Interesting "Older Lake Trout" study
This laker study is interesting and sort of discussion worthy.
Seems that older big lake trout do not age like me and you. They continue getting bigger as they age and the older they get does not affect their fertility, where other animals and humans only grow so big and lose their fertility as they age. And as a laker gets bigger it no longer has any predators which contributes to their long lives too. https://theworldnews.net/ca-news/old...-without-aging It makes me think other fish species are maybe the same. The biggest pike I've seen close up don't look old. If so, there is validity to letting the big fish go. I've kept big fish over the years and now not sure I would. This also tells me eating the same diet in the same environment for a lifetime may contribute to longetivity. |
That’s why people freak out at our (Alberta) fisheries. It’s well known that the bigger/older the female fish gets, the more eggs it produces.
Makes no sense to keep fish over x amount of centimetres and let the small ones go. The bigger fish are proven breeders and produce more offspring. Some provinces got it right with slot size limits or keeping fish under x size. Release the big hens. |
I have known this for a long time and this is common practice when selecting brood stock too
Only time I bonk a big fish is if it likely won’t survive. If I am selecting my fish smaller to mid size |
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I have said it before on this forum there is many jurisdictions south of the border with a much higher population density creating high pressure and they have created effective management plans Alberta needs to start combining different management tools creating a management plan not look at one tool on its own But regardless Red bullets point is 100% correct larger more mature brood stock produce more eggs and often larger eggs too. I know this for a fact from managing brood stock and a hatchery for aquaculture |
As I age, I think I'm kinda like a lake trout too - I keep growing rounder and so far my fertility is still going strong !!!!:):):):)
As far as retention - Generally, I agree, that releasing breeders is a better option USUALLY. But ..... there are some situations, specific to watersheds where maybe a few years (either sequentially or in proportion) where low water levels, spawning conditions, etc.. have created lower recruitment levels (less new fish surviving) and, as a result, may have removed/reduced an age class (in population distribution)..... this may change what retention plans might look like. That's were having enough resources to monitor our watersheds is money well spent. More BIOs should mean better fisheries and resource management. There is also the general condition that exists (outside of fishing pressure alone) where the trophic status of lakes move sup the scale (generally) the further south you move - basically warmer more productive and rich water allowing fish to grow faster. This is also true and prevalent and well studies in SASK - age studies on Walleye prove this to be true for us too. |
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Ahhh but toss it into a draw too, ya get drawn and only then you can take two within the slot size. Keeping the 75cm and over is simply not right from my perspective. Ohhh well out of my wheelhouse but I let’em all go to grow hoping one day larger fish are more common. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Fisheries management is a complicated tool for sure but a few provinces seem to have come up with some good ideas. When I lived in Ontario I was 40 minutes from the QC border and about a 90 minute drive to what were called Zec Zones. These were specially regulated areas for both fishing and hunting and the fishing and hunting in them was amazing. The Zec closest to us had a number of lakes with Lake Trout, Brookies, Walleye, Northern Pike and Bass. Fishing in the Zecs required a Zec license. All fish caught and kept required mandatory immediate reporting. Once or if a lake reached a quota of a particular species that lake was closed to fishing that species immediately and did not open again until the next seasons opener.
When I lived in BC some lakes required special licenses and had annual catch quotas for Lake Trout or particular strains of Rainbow Trout. You had a license you cut out the date and species of your catch and you had better have cut out the notch in the license if you had a fish in your possession or you were going to pay dearly! When you reached your quota you could not retain any more fish of those species on that water for the year. It would be very easy to implement those types of measures in AB imo. Personally I do not fish AB waters or buy an AB license even though I live here. As I live on the AB/SK border it's in my best interest to fish SK waters so I buy a SK license. The only water I fish in AB is Cold Lake and since it's divided between AB and SK my SK license is valid there. Cold Lake is fun to fish and of course easy to access and drive to for a day trip but you have to fish it with the mindset it's going to pretty much be C&R. When we decided to fish Lakers we can keep we got to SK. |
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Just to many fishermen !
I totally agree we need a slot limit . But it has to be with drawn tags .Other wise it will be fished out again, like when we could keep one over 65 cm .
We need the bigger lakers for breeders and smaller laker for feeding the big lakers ! |
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Bait ban as it is currently described in the regulations. |
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I think any lake that has a Tag system ,should have all the money that is raised go back directly to that lake for safer boat launches and repairs.
Nothing worse than waiting for someone to load his boat in 3 ft waves . |
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I'm not a fan of the tag system personally. I think there are better options available that allow all to take part. There was a lake we fished years ago that like Cold Lake had been pounded hard to the point of having to go through major changes to recover. First the lake trout season was closed altogether for 10 years. After a few studies they decided to open it to fishing again with two seasons per year, one week in summer(June) and one week in winter(Feb). Catch limits were set to one fish per day and fish had to fall within a slot size of less than 55cm. None over 55 cm were allowed to be kept and those seasons and catch limits remain to this day over 25 years later. The lake is nowhere near the size of Cold Lake at just over7 miles long and a 1.5 to 2 miles at its widest point but a city of 47,000 reside on it's shores and it's in one of the heaviest trafficked tourist zones in the province. It's a wonderful fishery and recovery story. It shows that if you are willing to work together(local angling group and ministry) a plan can be made that appeases most and ensures a great fishery for all to enjoy without a bunch of extra fees. Not all situations require extra money or limiting numbers of fishermen to make them work.
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Cold lake has an abundance of lakers but if we want to see trophy size then perhaps like you said open during specific weeks and a slot size only might get this lake to its true laker trophy potential.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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I wonder if this info translates to other char, not just Lakeys
As for slot sizes, I agree, I think of the K lakes, jam packed with bulls all the same size. If some are removed common sense would say the remain fish will get larger |
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I wish fisheries were a priority, but unfortunately they aren’t in Alberta. |
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I do agree that programs work with people working together and at the end of the day just because it is legal to do doesn’t always mean it is right so we can play a big part just by doing the right thing and in cold lakes laker program let them go and grow.:) |
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I'm curious what the lake trout fishing is like around the lake you describe. Is it similar where it's somewhat of a "destination" fishery where people travel from far and wide to fish it? Or are there enough lakes in the general area with lake trout that the pressure can be spread around and absorbed so that the short windows are of little consequence to the majority who fish it. In the end I'd be happy with C and R on Cold lake vs the 1 over 75cm in place. I have kept trout on Cold Lake which are much bigger than the lakers I keep on a more local lake. Not the greatest eating experience with the Cold lake trout but the smaller local lakers are like candy. I think a tag would allow people to take better quality eating fish while improving the angling quality as well. |
Shorter seasons combined with slots and lower C&K limits has proven it self effective in many waters that see high pressure
Annual limits is another that is used effectively with some species Tag system is very uncommon tool and used more so for species like sturgeon and species that are often found in limited number of watersheds making them high risk for over harvest The excessive number of undersubscribed tags after the draw shows the lack of support for Alberta’s tag system. |
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How many A and B tags got drawn on a zero last year? Check it out on albertarelm.com. C class walleye tags do show a lack of draw support and that is why they are changing the rules concerning them. |
We studied Lakers when I lived in the Arctic.
The lakes locally known as Husky Lakes (Eskimo Lakes on most maps) are actually the remnants of the ancient McKenzie River waterway. It held two distinct populations - one in the upper lakes, and one in the lower adjacent to the salt chuck. The latter actually moved into the estuaries to forage, and got massive as a consequence. Oldest among the snaky uphill versions we found was mid to late 40's. The lower populations on the other hand were proven to live as long as early 70's. Rather adaptable, long living species IMO. Cheers - Nog |
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Look at the other forms of management for bush areas or situations where Lakers populations were brought back from a crash. After switching from a temp C&R period tags were not the option for management There is options beyond tags for Alberta but it’s a matter of what style of restrictions you support to limit harvest But I don’t keep enough fish a year to worry too much but I do shake my head at Alberta fisheries management |
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