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| Anybody know why they changed up the rules this year?.... Posession limit is 7, and you can only weigh 5....
I'm a firm believer in the "if it ain't broke - don't fix it" philosophy... I think this rule change will create an even tighter spread between weights... And this all came out way before this whole VHS scare, so that's not reason...
Pick your big fish carefully guys!
--great posts on the fishing reports Purple Skeeter and Tyee!! Thanks!! |
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| I like that format just like the FLW League makes you think before you toss it in the well. Persoanally I would like to see all the tournaments go to this format catch 7 weigh your best 5, I think it takes some of the luck out of it and focuses on skill. Do I keep a 16 incher or not and yes I think it will make for a tighter race whats wrong with that? |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Kills less fish too. |
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| Amen Brother from another mother.............and by the way it was broke! Now lets see the Merc nats step up to the plate as well!
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | What's wrong with killing a few fish? Last time I checked, they taste pretty darn good... |
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| What the new rule really does is penalize those anglers who can catch 10 legal fish.... yes, I know, you still weigh the biggest 5. But I'd rather have an extra pound and a half from a 15" fish and take my chances that some other guys aren't going to get that 15" in the boat.
The margin that determines a successful day / tournament is decreasing. There's a lot of guys out there who won't weigh 6 fish, even on one day, much less on both days. My thought is that there's going to be a considerably larger percentage of anglers who will be able to weigh 5 on one or both days. Isn't the premise behind tournaments to reward successful anglers (successful not only in terms of the size of the fish, but also the quantity?)
Hell, it probably doesn't matter anyway. The wind will be blowing, the boat will break, north east cold front will roll in, I'll lose a big fish, whatever...I'm sure I can screw it up on my own without having rule changes be the death of me.... and yes they do taste good... |
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| Ah yes Tyler....If you take a 15" to the scales this month you won't even place in the money!!! I killed 10 big ones today that I am sure would have got me in the top ten on fathers day. But I made a decision early that might have hurt me if I was competing...My first fish in the boat today was 17". I kept it! The next one came almost immediately after and was a 23"er. That set the standard for me as we did not keep another one under that size. (I'm sure I'll get flack from the armchair quarterbacks) I was off the water by 11:00 with 9 larger than that and released over 20 fish today. I more than likely killed more than the average person would have and would be willing to bet that more than half the field in tourneys for the next 4 weeks will come in with nice limits. Culling is illegal in WI and it is a great thing to see the tourneys setting rules that will keep everyone on the same playing field. I don't fish team tourneys as there are too many people that do not follow this rule. Here is a pic that might give you a bit of insight as to why culling should not be allowed for walleyes. Nearly 50% mortality, this rule change is good social politics and should be supported by all!!! By the way the fish are still in the 10 foot depth. Pulling small cranks early and larger cranks as the sun came up just to keep the whities away!
Good luck
Tyee
Edited by tyee 5/30/2007 3:06 PM
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 06 tournaments.png (23KB - 161 downloads)
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| Great statics Tyee looking at that puts the combination at about 45% mortality. When you think of the two largest tournaments on the system lets just say 300 boats X 3 less fish per boat X 2 equals lots of fish left to swim and fight anotherday and that is if everyone caught 10 fish which we know they do not, and that is per tournament.
I like the format makes you think and after all we get enough flack from the locals on how many fish are killed in tournaments if we can make ourselfs look better isn't that what its about. Like Dennis said less fish killed that is the bottom line I would think that the combination of the late tournament dates, warmer weather and normally rough conditions have a big part to play with the statics, becuase if you would look at the PWT in April their survival rate was around 95%.
If the mortality rates drop is that not a good thing? I would think so; thanks to Tyee for putting together an awesome chart that shows why something must be done. |
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| Well, we're not going to solve this one here..... like lots of things in life, this rule is a combination of different interests that battle for each side. Hopefully the net result lies somewhere in the middle, such that most parties are appeased.
One could convincingly argue that only one fish should be weighed. You see where I'm going with this.... Speaking of this balance of the Walleye Ying and the Walleye Yang, Eyekatchers is on to something with regard to not upsetting the locals..... let's just not let it get out of hand. This is like so many other contentious issues; gun control to name one. It's the old adage about giving in that first time that creates a precident for further scrutiny, and so on down the slippery slope to a zebra mussle, VHS infested, carp laden hell.... ok, so maybe that was a little too graphic.....
Thanks to Tyee for the graph, that's great information.... I assume that's the result of the relationship the folks from the Merc and the Otter street have with the DNR. I've often wondered what becomes of all the data they collect. I might even speculate that a 25% mortality rate for released fish is low (not even counting the dead ones).
I've got to believe that the bioloigsts from the DNR have got a feel for the fish population in the Bago system, and that determines size and quanity limits that are set in place. One must realize that it is of great financial imortance for the health of this fishery to operate at an optimum level....(how much does a boat cost?)... This line of thinking leads me to believe that the DNR wouldn't even allow tournament fishing if it were detrimental to the health of this system. I'd love to know how many fish are kept / killed on any given weekend day, and how that number would compare to the numbers illustrated on Tyee's graph.
You guys have heard this before, but maybe the entire notion of a catch and release tournament is flawed -- certainly a lot of effort is placed on pleasing the masses in the court of public opinion by going catch and release for only 55% of all fish weighed. |
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| Do all 316 teams take off from Menominee Park? |
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Location: Neenah, WI | Yup. 4 flights. |
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| Tyler, I wasn't trying to solve anything by posting that but the fact that the tournament organizers are looking at ways to grow their sport by improving their images is a GREAT thing. Especially in the walleye world. Your analogies are correct about the one fish thing. Musky competitors do just that and it works great! So your not far off in your thinking. The WDNR has had their hand on the pulse of this fishery for many years although I can only assume that the bloodpressure is on the rise with the discovery of VHS in the system. Lets hope for the best and do WHATEVER we can to help protect our resource! These types of changes will only make you a better angler.
Good Luck
Tyee
Edited by tyee 5/31/2007 8:01 AM
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| Tyee, are we protecting the resource by keeping a limit of females!!!??? I don't think so!  |
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