Are you happy with Wabamun walleye limits? Cast a vote.

[Curtsyneil]

Buck lake is a perfect example of having a proper slot size for the size of fish the lake holds. I’ve fished the lake for a very long time and have now seen how well the right regs will help a fishery. Before a slot size it was 1 fish a day over 50cm. Sometimes my family wouldn’t catch a keeper walleye all year long and if lucky we would catch 1 over 50cm maybe!!The slot now is 45-50cm and 1 fish a day and I personally have caught more over 50cm fish then ever before!! The fish are getting bigger because harvesting is happening and prime breeders are getting thrown back. Allowing those prime breeders to stay in the lake will only help the fishery!! Allowing people to keep a fish in the slot will only help the fishery. Open up these lakes already it’s time to start harvesting!!

[-JR-]

That sure works good for lakes that are farther out and only see maybe 40-50 boats out on the water on a weekend . I would hate to see 200 fishing boats out there with maybe 3 fishermen in each boat .

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Buck lake is a perfect example of having a proper slot size for the size of fish the lake holds. I’ve fished the lake for a very long time and have now seen how well the right regs will help a fishery. Before a slot size it was 1 fish a day over 50cm. Sometimes my family wouldn’t catch a keeper walleye all year long and if lucky we would catch 1 over 50cm maybe!!The slot now is 45-50cm and 1 fish a day and I personally have caught more over 50cm fish then ever before!! The fish are getting bigger because harvesting is happening and prime breeders are getting thrown back. Allowing those prime breeders to stay in the lake will only help the fishery!! Allowing people to keep a fish in the slot will only help the fishery. Open up these lakes already it’s time to start harvesting!!

It definitely is working at buck to prevent over harvest on a lake that sees plenty of pressure to be comparable when you factor in the difference in size

Even buck has had a crash of prey species. All one has to do is talk to FW regarding the species being caught and look at the pike that are like snakes majority of time

Need to stock more forage species

[-JR-]

I agree but they waited for them to get larger before they released the dogs.

Last time I fished there it must have been 5 years ago and most were very small . It just takes time for a lake to recover in numbers then let them grow ,rather than thinning out the heard until there is none again . Best to let them grow to a productive size . Then you can start plucking out a few of the mid range fish and let the breeders alone .

[fish99]

Originally Posted by Curtsyneil

Buck lake is a perfect example of having a proper slot size for the size of fish the lake holds. I’ve fished the lake for a very long time and have now seen how well the right regs will help a fishery. Before a slot size it was 1 fish a day over 50cm. Sometimes my family wouldn’t catch a keeper walleye all year long and if lucky we would catch 1 over 50cm maybe!!The slot now is 45-50cm and 1 fish a day and I personally have caught more over 50cm fish then ever before!! The fish are getting bigger because harvesting is happening and prime breeders are getting thrown back. Allowing those prime breeders to stay in the lake will only help the fishery!! Allowing people to keep a fish in the slot will only help the fishery. Open up these lakes already it’s time to start harvesting!!

2X

[EZM]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Over population combined with lack of forage equals poor growth

You will likely see bigger walleye long term by thinning them out and improving forage base

If you want bigger walleye their numbers need to be in balance with available feed

This is 100% accurate.

And it is supported by science and reality. Proven time and time and time again.

Leavin' them fish be' (not thinning them out) will only exasperate the current issue and cause the stunting of age/growth characteristics for that watershed.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by -JR-

I agree but they waited for them to get larger before they released the dogs.

Last time I fished there it must have been 5 years ago and most were very small . It just takes time for a lake to recover in numbers then let them grow ,rather than thinning out the heard until there is none again . Best to let them grow to a productive size . Then you can start plucking out a few of the mid range fish and let the breeders alone .

See my last post. With all due respect, what will recover in a lake with no forage? it's not like more minnows will become available and appear on their own all the walleye will have plenty to eat by just letting them continue to out compete and starve themselves.

They can't grow big, or healthy if they are starving. The available biomass eating that forage is way outa whack there. Trust me, he's 100% correct here and there is only one viable solution here. only one. And that's thinning out or reducing the population (the biomass in that part of the food chain) of the predator fish like walleye.

That is the fastest way to begin the recovery and re-balance the mess we made when we dumped in millions of walleye in there.

[SNAPFisher]

Well, at least the problem is not being compounded over the last year. No walleye were stocked in Wab.

I did take the 2022 stocking report and converted into Excel. For walleye, 16 lakes stocked with a total of 3,748,054 walleye fry. I say fry because that is all that was stocked. Nothing of larger size for walleye. (See attached)

[eyeflyer]

Originally Posted by bushnell

They screwed up Pigeon with the walleye. Now Wabamun. So whats the next lake on the list

They definitely mis-managed the walleye on Pigeon, hopefully they have learned something since then. In the heyday I would say Pigeon lake was bordering on a...........maybe not a world class walleye fishery but definitely a North American "go to" for walleye fishing. Caught my only 10lb plus walleye in Alberta at Pigeon (but only 1)out of there back in the mid 2000's

[eyeflyer]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

Well, at least the problem is not being compounded over the last year. No walleye were stocked in Wab.

I did take the 2022 stocking report and converted into Excel. For walleye, 16 lakes stocked with a total of 3,748,054 walleye fry. I say fry because that is all that was stocked. Nothing of larger size for walleye. (See attached)

I was talking to a biologist this spring and he said they are trying a different approach to walleye stocking. Instead of trying to "rebuild" walleye fisheries they are going to try making them put and take fisheries similar to most of the stillwater trout fisheries. He said they were starting a pilot project this spring (2022) on 10 bodies of water in southern Alberta and if it works they will be implementing it throughout the province. They have done this in SK. for years it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

Option 6

Rotenone the whole lake and restock with small mouth bass and black crappie and muskies.

Don't leave out Largemouth! There is nothing near as fun as a lake that has both Bucketmouths and Smallies.

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by eyeflyer

They definitely mis-managed the walleye on Pigeon, hopefully they have learned something since then. In the heyday I would say Pigeon lake was bordering on a...........maybe not a world class walleye fishery but definitely a North American "go to" for walleye fishing. Caught my only 10lb plus walleye in Alberta at Pigeon (but only 1)out of there back in the mid 2000's

Im not really much of a walleye fisherman, but the number of walleye I catch over 10 pounds in Alberta shows me that we have a LOT of big fish in a lot of lakes, you have to work for them but we have a lot. Rivers and lakes both. Most people wont put in the time and effort to find them. I bet there are at least 10 lakes plus the 3 rivers down south that have a good chance to break the record. I hope Wab fish get that size so everyone has a chance to get shaky when they catch a gooder!

[Landshark]

In August of this year, 2022, I went fishing at Wabamun and found the lake full of algae. This caused the Walleye to die and float on top for the seagulls to eat. There were a few hundred dead Walleye that day. The Jack fish seemed to be less affected by this. I wonder if there is a way to stop the algae from forming so heavily. I don't keep any of the fish I may catch there. I like fishing but not so much for eating.

I'll place my vote on #3

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by bushnell

They screwed up Pigeon with the walleye. Now Wabamun. So whats the next lake on the list

Gull? Would seem they could screw that one up next. Or is is more screwing with something that is already screwed?

[Worm]

Originally Posted by Landshark

In August of this year, 2022, I went fishing at Wabamun and found the lake full of algae. This caused the Walleye to die and float on top for the seagulls to eat. There were a few hundred dead Walleye that day. The Jack fish seemed to be less affected by this. I wonder if there is a way to stop the algae from forming so heavily. I don't keep any of the fish I may catch there. I like fishing but not so much for eating.



I'll place my vote on #3

Hate to see things like this, but with Wab I wonder if it might actually help. Knock back walleye numbers a bit quickly.

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