Going to gull tomorrow....burbot spawn? White fish?

[happyfisher]

I know I can't keep any burbs....but I guess whites are hanging with the spawning burbs? If so what will they be eating?....what do I use to catch them? Wire worm? Maggots?

How deep do burbs spawn? I dunno what to.do...been out 7 times and haven't caught a white yet.....but I'll be happy with anything....

Tnx all....I'll be at Brownlow if any one wants to come out.....

Happy

[Girlsfishtoo]

I'm headed there too but sylvan is always more lucky for me

[happyfisher]

Next year I'll put my shackt on sylvan..
.I'm worried about people smashing it or something on sylvan.........I hate gull...after 4 years of being there I suck.....everyone else seems to do good ....I just suck....lol

Happy

[pikeman06]

Confidence man. If you think you can plunk down a permanent shack and the whites are just gonna jump out the hole everyday you just don't understand whites in central alberta. Gotta be mobile and versatile and do your own thing. Yesterdays news is useless. They change from day to day and hour to hour. Lotsa guys with more good general info on here than anyone needs to know. Soak it in. Get out there early and sit still and fish.

[Girlsfishtoo]

Well in my op they ruined gull lake. Limit used to be 10 and then they seen that whoops not to many whites left then 5 then whoops again now it's 3, they blame it on fishing pressures but its poor management

[equad4]

Been to gull a few times this winter, never targeted whites was wondering do you have to sight fish for them? Noticed almost everyone I've seen out there use shelters of some sort. Might give it a go next trip out. I've only targeted pike and burbot and have had decent success.

[Kim473]

IMO, They should close Gull and Sylvan for a year or two and let the fish reproduce for one year. Won't see results for a few years but they would come back a little. Even if they made the limit. one it might help. The problem is , netting that happened in years past and the low fish levels in surrounding lakes, has made these two lakes the lakes of choice and are gonna be dead in a few years if the fishing pressure keeps up.

I've said it many times before, Close all lakes for a couple years, open for one and repeat. Do this for ten plus years and just maybe the lakes will come back to where they once were.

First it was Pigeon, now Gull, and soon it will be Sylvan.

Let mother nature do her thing and keep humans out of the picture.

[SNAPFisher]

I'm not seeing the doom and gloom but I think they need to manage the limits better. Not close it. The fact that they are reducing limits is a good and shows management not oops. Whites are fine now IMHO and should recover with the lower limit.

The pike limit is the one that might need adjusting. I'm sure others have noticed a huge decline in the fish over 8 lbs. Used to be a regular thing 5 or more years ago and now you get very few. If ever a reduced daily limit and slot size would be needed, this would be it. Just my opinions of course.

[genno]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

I'm not seeing the doom and gloom but I think they need to manage the limits better. Not close it. The fact that they are reducing limits is a good and shows management not oops. Whites are fine now IMHO and should recover with the lower limit.



The pike limit is the one that might need adjusting. I'm sure others have noticed a huge decline in the fish over 8 lbs. Used to be a regular thing 5 or more years ago and now you get very few. If ever a reduced daily limit and slot size would be needed, this would be it. Just my opinions of course.

I agree with you. I'm guessing the regulations might go the same as pigeon with walleye harvest tags and 0 pike. April 1st I guess we will know


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bemoredog]

If we close a couple lakes it will most likely just mean that the pressure is diverted and compounded on other nearby lakes. Not an ideal solution.

And closing all bodies of water would never happen. The next best thing is simply to shorten the open season, declare 0 limits, ban bait and enforce barbless hooks. This would probably turn a lot of folks off of fishing in the first place, thereby reducing pressure.

However catch and release still incurs fish mortality. The extreme example is the guy who lands 1 fish, keeps it, and goes home, and the guy who lands 30 and keeps none. It's pretty likely based on catch and release mortality studies that the guy who C&Red 30 probably wound up killing between 1 and 3 fish.

I think it's weird that even with the stoppage of commercial fishing that Alberta's fishing still seems to be on the decline. Could it really simply be due to sport fishing? Seems unlikely... What else is going on? Lots of folks point to habitat destruction caused by human development. Obviously it's many factors but I'm confident that there's at least one major factor that accounts for the majority of the change. We need to find out what those 1 or 2 factors are and create policy informed by that evidence. If it's angling pressure, then perhaps it's time to raise the price of licenses, create mandatory educational programs and enhance Alberta's fish stocking program.

C&R mortality varies on fish type, water temp, hook used, bait or not, fish species, how long the fish was played, etc. Studies on Rainbows, Walleye and Pike show a mortality of between 0% and 12%.

Link to meta-analysis http://www.westernsportsman.com/2014...h-and-release/

[wbaj]

Originally Posted by Girlsfishtoo

Well in my op they ruined gull lake. Limit used to be 10 and then they seen that whoops not to many whites left then 5 then whoops again now it's 3, they blame it on fishing pressures but its poor management

I have fished Gull for many years and know the lake well. Way back when the limit for whites was still 5, I was stopped one day as I left the lake. A survey was being conducted by the govt fish and wildlife reps asking everyone to state their catch and keep creel for the day. She had an 8.5 x 11 inch pad and entered the answers to the questions. She asked me my name, the fish I targeted that day, how long I fished and how many I kept. I gave her my responses, then asked her a few questions. How many people had she asked this day to fill out the form, how many people targeted whites and how successful were they. She showed me that my name was near the bottom on page 9 that day, all had targeted whites and pike and everyone with the exception of about 30 had taken their legal limit in whites. At about 30 entries per sheet, times 9 sheets times around 3.5 whites per entry that equates to almost 1000 whitefish taken that morning thus far from her station alone. AND I WAS NOT THE LAST TO LEAVE!

It's very easy to see from this harvest report that this take was simply not sustainable.
This report was from only one of many entries and exits to this lake. There are many others where the catch and keep creel was not reported this day.
It was simply a matter of too many people chasing too small a resource. The limits needed to be reduced or risk overfishing to a point of non-sustainablity.

I for one am glad they are harder to catch in this lake. It has taken me many years to hone the skills required to consistently catch them. I went home many many times skunked until gradually you learn the required skills. I have fished Gull 5 times this year and have caught over 30. But I now only take a few here and there for a nice supper my family and I occasionally enjoy.

In my humble opinion Alberta has way too many fishers and too few lakes to keep everyone happy with full coolers.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by wbaj

I have fished Gull for many years and know the lake well. Way back when the limit for whites was still 5, I was stopped one day as I left the lake. A survey was being conducted by the govt fish and wildlife reps asking everyone to state their catch and keep creel for the day. She had an 8.5 x 11 inch pad and entered the answers to the questions. She asked me my name, the fish I targeted that day, how long I fished and how many I kept. I gave her my responses, then asked her a few questions. How many people had she asked this day to fill out the form, how many people targeted whites and how successful were they. She showed me that my name was near the bottom on page 9 that day, all had targeted whites and pike and everyone with the exception of about 30 had taken their legal limit in whites. At about 30 entries per sheet, times 9 sheets times around 3.5 whites per entry that equates to almost 1000 whitefish taken that morning thus far from her station alone. AND I WAS NOT THE LAST TO LEAVE!

It's very easy to see from this harvest report that this take was simply not sustainable.
This report was from only one of many entries and exits to this lake. There are many others where the catch and keep creel was not reported this day.
It was simply a matter of too many people chasing too small a resource. The limits needed to be reduced or risk overfishing to a point of non-sustainablity.

I for one am glad they are harder to catch in this lake. It has taken me many years to hone the skills required to consistently catch them. I went home many many times skunked until gradually you learn the required skills. I have fished Gull 5 times this year and have caught over 30. But I now only take a few here and there for a nice supper my family and I occasionally enjoy.

In my humble opinion Alberta has way too many fishers and too few lakes to keep everyone happy with full coolers.

What time of year was this? During the burbot spawn? Snagfest?
Sorry, I find that really hard to believe. Not that I've taken any creel surveys either.
I just know that every area I fish, most groups are lucky to catch a white. During the burbot spawn it goes up but no where near what you saw.

If what you posted it true, obviously Gull is an amazing fishery to survive that and still be rocking it!

[SNAPFisher]

Now that this post went down another rabbit hole,

Happy, how did you make out
If not well then maybe you can say that you are evening out the creel numbers - as in lowering the average ...
Sorry couldn't resist the jab

[el sparko]

25 years ago gull was primarially a white and pike lake. the whites tended to be a decent size and the bite at times was incredable. I remember an old fellow who went EVERY day and he lived with his wife and a cat, this guy would take his limit every time he went out, the limit at that time was 10.
so every day he'd haul 10 whites averaging let's say 3 pounds each. so he took 30 pounds of fish every day! i once asked him why he takes so many and what he does with them and he tells me his wife cans some and he gives the rest away.
so i told him he practices catch and release but he has to kill them first, that really ****ed him off and he roared "I go fishing to catch fish!" the idea that he could let some go didn't register, i'm sure he wasn't alone in his practices and i'd bet there's still some who continue to do this to this day.
and folks wonder why things change....

[Sracette]

Is catch and release not an option? Why don't they just take bag limits down to 0 that way people can still get out and do something they love to do during the crappy winter months but put the fish back in the water. Send a DNR officer out every weekend to make sure people are abiding by the rules, makes more sense to me.

[Sracette]

Originally Posted by happyfisher

I know I can't keep any burbs....but I guess whites are hanging with the spawning burbs? If so what will they be eating?....what do I use to catch them? Wire worm? Maggots?

How deep do burbs spawn? I dunno what to.do...been out 7 times and haven't caught a white yet.....but I'll be happy with anything....

Tnx all....I'll be at Brownlow if any one wants to come out.....

Happy

You're not heading out Saturday by any chance are you?

[pikeman06]

In my eyes gull is a nice challenging fishery for the whites. Absolutely it's got a lot to do with angler harvest. But now it isn't over run with whites but there are some nice quality fish and limit of three is fine. Shouldn't be able to keep 3 pike tho. One under 70 cm is my opinion. Put the draws on those dang wallies right quick and keep them fairly scarce. They are the ones eating up all the fry of perch and whites. Catch and release for whites is no good. They are free bleeders and beat the crap out of themselves when they come out of the hole. Just my opinion.

[wbaj]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

What time of year was this? During the burbot spawn? Snagfest?
Sorry, I find that really hard to believe. Not that I've taken any creel surveys either.
I just know that every area I fish, most groups are lucky to catch a white. During the burbot spawn it goes up but no where near what you saw.

If what you posted it true, obviously Gull is an amazing fishery to survive that and still be rocking it!

Well this is absolutely true!
The white fish populations were very much higher then and when the bite was on everyone caught them. How many days can you now say you saw 30-40 whites in a day. Well my friend I saw those days, see 30 catch 5 and off the ice by 11:00. Word spread quickly on what was working and if you did not get yours your buddy caught them for you. I once saw one guy catch 16 for a group of 4. I know this for a fact because when they left I went to his hole and caught 3 more from the same hole! It was a different time then, guys did not care that they had a limit or two already in the freezer, if they were biting they went hard until they quit or the ice went out.
Times were very different 25/30 years ago.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by wbaj

Well this is absolutely true!
Well my friend I saw those days, see 30 catch 5 and off the ice by 11:00.

I had several days like that this year already...and in January when I don't normally see that many. I expect to have a similar experience this weekend now that the spawn is on or near to on.

Sure, I agree fish numbers have changed and times change, they always do. That lake rocked then and still rocks now in my opinion.

It will be interesting to see how white fish populations do with the 3 limit on Gull over the next few years.

[Zip-in-Z]

Happy ... did you move the shed to a new spot or are you still anchored here ? I'm sure fishin will improve, that area was one of my fav's and produced a number of big fish.

Hope you did well ...

D.

[fish99]

was out today the bite is on.

[happyfisher]

I didn't make it out....my buddy who was driving had to do a few things....and by the time he was done it was too late in the day....just stupid....I did have my shack on the X them another buddy moved it and ripped off on of the skids......then I tried to move it back but shack was stuck.....man I tell u I'm getting frustrated....shack is now in a spot that I haven't fished yet.....so dunno when I will head out ....probably next Thursday......long story is shack is by a spot where we were catching perch last time out.......it's all good.....well see how it goes...

Happy

[pikeman06]

Man...I get frustrated....just reading your posts...it's gull lake....it has fish....just put away the phone.....tie on a yellow wireworm with a nice fresh maggot and work the dang thing thru the entire water column in 8 or ten feet of water for an hour....if whitefish doesn't at least swim in close for a look.... Move. Repeat till you got your three and go home and eat them....

[happyfisher]

I'm glad my posts make u frustrated....lol.....try being me

I'll figure it out one day

Happy

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by wbaj

I have fished Gull for many years and know the lake well. Way back when the limit for whites was still 5, I was stopped one day as I left the lake. A survey was being conducted by the govt fish and wildlife reps asking everyone to state their catch and keep creel for the day. She had an 8.5 x 11 inch pad and entered the answers to the questions. She asked me my name, the fish I targeted that day, how long I fished and how many I kept. I gave her my responses, then asked her a few questions. How many people had she asked this day to fill out the form, how many people targeted whites and how successful were they. She showed me that my name was near the bottom on page 9 that day, all had targeted whites and pike and everyone with the exception of about 30 had taken their legal limit in whites. At about 30 entries per sheet, times 9 sheets times around 3.5 whites per entry that equates to almost 1000 whitefish taken that morning thus far from her station alone. AND I WAS NOT THE LAST TO LEAVE!

It's very easy to see from this harvest report that this take was simply not sustainable.
This report was from only one of many entries and exits to this lake. There are many others where the catch and keep creel was not reported this day.
It was simply a matter of too many people chasing too small a resource. The limits needed to be reduced or risk overfishing to a point of non-sustainablity.

I for one am glad they are harder to catch in this lake. It has taken me many years to hone the skills required to consistently catch them. I went home many many times skunked until gradually you learn the required skills. I have fished Gull 5 times this year and have caught over 30. But I now only take a few here and there for a nice supper my family and I occasionally enjoy.

In my humble opinion Alberta has way too many fishers and too few lakes to keep everyone happy with full coolers.

Not too hard to see the common change in most lakes with collapsed or reduced fish populations of several species. Introducing a mid level predator and then having a 0 keep limit will do that, if you don't know I'm talking about walleye by now well...

[Isopod]

In the Gull-Sylvan-Pine corridor, 20 years ago I had good days of ice fishing and bad days of ice fishing. Can't remember the last time I could say I had a really good day. Now it's mostly a chance to meet with friends and smoke cheap cigars. Any fish are a bonus.

[kinwahkly]

Originally Posted by Isopod

In the Gull-Sylvan-Pine corridor, 20 years ago I had good days of ice fishing and bad days of ice fishing. Can't remember the last time I could say I had a really good day. Now it's mostly a chance to meet with friends and smoke cheap cigars. Any fish are a bonus.

So true !!

[singleshotom]

Tried Gull for 5 hours yesterday Saw 2 whites got one......
Noon headed for pigeon people there had no better luck then us a Gull fished there a couple of hours never saw a fish.......
Obviously the Ling spawn is not happening right now....... fist were very hit an miss for everybody we talked too.
Might have been the weather change that was moving in.....
Anyone else find anything different then us????????????????
sst

[genno]

Originally Posted by singleshotom

Tried Gull for 5 hours yesterday Saw 2 whites got one......

Noon headed for pigeon people there had no better luck then us a Gull fished there a couple of hours never saw a fish.......

Obviously the Ling spawn is not happening right now....... fist were very hit an miss for everybody we talked too.

Might have been the weather change that was moving in.....

Anyone else find anything different then us????????????????

sst

Did I talk to you yesterday? Haha I'm the one that caught that pike at pigeon. I went to my perch spot today at gull, and it paid off today, just had to set up lots of anchors to hold the tent down. Wind is pretty harsh this morning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk