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Location: Manitowoc, WI | I was just looking at the fishing regulations for Lake Michigan including the Bay of Green Bay, and I see that effective April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008, the Bay of Green Bay limit, from May 4th through March 2nd, is five walleyes with a size limit of 15" of larger. What do you folks think of this? I am a bit surprised, given the rise in popularity in tournament fishing, that they would raise the limit to five. |
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| Personally, I do not agree with the new regulations. You're right about the tourney situation. Green Bay has received much more tourney pressure in the last three years. Three major tournaments in the southern half of the bay scheduled for this year! Don't really understand what the DNR is thinking. I believe the bay has just started becoming productive again. I know people are getting more adept at catching fish, but I remember the days when few walleyes could be had. Another thing the tourneys have done is shown people where the fish are. The week after the FLW last year there were well over 150 boats on Geano's. You never saw that in the past. I am all for people enjoying the resource, learning new areas and ways to catch fish, and possibly catching a fish of a lifetime. However, I am skeptical on the intentions of some of those anglers. Many are looking to fill their freezer. I thought the 3 fish limit was a good thing. |
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| "Another thing the tourneys have done is shown people where the fish are. The week after the FLW last year there were well over 150 boats on Geano's. You never saw that in the past. I am all for people enjoying the resource, learning new areas and ways to catch fish, and possibly catching a fish of a lifetime. However, I am skeptical on the intentions of some of those anglers. Many are looking to fill their freezer. I thought the 3 fish limit was a good thing."
The tournaments HAVE shown where the fish are, considering very little was known about those fish near Geanos's til 2 years ago. There was/IS a hell of a lot of walleyes out there, more than most people could even fathom 3 years ago. So a 5 fish limit may be biologically sound.
I cannot disagree that there are meat hogs and will always be meat hogs....selective harvest is not a bad thing, hopefully most will be reasonable. A meal of walleyes is not a bad thing, a freezer full is.
Good Luck |
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| I'll try and be rational here, but the world of fishing does not revolve around tournament fishing. I'm a recreational fisherman who spends a great deal of time on the middle and lower bay (I live there) and I for one am not in favor of having a 5 fish limit that will mean 3 tournaments where each boat will possible kill (I said possible) 5 of the biggest fish per day on the bay of Green Bay. Why in the heck would you protect the biggest fish in the spring to spawn only to have a big percentage of them potentially killed off in 3 tournaments?
I fish Ganoes area all year long and I saw first hand the effect of the tournaments last year after they left. You can call me crazy as you like, but I saw a reduction in larger fish being caught after each tournament and throughout the later parts of summer compared to previous years in the Ganoes area I fish and so did all of my neighbors that fish every day on the bay. Based on the number of smaller Walleyes I caught last year, the bay is healthier than ever, I just wish they would keep it that way.
I do agree that tournament fishing is bringing much more attention to the bay than in the recent past and the professionals can only measure the additional pressure. I don't agree that the "tournament guys are teaching us non-tournament guys how to fish" PLEASE, give us a break. That's the type of attitude that quite frankly turns us non-tournament guys sour. Most of us actually knew how to wet a line before all the tournaments started putting on the heavy pressure.
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| I hear ya Jayman. I am hoping the DNR knows enough about the population dynamics to warrant an increased limit. One thing that bothers me though is this seems to be the first we are all hearing about it. (Unless I am living in a cave) I guess I am for airing on the side of caution when we are talking about sustaining this fishery. I don't really know what we are gaining by going to a 5 fish limit. I don't think there is a danger of a forage base collapse like there could be on an inland lake. Seems like we have more to lose and less to gain here. |
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| I think many would argue that tourneys do show many people where the fish are. I know there are alot of good fisherman who find fish on their own and don't fish tourneys. I do however know 4 people myself who have never even fished the bay before and went out to Geanos after the FLW tourney. These guys by the way keep everything they catch, and they filled up on fish from 26 to 29 inches. I know the law allows them to do so, but I gave them my reasoning on our responsibility to the fishery despite what the regulations say. |
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| Michigan waters (northern Green Bay) has had a 5 fish limit as far back as I can remember and still has just as many walleyes if not more than say 5 plus years ago.
But, I'm with you guys on this one. There was nothing wrong with 3. Actually, it probably should be 2! Does anyone know WHY? the DNR did this? Reasons?
Theres lots and lots of fish out there though. And many younger year classes coming up too. The Bay should be fine, but time will tell! |
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Member
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| Here is the page from the book...
IF you look at the regs.... everything north of a line in Manitowoc county on this set of rules says 3 a day....
I just spoke with someone in Madison and they are sending me a pdf of the new regs. He said they revised the bag limits to match Michigan's bag limits. I'll post it as soon as I get it.
Dominic
Edited by Purple Skeeter 3/14/2007 3:37 PM
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 Walleye regs.pdf (10KB - 221 downloads)
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| I had heard about a change in regs as of last summer. I'm indifferent as to why, one reason that was given was to match the regs up with MI waters. I believe decisions like these need to be made on biological sound data. I do fish tournaments, including on the bay, I like the fact that it'll reduce the culling issue. So that's my positive take. as for the negative I don't know.....yet.
I do get a chuckle when people like to talk about fishing a school of fish for years and year, when there was hardly anyone.....and I mean anyone, before the Knoll brothers won the MWC on those fish.
and BTW, Guest, there is probably a reason you see less big fish later in the season, but you're a seasoned fisherman and surely already knew that. |
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| Why not a slot...
4 fish 18'' or less
one fish over 24'' for your five fish limit...
Way too many huge bags coming off the water being caught and released to the grease |
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| Haha betch anything guess that posted here learned about geanos from a tourny fisherman but he will never admitt to it!LMAO |
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| Actually, Trautman and I found those fish back in 2003. It was earlier in May, and we were in closer to Little Tail, but the fish we've been catching the past 2 years look exactly like them. I thin there are some pics of those fish in my album. Jayman, what do you think. They look like the same fish, don't they?
Not sure why the increase to 5. I think the 3 per was fine, even for the tourneys. You could still weigh 5. Lots of big fish were fried up last year. Personally, I don't keep anything over 18 out there. ANd because it's hard to catch anything under 18. I didn't keep very many last year. Maybe 6 total all year?
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503.jpg (105KB - 148 downloads)
503a.jpg (110KB - 168 downloads)
Shep.jpg (90KB - 143 downloads)
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| The DNR just updated their website to reflect the 07-08 fishing regs.... I attached a page from the regs that refers to the bay....
What does the phrase "Some water may have lower bag limits. Look for signs and inquire locally" ?? It is on the regs.
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FishingRegs%2007-08.pdf (36KB - 1189 downloads)
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | PS,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the link you sent is the wrong page. Take a look on the DNR website on page 60, which is the regulations for Lake Michigan, including the Bay of Green Bay. The new regs can be found there. |
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| Shep, Congrats, you found the fish before "everyone" else did. I don't see 150 boats in the back ground of your pictures. The point I was making is there are a hell of alot of boats out there taking fish ever since the Knoll brothers capitalized on the "Geanos" fish in the 2005 MWC tourney. Many of those guys/boats had no idea of those fish until then. The FLW last summer made that very evident. |
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| Jerry,
I called the WDNR and they were unaware that the old regs were still up on the page. Since my first post, they have changed to the 07-08 regs online. The page that I have attached to my last post is the 07-08 regs on the Bay of Green Bay. Jayman was correct in saying that they wanted the regs to match Michigan's, that the answer I got as to why the change.
Dominic
Edited by Purple Skeeter 3/15/2007 8:21 AM
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | PS - your first link is to the 2006/07 regs for Lake Michigan/Green Bay. Your second link is to the 2007/08 Michigan-Wisconsin boundary waters, not the Wisconsin Lake Michigan/Bay of Green Bay regs.
Edited by Brad B 3/15/2007 8:32 AM
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | I agree......I looked at PS's link on the webpage and it's the boundary waters regs. The page 60 regs are specific for Lake Michigan and the Bay of Green Bay. Thanks for verifying Brad B. |
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| Oops... I posted what the DNR sent me without looking at the header.... here is a link to the entire regs and a copy of the correct page.
In addition, the gentleman I spoke with stated that the limit will be 5 in the Fox River next year before it changes to 1 during the spawn.
http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/regulations/2007/documents/FishingRegs%2007-...
Dominic
Edited by Purple Skeeter 3/15/2007 9:37 AM
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FishingRegs%2007-08.pdf (41KB - 225 downloads)
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| Jayman - 3/15/2007 7:58 AM
Shep, Congrats, you found the fish before "everyone" else did. I don't see 150 boats in the back ground of your pictures.
Just wanted to clear up the "shep was all alone controversy that Jayman started" here is the REAL picture of Sheps fishing trip! As you can clearly see, Shep not only had company, everyone caught the same fish.
Dominic
Edited by Purple Skeeter 3/15/2007 9:42 AM
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shep503.jpg (39KB - 166 downloads)
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| hahaha PS, I stand corrected, I shoulda known Shep would be doctoring his pictures.  |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Dominic, you have entirely way to much time on your hands, thats funny stuff. |
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| hehehehe
Jayman, you gotta read my whole post! Lighten up, dude! You must have missed the subtle humor when I said those fish look just like the ones we caught! hehehe
And yes, I agree that lots of pressure there after and because of the MWC success! We're on the same page, I just opened a different book for a wile. |
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| Serenity now!!!! hehe
No problem, Tim. |
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| more like Sinility  |
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| Lots of fish in the bay........lots of meat hunters....if and when it hits the no fish of the 80's just like bago.....then we'll see.......I hear all kinds of crying both ways...oh yeah how much pressure does Michigan get compred to lower bay? It's ten fold or will be. Remember the no perch years.....how easy we all forget....conserve. |
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| Droughts and poor spawning habitat along with harvest of fish lead to the decline of 'Bago. Not harvest alone. Green Bay perch decline was a result of multiple piss poor spawning years, commercial harvest and a 50 fish a day limt for sportsmen.
I'd like to believe we are conserving more now, than in the last 40+ years. "The sky is not falling" |
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| I agree with you on that. My point is we have to be careful not to over harvest the resource. We could have all the same scenarios again. With the evasives coming in we have to conserve the resource. We don't know what they will do to are fish yet? They could (evasives) and probably will take there toll on the Bay and possibly Bago with the locks opening back up in a year or two. I'd rather be safe then sorry in the end with a 3 bag limit and 15 perch limit. If my son and I go out for a day and catch 30 perch or 6 walleyes that's 3 meals of perch and 4-6 meals of walleyes. I personally don't keep many fish from the lower bay. So my point is how many fish do you need??? We could get into a P#$#ing match on this but, I won't. Another thing is someone pointed out if we can catch 5 fish for a tournament we'll kill less. How do you figure? Now instead of catching and KEEPING 6 fish you can keep 10. remember once it's in the livewell it stays in there for tournaments and state law no culling. I have fished tourneys for many years. I know how it works...The law is made so lets conserve. I have fished the good years and bad years on both bago and the bay. Let's all keep the good years coming..... |
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| I agree with you on that. My point is we have to be careful not to over harvest the resource. We could have all the same scenarios again. With the evasives coming in we have to conserve the resource. We don't know what they will do to are fish yet? They could (evasives) and probably will take there toll on the Bay and possibly Bago with the locks opening back up in a year or two. I'd rather be safe then sorry in the end with a 3 bag limit and 15 perch limit. If my son and I go out for a day and catch 30 perch or 6 walleyes that's 3 meals of perch and 4-6 meals of walleyes. I personally don't keep many fish from the lower bay. So my point is how many fish do you need??? We could get into a P#$#ing match on this but, I won't. Another thing is someone pointed out if we can catch 5 fish for a tournament we'll kill less. How do you figure? Now instead of catching and KEEPING 6 fish you can keep 10. remember once it's in the livewell it stays in there for tournaments and state law no culling. I have fished tourneys for many years. I know how it works...The law is made so lets conserve. I have fished the good years and bad years on both bago and the bay. Let's all keep the good years coming..... |
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Location: Green Bay, WI. | It doesn't help when a fairly new Charter Capt. but long time inland lakes guide takes Gillespie out to Geanos and does a show, then gives up the exact spot. And whats worse a little while later lets a client keep 3 fish over 29" to get mounted. Whatever happened to a replica. |
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