panfish tournys

[Craigums]

We always here about catch and release and keep the small fish and let the larger breeding fish go. If these tournys consist of 80 teams thats 160 limits being taken, letting the little fish go and keeping the largest. How can that not be detrimental to the lake ecology? Especially if the naifc or upl grows (which with TV shows it will be iminant) Its not like bass tourneys were all fish are released into the lake. I just dont see how this could become really popular without damaging fish populations in the lake...cannot panfish tournys continue to exist and grow in popularity without being damaging to ecosystems? discuss...

[fishface]

People disconect when it comes to panfish. I think they grow a little faster than game fish, but, not that much.

I wish people would put the same value on an 11 inch crappie or 9 inch bluegill as they do a 26 inch walleye, a 19 inch Bass or a 38 inch pike. The big ones need to be released no matter what the species. Pelican lake in Wright cnty, got fished out in about a year because people thought they where like Doritos. "They'd make more". They could keep them all. Now they're gone. I really wish people in general, wouldn't keep ALL the big panfish.

[Brad B]

fishface,

the panfish in pelican are not all gone they are just getting harder to catch. remember this is a 3,000 + acre lake so the fish could be anywhere.

[MarkAlm]

I believe that the Naifc tourneys are only 10 or 15 fish per 2 man teams. As far as Pelican goes I am sure you cant change the

dnr minds as it is a waterfowl production lake . Personally I would like to see it change , but I would want it to be d a m m e d and let it get bigger. fat chance though.

[fishface]

It was fished out. I watched it happen.

Of course the are fish left in it, and if you put in your time you can probably still get a couple good ones. I fished it alot before the horeds converged. Believe me, It's fished out.

A lake just can't sustain that amount of pressure.

I've watched a similar thing happen on Buffalo lake.

It just took longer. At least Buffalo gets a break in the summer.

The average size crappie has stedily declined over the past twenty years. It was a reliable lake for catching crappies over 12". Now that's considered a big one. Tounaments didn't have anything to do with the situation on those lakes. Just over-harvest. Panfish are not that differant than walleyes or any other game species, You just can't take the majority of large ones out of a lake and expect that they will be there next time. Pelican will be something to tell the grandkids about when you drive'm by the swamp. I've ranted enough about Pelican elswhere, so I'm done on that. I do wish we'd learn though, so when the next Pelican or Red shows up we(DNR/anglers) preserve it and help sustain it instead of letting them go.

[Scott M]

We always here about catch and release and keep the small fish and let the larger breeding fish go. If these tournys consist of 80 teams thats 160 limits being taken, letting the little fish go and keeping the largest. How can that not be detrimental to the lake ecology? Especially if the naifc or upl grows (which with TV shows it will be iminant) Its not like bass tourneys were all fish are released into the lake. I just dont see how this could become really popular without damaging fish populations in the lake...cannot panfish tournys continue to exist and grow in popularity without being damaging to ecosystems? discuss...

I look at it like a tradeoff. UPL and NAIFC are promoting ice fishing and in particular panfish. UPL has a 7/7/bonus fish bag for crappie and bluegill, while NAIFC is different from tournament to tournament (but generally is a far decreased bag from state regulations). A couple hundred people on a several thousand acre lake is a small impact, but 100 people on a 100 acre lake on top of a good bite has effects. Conservation is tough for these groups to preach without a live weigh-in, but that's completely unrealistic in a winter setting.

Overall, although we know the effects of removing large individuals in panfish populations, it still comes down to the fact that you are talking about the most prolific fish in the lake...it would take a huge cumulative effect of many to get size to decrease. A lake won't lose any measurable number of fish from one tournament.

[polarsusd81]

Another thing about the UPL, if you catch a big fish and want to release it, Matt will bring the scale to your location on the lake asap for a live weight, pic, and release if you choose to do so. When I fish in the UPL events, I keep my fish in a five gallon bucket about 1/2 full of lake water. If a biggin is caught I know Matt can make it and I can release the fish if I choose to go that route. It is a way to certify a big fish before the weigh in and still count it towards your bag. He announces it at every event and if anyone doesn't like the idea he will find out why and ask for a vote. He would rather weigh the fish alive and let it be released than have someone kill a big fish just to show the crowd at the end.

Do some big fish get removed, yes they do, but if you look at the lakes the UPL is fishing, they are all pretty big fertile bodies of water. Peltier, Waconia, Rush, Clearwater. Any day of the week you will see more people fishing these lakes than the 40 that go out on tournament day. Another thing to note is that even though there is a max of 40 people, 20 teams, it does not guarantee that everyone is bringing in limits of fish to weigh in. Out on Peltier, there were 5 teams I think that blanked.

[Craigums]

Another thing about the UPL, if you catch a big fish and want to release it, Matt will bring the scale to your location on the lake asap for a live weight, pic, and release if you choose to do so.

That is a great idea, and would be nice to see implimented on larger scale tournies