Miles Bay

[Daryl]

Has anyone been up to Miles recently, heading up tomorrow to hunt for some crappies. Any reports?

Thanks in advance.

[jasonk]

We were up there last week and fishing for crappies was very slow. (Could it be all of the nets?) Walleye fishing was slightly better. Good Luck

[dmoore]

Fishing has been better at Hay Island. Very spotty up around Thompson Creek and The Bottleneck.

[Daryl]

Thanks for the quick reply, heading out early tomorrow morning.

It is saddening to be struggling for a few nice crappies and watching the natives 50 yards away pulling crappie after walleye after crappie out of their nets. I read on another thread that Moreys was buying the fish, can anyone substantiate this?

I am just looking forward to a nice quiet day on the lake with some fish to pull in.

Daryl

[jasonk]

I am the guy who posted that Morey's is buying the crappies and walleyes from the netters. A resort owner on the lake told me that.

[crazyhorse]

hmmm moreys...thats funny because here in the morson area a company from chicago called true world foods does...i know this forsure because i myself used to be a commerical fisherman and still to this day i see the true world foods truck come up...so i know it aint moreys...anyways be well all and FISH ON!!!!!

[benelli_dude2002]

Hey crazyhorse! I know you bro. Give you a hint....Birdy is my lil bro. Later man...

[crazyhorse]

hey bro quit stalking me lol...anyways hope is well with you and see you this comming weekend...and you better be prepared to slay some walleyes ..ice is good ..ice is fine...drop a line its walleye time!!!!!! FISH ON!!!!!

[crazyhorse]

how nice of you to point out that it was natives..sure sad to see people talk the way they do nowadays...what bugs the heck out of me is that people don't have enough respect to say "commerical fisherman" instead of using native directly..but we are used to the fact that we as NATIVE people are still to this day being generalized and not treated or adressed as people but NATIVES...people allways say its the NATIVES this and the NATIVES that but some people dont realize that it wasnt only NATIVE people that fished out LOW with nets..i wish you people would start thinking and start doing your home work and research and find out what other cultural group fished out lake of the woods besides NATIVES!!!!!!! very disgusted with the way we as NATIVES are adressed in every lake problem...

[eyes']

What bugs me is the amount of nets out there... Who are the Commercial fishermen that are still netting out there??? Why doesn't this stop???

[Eastwind]

CrazyHorse,

I understand why you would take offense to the term "Native" but I do have one question. Are there any non-indigenous ( for lack of the latest politically correct term) people that are currently netting on LOTW? If so, this may be looked at as less of a " Us against them" issue.

[jerkin'm]

The one time I had a meeting with a "person" tending a net, he was flagging me down and warning me he had a net out...or so I thought...he was actually warning me of a huge rock I was headed for...He was netting crappies and he was as pasty white as I....Non "native"

[eyes']

That was what I was trying to get at Eastwind... I don't think there is but I could be wrong...

[crazyhorse]

years before natives started commerial fishing it was nothing but white people that had the rights to the commerical fishing industry and funny thing is that nobody cried about it then...but when the law was passed that only exsisting first nation comunitys were the only ones now allowed to commerical fish there's a big stink and issue against natives now because of it...so i wonder why that is now?? seems like everything that isnt done the white way the natives are black balled and hated because of it..so in closing who really started this "us against them" issue??? sure wasnt us natives..so dont be naive and put yourselves in our shoes for once and see it from our eyes..tell me where theres conflict of intrest?????

[Scenic]

Crazyhorse and all others...we will NOT turn this or any other topics into a racial issue. This thread has been edited several times to prevent accusations and it if does not change this entire thread will be deleted.

[marknamy]

It seems to me that no matter what the circumstances are, the commercial fishing of any fishery needs to be monitored and regulated. Everyone who utilizes LOTW has an interest in commercial fishing that may or may not be taking place. I as a "sportsman" have done, and will continue to do, my part to protect the lake by following the regulations on quantity and size limits. I hope the Commercial Fisherman are following any and all regulations regarding their harvest.

[Eastwind]

Bingo. No matter who is taking the fish, netters, anglers, white or otherwise, there needs to be rules and they need to be followed. Many anglers would take more fish home than a fishery could support over time if we did not have regulations. The governments ( Provincial and Tribal) need to set regulations that are logical for sustaining the health of the fishery. If certain netters violate the regulations that is no more an indictment of people who net than people that take more fish by angling than the law allows is an indictment of the rest of us anglers. The lawmakers have to set the rules then the MNR needs to enforce the rules. If we have no regulations and/or are not made to follow them, we all lose.

[PJM]

crazyhorse

I know it's there right to net fish and I respect that. When I was up at Lake of the Woods in October we pulled up to a spot we fished the day before and there were birds flying around and landing near a point. I went over to see what was going on and found dead northerns, muskies, and walleyes laying on shore next to a net. I was not sure what to think of this. So the question I have is, what can be done so this does not keep happening in the future.

[crazyhorse]

i am dearly sorry for those who may have taken offence to what was going on in this topic..i just felt that i had to stand up for our people and not get pushed in a corner..i felt that i as a native american was so i came out fighting..i am not racist i dont put myself in a postion that i am better then the next..i aint..eastwind i finally agree with you on it doesnt matter who's doing it in any cultral group the fact it's happeneing and yes it needs to be dealt with..like i had said before i used to be a commerical fisherman till i realized what it was doing and did my part to extend the life of our lake and quit..now i am a guide and even tho me being native dont need any license to fish or hunt i do what the next person does and buy licenses so i aint any different from the rest of you are anybody for that matter..i respect the rules and regulations and fish as a sportsman and not take more then i really need..so again i am sorry for jumping on people but i felt put down for the reason that we as natives were getting the short end of the stick on that topic..so in closing i hope nobody has hard feelings towards me..be well and FISH ON!!!!!!

[PJM]

crazyhorse

This is an open form and you don't need to apologize for your opinions. I enjoy reading you posts on these topics and it makes for an interesting discussion. The more knowledge you have of a situation the easier to understand it. I would still like you have you respond to my post. By the way , do you know Kevin who guides out of Buena Vista. He seems to be a very solid guy

[crazyhorse]

the only thing that could be done at that time is to have a game warden noitifed..however if there is no one around to witness a commerical fisherman leaving such fish like that laying around there's not much that can be done...but by calling the game warden it puts a bug in thier ear's to have someone monitor the area more often..hope this answers your question somewhat...FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[marknamy]

Crazyhorse, you have all the right in the world to defend yourself. I will say that I don't know many who frequent this board who would maliciously attack anyone. We are all just interested in the lake, as are you. You seem very passionate about the lake. I think you are just the type of person who needs to stand up and be heard on the netting issue. You have been in the industry and understand exactly what is going on.

Now another question for you.

Are the nets individually marked with any sort of number to link them with the person who set them? If they were numbered and/or registered to a particular fisherman then if a net went astray the MNR could track down the owner to recover it. It also seems that then the MNR could keep track of how many nets there are in an area and possibly even the number or pounds of fish being taken. Just a thought. Could be a start to balancing the harvest on the lake.

[crazyhorse]

good question...yes for the past couple of years mnr has enforced a law stating that all commerical fisherman shall properly mark nets with a abrrivation of the reserve aswell as a number..most of the commerical fisherman respect the law on it and some dont but those nets that are not marked may result in the loss of nets aswell as a fine..most markers for nets are written and handed into the office of the MNR..this information is to the best of my knowledge..hope this helps..be well and FISH ON!!!!!