New rules and a creel census

[walleyemaxx]

Hi everyone,

Found this information on the DNR website.

Chippewa Flowage — Anglers should be
aware of some changes in fishing rules for
the Chippewa Flowage beginning in 2011.
Formerly, the daily bag limit for panfish was
25, only 15 of which could be crappie. This
has now been simplified; the daily bag limit
for all panfish combined (including crappie)
is 25.
DNR also might start experimenting in 2011
with a regulation that treats largemouth bass
and smallmouth bass differently on the Chippewa
Flowage. If the proposal is approved,anglers will be permitted and encouraged to
harvest largemouth bass of all sizes starting
the third Saturday in June. But the 14-inch
minimum length limit will remain in effect
for smallmouth bass, and anglers will be
encouraged to voluntarily release all smallmouth
bass, regardless of size.
This new twist to bass management is based
on the belief of local DNR biologists that predation
on young walleye by over-abundant,
slow-growing largemouth bass has been at
least partially responsible for uncharacteristic
failures in the survival of young walleye
over the past five years. Biologists believe
fast-growing smallmouth bass have a different
lifestyle and food preference that allow
them to coexist well with walleye, and
flowage anglers want a good bass fishery in
the form of smallmouth. DNR will conduct
a creel survey on the Chippewa Flowage
in 2011, so anglers can expect to be interviewed
to determine degree of compliance
with the proposed experimental rule. Signs
at access areas and area businesses will help
anglers to distinguish between largemouth
and smallmouth bass. But the best advice
is, “If you don’t know it, throw it back.”The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Conservation
Department teamed up with Chippewa
Flowage property and resort owners associations
to raise and stock more than 19,000
large (six to 10 inches) walleye fingerlings
in fall of 2010 in order to jump start the
walleye fishery. Walleye fishing can still be
quite good on the flowage, but with reduced
survival of young over the past several
years, DNR biologists encourage anglers
to voluntarily release all walleyes less than
15 inches (currently no size limit in effect).
Voluntary restraint will help maximize the
investment made by local partners to provide
better walleye fishing for everyone in
the future. Anglers who seek a quality fish
fry can still expect to catch and enjoy good
numbers of tasty, quality-size bluegill, black
crappie and even largemouth bass in 2011.
Largemouth bass, especially those less than
14 inches, are excellent table fare.
The Chippewa Flowage also boasts excellent
fishing for northern pike, which anglers
are encouraged to harvest. With a relatively
new 50-inch minimum length limit, and less
severe winter drawdowns, the adult musky
population continues to improve. There are
more trophy-size fish than ever in the Chippewa
Flowage, but for natural reproduction
to continue, northern pike and largemouth
bass (both predators on young musky) must
be liberally harvested. - Dave Neuswanger,
fisheries team leader, Upper Chippewa Basin.

Have an opinion? Share it with us. I think it is good to see the DNR finally tahing pro-active management steps to restore the Walleye populations.

Walleyemaxx

[Brady1]

The DNR should allow largemouth's to be harvested when we are allowed on the water in May. Why wait until June? It would be good to harvest some of the large pre-spawn females. And why no size limit on walleyes? This would seem to encourage the harvesting of juvenile fish.

[walleyemaxx]

Hi Brady1,

I asked Dave Nueswanger that same thing. The reason is beacause it takes so long in madison to get anything done. He is going to use an emergency rule to take the size limit off the LM Bass, but cannot do the same thing with the season start. The emergency here is that the LM Bass are stunting at 12-13". So he wants to reduce their population substantially to allow for better growth rates.

He can't use the same reasoning to start the season early. Something to do with a lenghty process as with the size limit on the Walleyes. I suggested to him that some kind of size restriction should be in place. He said he is trying, but the powers that be in Madison are slow to respond. Every thing takes time.

In the mean time, I plan on eating a lot of LM Bass. The ones between 11"-15" taste the best. On the same subject, Dave mentioned that if people start to harvest the Bass heavily, it would create a better LM Bass fishery because it would end the bottle neck at 14" and we would eventually see much bigger LM Bass in the future.

Walleyemaxx

[JerkyJosh]

I dont know what to think of all this. It sounds like they want people to think there are doing something but i dont see any major changes happening. First, they are worried about the walleye (so am i) but they did not do anything to change the rules. Sounds like to me and correct me if i am wrong but walleye regs are the same as last year. 2-walleye no limit? And same with bass, does not open till the thrid week in June, i guess knocking the 14 inche limit off will help a little. It sounds like typical poliltics to get stuff done. Hopefully if something does pass the DNR (do they have a plan?, would like to look at that before anything happens) hopefully they don't wait till next year to change. They change stuff all the time on the fly, and you would think that a lake that has held the Goveners fishing thing and is so well know they would make this a bigger priority, instead of picking out what woods to log next. I guess we all have to wait and see.

[walleyemaxx]

Hi Josh,

I agree Josh. Nueswanger says he wants to do this and that and the other the thing, but so far there has been no rule changes at all. The bag limit will be determined by the tribal spearing declaration, and that will be done soon. The rule changes that are determined by the DNR have not happened yet and that's frustrating.

The DNR is going to pay someone to sit at the landings all day to say good morning, how many fish did you catch? I've never seen a creel census on a lake that did any good. The DNR only does that on lakes they know are in trouble. Unfortunatly, the DNR won't make any recommendations or rule changes untill after this year and they study the information collected by the creel census people. What a waste of time and money. In the mean time, the Walleyes don't get any help in the form of regulations.

It is really disheartening Josh. When I talked to Nueaswanger on the phone, he sounded like he was really interested in helping the Walleyes recover on the Big Chip. A creel census, and a voluntary release of Walleye under 15"? That's all he could come up with? Makes a grown man want to cry.

Walleyemaxx