extra bucks. Get a captians license, and post how to catch big walleyes on the net. The videos are still there by the way. I'll bet every one of those fish in the pictures are dead and on their way home. I get a kick when the guides say "all fish released" and they forget that the shot is taken at the boat landing showing all the fish dead. I started fishing the Bay 30 years ago and there is now so much pressure, I quit. Because of the 5 fish limit, it has become the destination for meathunters. |
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Location: Badgerland | Justin you are spot on with "AF" |
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Location: Rhinelander | Pay attention to year class structures and YOY in fall surveys. too. |
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| I too seen somewhere on the net, a couple michigan tagged eyes that were 28"+ and were aged at 18 or 19. Those "dc" walleyes i believe are slow growing. It will be a matter of time before that size structure will fall as well. I beleive those fish are not the same fish of the lower bay like some people believe. My neighbor goes up and keeps everyone of them. Yes he cleans 31"s. Some guys i Know don't go to Lake Erie no longer. Why drive so far. I no longer fish the lower bay, cause i go strictly to catch big fish. I figure in a couple yrs i will have to go further north yet. I love my 14" to 16" bago eyes for eating. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | Those would be some awsome tags to have! I don't think there is many fish in the system that even get that old.
Edited by budsbud66 7/27/2011 9:33 PM
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| I dug up the my paperwork from my tag returns just need to take time to post!!! I will post soon!!! |
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Location: Badgerland | And could you get us some good quotes on Auto Insurance ? LOVE your commercials ! |
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| For those who like to read.
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/ifr/ifrlibra/research/...
The report is somewhat dated, the fact that it took 4 years to publish after the inital study, suggests the data integrity is valid. There were some additional years added to the study which are not part of this report, but can be found online.
If my math is right the study points out that 27-27.5" walleyes are around 15 years old, living in the Mi waters of Green Bay. ( 27-27.5" is conservative in my math I rounded up, it could easily be closer to 26", but you can be the judge of your own math )
From my own expierence I've released every jaw tagged fish I've caught, But I wouldn't be surprised to know that the jaw tag has been on a few of those fish for more than a couple years judging by the amount of moss growing on the jaw tag.
Edited by Jayman 7/28/2011 8:39 AM
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| No because you stated your motor is 8 years aged and you can't afford to make long runs with it because if you blow the powerhead, the money from the winnings from the upcoming MWS tournament wouldn't cover the expense to fix it. Jeeeeeeeeezzzzzz no wonder you want good insurance |
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| I thought the question was how long it takes for a fish to reach full size 27-30 inch?
Just because an old fish is 28 inchs doesnt mean it just got there? tag info is great, however, you need alot of it to get any accuracy. We need a real fish biolgist. jayman, the general and budsbud66 isnt cutting it. |
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| hahahaha Lifespan, I've heard the old addage never judge a book by it's cover, but you didn't even make it to the cover page.
Philip J. Schneeberger is a research biologist with the Michigan DNR, it's his report. I simply converted from mm to inches. Phil only went out to 15 years on his charts.
Knowledge is power - Unknown |
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Location: Badgerland | General, if I pay my premiums on time you can't deny me coverage, Barrack says so. Also a factor playing in is if I tourny fished 4 out of 5 weekends in a row, my wife would change the locks.
Edited by 620 7/28/2011 11:10 AM
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Location: Manitowoc WI | good article and all Jason, but its quite out dated "1988-96" and several references to the 1970's..
We have had several different invasive create a new forage base for walleyes in the past 10 years. GB walleyes now can feast day and night and never stop.
And i know if feasted day and night and never stopped what would happen to my growth And like fast growing walleyes, and unhealthy male humans. grow larger quicker.. die young |
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| Biggs......the gobie bite is not new. |
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Location: Manitowoc WI | Thanks!
Edited by budsbud66 7/28/2011 5:35 PM
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Location: Badgerland | budsbud66 - 7/28/2011 5:34 PM
Thanks!
"like" |
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| WOW, all i asked is what you guys thought the weight would be for the Flw, awesome reading, jayman Gmw has another change this weekend. ha ha lol  |
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| Fished Green Bay yesterday. I stand corrected, the bay is chok full of big walleyes we must have had 3 fish over 12#'s......
Hear me now, believe me later -Hans & Franz |
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Location: Rhinelander | Brian and Larry got a few nice fish Sunday. Three crowding 9, and several they released that were 27 or better. Not all 10's, but some good ones. They were 40 plus miles north of Green Bay fishing the same water they were hitting during the FLW. |
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| Yup hat island /chambers,green island, horseshoe all producing. Amazing how some poeple can flip flop on their opinions. |
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| Ya Steve, and those fish will soon be gone too after the FLW and everyone knows where they are! |
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Location: Badgerland | guess - 8/1/2011 10:30 AM
Yup hat island /chambers,green island, horseshoe all producing. :)
For the last three weeks now. |
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Location: Rhinelander | 'Ya Steve, and those fish will soon be gone too after the FLW and everyone knows where they are!'
Because, obviously, no one has ever caught any walleyes there before, no one had a clue they were there before the last couple weeks, and everyone who fishes those areas limits every time.
I'm sure no one knows about University Bay, either.
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Location: Berlin | I wonder if Trap is still having nightmares over one of those areas... |
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| For the last three weeks now
4 weeks for us!LOL |
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Location: Badgerland | guest - 8/1/2011 2:13 PM
For the last three weeks now
4 weeks for us!LOL
yay.... |
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| Sorry for the delay
28 inch fish 14 years old
18 inch fish 5years old
23.1 inch fish 9 years old
26 inch fish 11 years old
23 inch fish 8 years old
22 inch fish 7 years old
26.5 inch fish 13 years old
28.8 inch fish 16 years old
23.2 inch fish 9 years old
29.1 inch fish 17 years old
26.5 inch fish 13 years old
22.5 inch fish 8 years old
Just some data I thought I would share from just a few of my tagged fish. I will try to find more of them!!.....all this fish were caught between 2000 and 2010 |
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| Change my opinion? Nah....I'm just telling ya what ya want to hear. |
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Guess the weight for Flw