Should there be a length limit on Walleyes, Crappies, and Blue Gills?

[Mojo Rising]

I’m tired of watching people take small fish home.

[Surface Tension]

Most lakes with a high population of a fish species will result in stunted growth.
This usually happens when theres a stable population within a fish species. When you get boom and bust cycles, growth rates climb. Its hard to have the best of both worlds and conditions have to be just right.
So theres times when its best to reduce the high numbers of fish in a lake. Not only would the DNR have to manage every lake individually it would have to reassess each lake every few years.

[Dennis Steele]

I would rather see the little ones taken than the big ones.Its better in most cases for the fishery.

[Ole1855]

I'm a firm believer instead of having slot limits the DNR should set a length/inch limit. What I mean by this is if the DNR would set a limit, using Walleyes as an example, your limit of Walleyes would be 60 inches. So you could catch 5-12" or 3-20" etc.... I believe this would satisfy people that want to eat the fish they catch and hopefully cut down on the number of complaints we listen to about catching and not being able to keep and eat.

Ole

[Mojo Rising]

Ole, thats the way to go!

[Guest]

mmm no Look back at the post from Dennis and St that should put the cap on it.
Nuff said

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en kala
(I fish)

[fishface5]

Not bad ole, I think people should keep all the little ones they want. Most lakes would benifit greatly from a thinning of the runts. I'd like to see somthing like a max. size limit, maybe with a one over, or with a total inches, or somthing like that. I saw a guy back in the early 90's take 3 pike over 32" out of Mille Lacs in one day. There is no reason for that. There are eaters, and there are trophy's. It is a blast to catch a trophy! Let them go unless it is easily, repeat "EASILY", your probable lifetime record. and even then, consider strongly a graphite reproduction. LET THE BIG ONES GO!!! There are not very many of them.

[eyeballs]

I would like to see more slot limits implemented especially for panfish. When it comes to spawning, they are the most vulnerable. Protecting the gene pool will provide for a quality fishery. C&R those bigguns.

[Reel Inn]

I like the limit of 4 only 14-in min. eye's, and one only 20-in. those 16-in fish like are rules on some lakes in SD arte all females, why harvest these fish, the 14-15 eye is the best pan stinker upper there is.

[CrappieJohn]

Everyone needs to police themselves with regard to size-limits. We should all be able to feel good about keeping a few fish to eat, yet we all need to realize that if only the larger, prime breeders in the panfish world hit the table, we have NOT eaten the best tasting fish and that we have just robbed the gene pool.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[Cyberfish]

Tree pike over 32 inches??? Aint that poachin'?

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simul iustus et peccator

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[Riverratpete]

Genearlly I don't keep any crappies/perch under 9 inches or walleyes under 14 - unless I'm very hard up for a fish fry.

[Scott Steil]

Smaller fish are better eating and their harvest is better for the fishery in most cases. (The exception would be walleye in lakes that get a lot of fishing pressure).

Actually bluegill & pike are effected the most by the harvesting of big fish and releasing small fish. You can easily throw off the balance of a small lake by doing this. So, keep the small ones and release the big ones.

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www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Guest]

I'm glad this topic came up. I've had questions about this for years. I don't mind watching people take the really small walleyes too much, but I always felt that you shouldn't take a fish until it's had a chance to replace itself. Maybe that's old school, or simply not thinking enough about how the "whole" lake environment is affected but that's what I always gauged it on. I heard years ago that about 15" (walleye)was about the minimum length of a spawned walleye - much smaller than that and it hasn't spawned yet. I really don't know for sure, that's just been my personal guidline for years. Good topic!
Biwabik

[Matt Johnson]

I typically don't keep crappies over 10 inches and gills over 8-8.5 inches. I look at it this way, all I'm losing is a bite of fish, well worth saving a fish to help the lake and maybe become a trophy for someone else. And I personally think that that larger fish don't taste as good as the smaller ones, just my opinion though. Getting replicas is another way to help. Now a days replicas are practically the same price as an actual mount and they last forever. Get a few measurements and let the fish go. Sometimes a fish will die during the winter due to cold weather or other unforeseen circumstances and that is unavoidable sometimes, but releasing the fish is almost always an option.

I like Ole's idea of a total length limit. Might help a lot of lakes if a limit like this was in place.

Someone said this in the Metro Forum and I think it is a good statement..."It's not the hot bite information that hurts the lake, its what the fishermen do with the information that hurts the lake." This was in referrence to the word getting out on honey holes and overharvesting. A honey hole will stay a honey hole as long as everyone doesn't start keeping every fish that comes up through the hole and practices selective harvest. For panfish this is very important. Getting into a school of hungry 12 inch crappies in the Metro area is hard to come by, and if the word gets out that school of fish will be wiped out literally overnight. Then you have people complaining about how good that lake "used" to be. But in reality, that lake could still be the hot little honey hole that it was if the fishermen use the information in the right way. It happens all the time in the Metro on a lot of different lakes. The lake is hot one year, and dead the next. And its not like all the crappies you are catching are 12 inchers, you sort through quite a few 8-10 inchers as well, and those are the ones that should be kept if you are looking for a fish fry. Let the larger ones go. There are a lot of lakes out there in Metro where all you seem to catch now is those little 6-8 inch crappies where a couple years back you could find the 10-11 inchers after pucnh two or three holes. These lakes got pounded everynight and a lot of people brought home limit after limit of crappies. Then you get a whole mess of tiny fish year after year.

Sorry about the ranting, I'm not that old and I've seen this happen a lot, and with fishing growing in populaiton every year, I think every needs to understand selective harvest and to practice catch and release when needed, if not all the time. I like to keep some fish for the fryin pan from time to time, but its important to use practice selective harvest when you do.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[aquafang]

Animal, you hit it on the head! Same goes here in SD. Although sometimes the GF&P are a little late on some decisions, in most cases, they know more about a lakes fish population than I do. I use common sense also. If I catch a big female walleye I will release it. but I don't fish for walleyes. I am a panfisherman. As far as letting the big ones go...... This is not always good. I fish a particular lake that 1 in every 25 bluegills are less than 7". 75% of them are between 7.5" to 8.5". and about 10% are over 9". My limit of 10 bluegills I take home is just that. so I think it all works out. I am taking 75% of my limit home of what the lake mostly consists of.

[Lunker]

If there are length limits, they should be aimed at getting the big boys back. For example, I'd like to see all gills over 9 inches be released, make the smaller fish be kept.

[Animal]

I think that as long as the fish is legal then the fish can be taken. The MN DNR does a lot of research on fish populations and gets input from those of us who use the resource and sets limits. The biggest threat to fish populations is not fishing pressure, but habitat degradation caused by the cutting of shoreline vegetation, over building the lake front, septic runoff, fertilizers and to some extent watercraft use.

[FoolNFish]

Awww...you guys keep talking like that and I'm gonna hafta' start eating muskies and bass! LMAO

[CrappieJohn]

MJ...You do not need age to be wise. And what the author in the Metro forum stated is exactly the truth. People can simply start to be selective in what they keep on thier own or someday they will be forced to....either by the DNR or by the forces of nature. The ones that whine about selective harvest are usually the first to snivel when things turn sour.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[vikingtom]

I don't keep any walleyes over 19" and under 15". I haven't caught anything I want to mount. Crappies 8" to 16" ain't really anything bigger where I go. I don't ever get a limit. I watched two guys from Wisc. 1 day when the limit was 100 perch. They had to b feeding their cats. They kept everything. Never got more than 20 keepers, buy all nice one. Thats the way I fish. I like fish, but who can eat fish 7 days a week all winter or summer. Just must .02 worth
go fish

[vikingtom]

I don't keep any walleyes over 19" and under 15". I haven't caught anything I want to mount. Crappies 8" to 16" ain't really anything bigger where I go. I don't ever get a limit. I watched two guys from Wisc. 1 day when the limit was 100 perch. They had to b feeding their cats. They kept everything. Never got more than 20 keepers, but all nice one. Thats the way I fish. I like fish, but who can eat fish 7 days a week all winter or summer. Just must .02 worth
go fish

[Da-Roc]

Hi fella's!
Here's my two cents worth.
I keep all the little gills and crappies I can get! Anything over 12 inches and under 5 inches I keep.
Walleye I only like 16 to 18 inch walleyes anything under or over goes back.
Same thing with northerns at 24 inches.
All bass go back Unless they become un healthy from the depths> fishing over 35'deep.
All hybrids go back
Perch under 6 inch I keep over 10 I send back.
Sturgeons all go back eelpouts are to ugly to eat and I kill all carp i see!
I only take enough for the garden or the plate. I will use dead gills for bait and chum mix too!
Da-Roc Northwestern Indiana