These were my experiences up there too. Caught lots of 16-18 inch fish and a handful over 27 inches biggest being 29.5 inches. What size fish are caught in the commercial nets? If I had to guess would guess its the 18-24 inchers
Actually we sat and watched them pull a bunch of nets last year. It would really surprise you at what they catch. Lots of junk fish, some pike....and a whole lot of walleyes. The majority of the walleyes they pulled were from the 5 to 8 pound range with a fair amount up to I'd say tops of 11 pounds. It will make your stomach hurt watching it. They were super nice guys, and they're just making a living, but no doubt they take more big fish out in one day than most lakes in ND see in a year. (Excluding the major lakes).
I listening to a well reapected biologist up there give a long speech at a conference on a YouTube video. He stated the problem is, of the 10 million (I can't remember if it's in tons or pounds and I know it's a big difference) that the commercial industry is allowed to harvest, they don't have restrictions on how much of one species they can catch to make up that quota. Beings the walleye market is the highest, that's basically all they are keeping. Mind you I witnessed them throwing pike and whatever they didn't want on the ice and driving away. The biologist also stated that the bulk of the big fish that the recreational crowd is chasing is from the same monster year class, which was like 05 or 06 if I remember correctly. He said every year that year class gets weaker and sooner than later, what the recreational industry thrives on will be a thing of the past unless the providence starts restricting how much of the quota may be filled with walleye. He also believes the world record will come out of the lake sometime between 2020 and 2025.
Anyways, that's a lot of trying to remember numbers I heard from over a year ago. I could get into some "eco friendly" label that he's pushing for so the providence has to put more effort into maintaining the longevity of a consistent eco system, but I don't remember all the facts he stated.
The funny thing is, currently the commercial fishing industry, which is also in a boom cycle, doesn't generate near the income for the providence as the recreational side does. Yet their government is doing nothing about it. Kind of interesting....
