Quote:
Originally Posted by Penner
Has nothing to do with the Walleye. Unfortunately regulations have had keep 1 over 100cm for Pike for ever on Siebert which has essentially removed most of the big breeding hens out of the lake. It will take many years for it to recover.
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A pike will have already bred multiple times before it is 100 cm. Something else was at play as well.
The netting data for both 2010 and 2015 show populations of fish 65-100 cm(all breeders) and almost nothing smaller.
Either that netting data was missing the smaller pike population due to net placement, the fish aren't reproducing successfully, there is a poaching issue, something is eating all the young pike(walleye?) or the small fish aren't able to compete with walleye.
I am not sure what the ultimate reason is(likely some combination of the above) but I am betting the walleye are having an effect. We have seen a similar pike reduction on a large number of other lakes now including Wabamun, Pigeon, Ste. Anne, Gull, Buck, Sylvan etc. The small pike are in direct competition with the walleye and the large walleye populations clean out the forage base to the point where the pike no longer do well. All these lakes have seen reductions in pike numbers and failure to recover even with C&R regs.