Lake Winnipeg Update 2017

[Jigaman]

Sorry V. There are still some big girls to be had up there as well as lots of eater sized. Better than anything you will find here in ND.

 

[Fisherman25]

lakes are cyclical. it's not really realistic to think it could sustain that many big fish year, after year, after year. the commercial netting is definitely speeding up the process though. sounds like there's a big class of 18" fish right now.

I agree to a point. I did the quick research and the Manitoba quota is roughly 30 million pounds a year. They claim 70% of that quota comes from lake Winnipeg. So that means 21 million pounds of fish come out of lake Winnipeg a year. Figuring at 4 pounds of meat per fish (which is just a guess), 5.2 million walleyes are netted from Lake Winnipeg annually.

That is officially a shitload of fish.....

 

[deleted_account]

wasnt there a big bait fish crash too recently? there's so many variables. Commercial netting is a BIG one, not arguing that at all.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I agree to a point. I did the quick research and the Manitoba quota is roughly 30 million pounds a year. They claim 70% of that quota comes from lake Winnipeg. So that means 21 million pounds of fish come out of lake Winnipeg a year. Figuring at 4 pounds of meat per fish (which is just a guess), 5.2 million walleyes are netted from Lake Winnipeg annually.

That is officially a shitload of fish.....

Bastards!

 

[Jigaman]

Plus, now the have zebra muscles...

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[Vollmer]

Does anyone here go up with the FM Walleye crew? I guess they book like 90 rooms at the end of March.

 

[sponsy12]

Does anyone here go up with the FM Walleye crew? I guess they book like 90 rooms at the end of March.

I have been up there at the same time as their "migration" or whatever they call it and they bring a shit load of people up, but have never been a part of it. It is kind of funny to watch because you can tell they are full of cliques, and will all be separated in many groups but if one of the groups starts doing well they all move into one area. Usually if you watch this, go the other way, away from the crowd and can generally do pretty well.

Side note; V, when I try to type a quick reply my space bar doesn't work but as soon as I go into advanced it works fine. I am the only one with this problem?

 

[ItemB]

Sorry V. There are still some big girls to be had up there as well as lots of eater sized. Better than anything you will find here in ND.

This is true also, we easily caught 40-50 16-18 inch fish a day 2 guys in the fish house with a few 26-28.5 sprinkled in. Still good fishing but it seems not as good for bigger ones as it was 7 years ago when I started going up there.
Maybe you guys are better fishermen than me but around here or in ND if I catch one fish over 26 inches all year through the ice I am happy, up on Winnipeg you have a good chance of catching one a weekend over 26 with a decent possibility of getting something 30 or over.

 

[Vollmer]

I have been up there at the same time as their "migration" or whatever they call it and they bring a shit load of people up, but have never been a part of it. It is kind of funny to watch because you can tell they are full of cliques, and will all be separated in many groups but if one of the groups starts doing well they all move into one area. Usually if you watch this, go the other way, away from the crowd and can generally do pretty well.

Side note; V, when I try to type a quick reply my space bar doesn't work but as soon as I go into advanced it works fine. I am the only one with this problem?

I have the same issue. Are you on Chrome? When investigating it sounds like a Chrome issue. When I quick Reply I have to hit enter, then backspace, and it works again.

 

[Mizzou21]

A lot of really good points here fellas. I have only been going there a few times of year for the past 3 years, so I never really got in on the "glory" days. A few weeks ago I had a guy from MN in the bar try to tell me he has been going there for the past 13 years and it has really gone downhill for big fish in his opinion. But, he also told me that his best day he and his crew caught 200 eyes and they were all over 8 pounds!! LOL. I said slow down cowboy and ordered him another drink as I went about my business;:;bowdown. I will say for me, this has been one of my poorer ice seasons here in ND, so I still really look forward to my trips up to the Big Windy! Anytime you can catch 30-60 fish a day with a few buddies and have a chance at some 27 plus inch fish with an occasional 30 plus, sign me up!! I am going back on March 8-12, so I hope to see a few of you guys up there.

 

[AaronJ]

I am leaving in 1.5 hours. Drive at night, nap in truck and hit the ice. Will be in a crew cab Yamaha Viking with glass cab and tracks. Fishing out of Balsam.

 

[Downrigger]

Taking off tomorrow after work.

 

[Downrigger]

Are we too naïve to think that it is us? I've seen recreational fisherman ruin many lakes from over fishing. I'm not saying that commercial fishing doesn't have a lot of influence but I'm also aware that there are many more people on the lake fishing now vs 10-years ago and there has to be fish being taken out of the lake and increased mortality from people dropping fish, frozen eyes, frozen gills, ripped gills, etc. That and the fact that we are probably fishing 1 big year class.

Don't take this that I'm for commercial netting because I'm not but just throwing out there that I don't think they are the only ones to blame.

You will always catch me going there because like others have stated, where else can I go and catch fish with the possibility of a good one.

 

[aron]

This video is worthwhile listening to. It's interesting in the video it's stated that the commercial fishermen take 75%+ of the walleye out of the lake but the sport fishing provide 3-4X's the economical value.

 

[DirtyMike]

Are we too naïve to think that it is us? I've seen recreational fisherman ruin many lakes from over fishing. I'm not saying that commercial fishing doesn't have a lot of influence but I'm also aware that there are many more people on the lake fishing now vs 10-years ago and there has to be fish being taken out of the lake and increased mortality from people dropping fish, frozen eyes, frozen gills, ripped gills, etc. That and the fact that we are probably fishing 1 big year class.

Don't take this that I'm for commercial netting because I'm not but just throwing out there that I don't think they are the only ones to blame.

You will always catch me going there because like others have stated, where else can I go and catch fish with the possibility of a good one.

I would bet one net kills more fish than frozen eyes/gills over an entire season

 

[Lungdeflator]

Hey fellas..first post here. We are heading up to Winnipeg tonight. Will have a full report when we get back. Looking forward to it, good luck!

 

[Vollmer]

Hey fellas..first post here. We are heading up to Winnipeg tonight. Will have a full report when we get back. Looking forward to it, good luck!

Good luck to you!

 

[Downrigger]

I would bet one net kills more fish than frozen eyes/gills over an entire season

You might be right but I bet we lose more than you think to deep hooked walleyes, frozen eyes and gills.

Also with the number of people going up there now and taking 4-6 walleyes out (under slot), we are pulling a lot of fish out of the lake. And we are pulling the fish that the nets are not so we're hitting multiple year classes.

 

[Fisherman25]

You might be right but I bet we lose more than you think to deep hooked walleyes, frozen eyes and gills.

Also with the number of people going up there now and taking 4-6 walleyes out (under slot), we are pulling a lot of fish out of the lake. And we are pulling the fish that the nets are not so we're hitting multiple year classes.

You can only take a daily limit across the border, can't be eating that many. Plus have you ever looked at how small of a portion of the lake is actually fished in the south basin? And how much bigger the north basin is? I mean the utilization percentage on Sak from fisherman is around 20%, I can't even imagine how low it is there considering the lack of summer fishing that takes place. There are no boat ramps north of the narrows. Nobody touches those fish other than the commercial guys.

 

[DirtyMike]

You might be right but I bet we lose more than you think to deep hooked walleyes, frozen eyes and gills.

Also with the number of people going up there now and taking 4-6 walleyes out (under slot), we are pulling a lot of fish out of the lake. And we are pulling the fish that the nets are not so we're hitting multiple year classes.

I've never kept or eaten a fish out of that lake. I would say locals are the ones catching a limit for the pan.