the future of red lake

[JohnWester]

Options on Upper Red appear likely to expand



January 10, 2009

There's good news coming for Upper Red Lake anglers.

Maybe.

The daily walleye bag limit for the lake, now three fish, could be increased to four when the walleye season opens May 9.

And the protected slot limit, now 17 to 26 inches, could be reduced to 20 to 26 inches come June 15, too.

But only if the winter walleye harvest is under 112,000 pounds, said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries manager in Bemidji.

"There's a good chance it will happen,'' Drewes said of the bag limit and slot changes. While winter walleye angling has been good, Drewes said he doubts anglers will exceed the 112,000-pound mark.

The change would be significant because when sport walleye fishing resumed on Upper Red Lake following the collapse of the walleye population, the bag limit was two. It was raised to three last year. A four-fish walleye limit would put the lake on par with Lake of the Woods and other lakes.

"People seem pretty happy with it [four-fish proposal],'' said Al Otto, president of the Upper Red Lake Area Association. "I think we're heading in the right direction.''

The issue was one of many fish and wildlife issues that were discussed at the Department of Natural Resources annual "roundtable'' meetings Friday and Saturday in Brooklyn Center. Drewes and Otto were among 360 people who attended.

Drewes said if the bag limit is changed to four, it would revert back to a three-fish limit next winter to ensure the walleye harvest limits aren't exceeded.

A walleye advisory committee, on which Otto sits, made the recommendations. There's also talk of changing the Upper Red Lake regulations for northerns, possibly to force anglers to release more trophy-sized fish. But Drewes said that is in the talking stage and that no changes are expected in 2009.

[kingfisher1]

interesting.  glad to hear the fishey is getting bak on its feet.

[Mayfly]

They should of tried to manage it as a crappie fishery! Imagine the flocks of people that would still be coming up there. Unfortunately every Tom, Dick and Harry fished the hell out of that lake and depleted the crappies down to nothing. What a joke.

Here is my take:





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[kingfisher1]

those are some nice crappies.  And the percet sized eye for eating. 
As far as the crappie fishery, I wish they would have put a little more efort into keeping it.  I heard reports when the crappie fishery was going strong of helicopters flying over the lakeand seeing what looked like small "oil spills" on the lake. When they went down to investigate, they realized that it was just large schools of crappies!!!

[Russ-Judy]

Humm- if i remember right it was a little cold out that day

[JohnWester]

the crappie numbers didn't  dwindle because of fishing pressure... they went away because the DNR introduced walleyes again.  IMHO, the dnr f***ed up again, as usual.

[Mayfly]

Humm- if i remember right it was a little cold out that day

Good memory!    About 3am the heat went out. Luckily Russ was sleeping about 50yds away and woke to give us a hand. Man that was cold. What a great trip.

[Mayfly]

the crappie numbers didn't  dwindle because of fishing pressure... they went away because the DNR introduced walleyes again.  IMHO, the dnr f***ed up again, as usual.

You are exactly right. My point is that the anglers did nothing to help the cause....  :fishing2:

But then again people will always complain and this is one of my few complaints 

[Russ-Judy]

Dont you just  "Feel The Love in the air"

how many lakes can you catch eyes in --in Minnesota- 9, 999
how many fish those lakes for just eyes?-- no crappies
how many would rather go to a great crappie lake?
how many would go just for gators?-- no crappies
how many are going there for just the sturgeon that have been released there? --no crappies

my guess is if it was a crappie lake you would have 10,000 fisherman on the lake again every weekend and things would again boom--

dont take me wrong- i like eyes in the pan, but what are you going to do with a 45" gator-
eat it, mount it, toss it back-doesnt matter to me, how about the sturgeon? what are you going to do with that?  do they like Drummies, sheaphead, carp, suckers, (whitefish and tullipee- which you cant find anymore on Red)

I like the idea of Pech showing up (those pesty critters) great in the pan if they have size--
that will take care of the sturgeon, gators, and eyes feeding but what about the crappie and sunfish (i hate) but Judy likes-- why not put a 10,000 batch of eggs in the lake of each to make it more friendly fishing for all-

please dont post about natives this and that--"Where just talking to the DNR Here"!!! and "You  fisher people"

just a passing thought--someday maybe red will only be a trophy catch lake for gators, eyes and sturgeon-- just a thought out of my back pocket

[JCAMERON]

How do they determine the poundage of fish that are harvested?

[Woody]

How do they determine the poundage of fish that are harvested?

Considering past estimates the DNR has claimed I would have to guess they have one of these in their office......

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[kingfisher1]

 

[Russ-Judy]

each winter there are DNR check points are at every exit with a sign that says stop and register-- coming off the ice, you better do it;;'
they ask the ?s like how many were fishing, what size the fish where, what kind, when you caught them, etc--its not pain full--just do it;;

in the summer they are at every exit or access know, asking for thr same info and remeasuring them, on there scale (under 17"'s) never 17 inches-- or your ---t out of luck

thats how they get the figures along with nets each spring to get counts of different typs of fish and there sizes in different places on the lake

[Woody]

Thanks for the info. Russ & Judy.  I had no idea how they did this, and now I can say I learned something today. 

[JohnWester]

yeah, like russ said... they had a survey at the access a couple a weeks ago when I was up there.  They get counts and run them through some formula(obviously they aren't counting everything) and come up with some number.  chances are their number is way off...

[stevejedlenski]

well im sure if any of you have a better way they would use it, you cant know the uncountable you can only guess. at least there is some sort of management going on. without it imagine how fishing would be... for the lake owners only. they have come up with a way to make an eduacated guess of the harvest and populations if everyone said what they took then they would know exactly what the harvest was. but fishermen apparently dont care and would bit3h that the dnr donsnt know and is inacurate or they would bit3h that there is a law that makes them tell their exact catch. if you want more precise numbers be prepared to put in more work and money

[dabahrden]

I have been checked a few times by the dnr on URL -- most of the time it has been great, a few times it was not as fun but it has always been painless.  They are just trying to do their job and we should do our best to help out.

As far as the crappies, URL is not a great crappie factory.  It doesn't have enough of the right breeding areas to consistantly produce large numbers.  The 1996 year class that people were catching were a once in a century occurance.  The water temperature, water depth and weather conditions were perfect.  The walleye population had crashed and the number of northerns was far from its peak.  Those fish are reaching the end of their natural life cycle as well as being fished very hard for several years.

[HUNTER2]

I think if they lower the limit in the winter, people will drive right by and go to LOW. It's only about 45 minutes more of a drive.

[kingfisher1]

I think if they lower the limit in the winter, people will drive right by and go to LOW. It's only about 45 minutes more of a drive.

That just might confuse people more. The regs can be confusing to some as it is on Red, why make it worse?

[Stensethfan]

I think it would have been cool if they could have tried to manage for crappies rather than another walleye lake.  We have plenty of them already and one of the best in the world less than an hour further north as someone already mentioned.  There may not have been a 1996 class all the time, but it would have been good if there where not as many preditor fish not allowing them to grow.  It is funny that this thread appeared because I was just up there Sunday and Monday talking to my wife about how cool that would have been to manage for craps between our walleyes and northerns that were more than willing to take the bait!

[Russ-Judy]

im  thinking back to the days many of the resort owners, and private's like us along with many guides and  business's donated thousands of dollars plus free help to put in the crappie cribs with the thought of doing something right before the end even came into sight to keep the crappie reperduction-- it was one heck of an undertaking--- the idea had a mission which seemed like it would work since there was a 10 year moratoryioum on eyes(you couldnt keep any)

in my eyes it was a great idea but it in my opinion flopped, the crappies never seem to use them;;
everyone tried including the DNR
   sure wish i had the pixs from years ago but they were lost in a computer crash, if someone has them please put them up-

things were done to bring those buggers back and keep them going- we tried along with a 1,000 others but mother nature and the retun of the eyes in full strength took over

not sure what we could have done better to keep them there Russ&Judy

[Woody]

Here ya go Russ:







*Photos courtesy of www.paulwaldowski.com and used with permission.  Thanks Paul! 

[Big D]

I'm just happy the walleyes are back!  There's something about the waters of URL that make them taste the best by far!

[schmitty]

doesent the dnr have to ok everything that goes on with the lake with the local red lake indians ? i think the only reason they were able to do something for the walleye is because the natives ok'd it ! prolly cause thats the #1 fish they net for ! . but i had always thought that whatever they wanted to do with red lake had to be passed through the reservation first because it would effect there parts of the lake . do we think the indians really care if the crappie are depleting , i dont think so i think there more after walleyes then anything !!!!    i mean i read an article in another forum last year when the millacs indians were neting on the big pond that they were litterally throwing out huge pike and crappies that were caught in there nets when they pulled them to shore .and that fisherman at the landings were furious because one of the nets had a few 2 lb crappies and 35-40" pike and they were throwing them on the shore . well thats my take on it . damage to great crappie fisheries falls in many hands the way i see it .

[cookie]

Big D I  heard that when glacier agassiz formed the lake it left a huge calcium deposit . the food chain starts with the micronisiam /plankton and works right up the food chain. Thats what makes the fish so firm. Try the pike sometime the best in the state.