Lake Winnipeg Update 2017

[Jigaman]

I saw a picture of a tracked ranger that went through yesterday between pruden and stoney trying to cross a very sketchy looking pressure ridge. I think the ice is fine but as always, common sense needs to be used while trying to cross these ridges.

 

[remm]

Ya, my guess would be anybody falling through now isn't breaking through thin ice, they are just trying to cross ridges and cracks and shouldn't be and falling in. Gotta be plenty of places to find fish without crossing open water. Use your head or sink your sled.

I saw a picture of a tracked ranger that went through yesterday between pruden and stoney trying to cross a very sketchy looking pressure ridge. I think the ice is fine but as always, common sense needs to be used while trying to cross these ridges.

 

[Migrator Man]

What is your one favorite go to lure in the exact model, size and color? I don't need to buy 30 lures when I'll prob only use less than 10.

Go!

 

[huffranger]

P.M. Dirty Mike, rumer has it he has developed a ( Winnipeg pack ) Small Plano box with a few proven colors for the big girls on the big windy.

 

[Mizzou21]

exactly what huff said!

 

[Jigaman]

my last trip the snooty patooty from dirtymike out fished everything else but the blueish live target is always good for me as well as a live target I painted glow white. Large spoons are really good too. Like stupid large. think dare devil sized spoons. Stop in at smoke-n-fish in selkirk to get your licence and he will suggest a few lures. they are open from 6-8 I believe. really nice guy who likes to visit.

 

[Lungdeflator]

I caught 80% of my fish this last trip on a lime green Jackall with a purple top. Seemed like variations of Firetiger were pretty good for the others in our group. Talked to a local guy up there and he said the natural shiner live target was his go to bait.

We had the best luck with fresh minnows. They outperformed the frozen minnows we brought up by far.

 

[aron]

One member of our group last year had success on the chartruse/purple Jackall lure so I had Dirty Mike paint one up and it looks way better. Will get to use it here in a week.

Pelican Lure spoons work good too.

 

[Captain Ahab]

P.M. Dirty Mike, rumer has it he has developed a ( Winnipeg pack ) Small Plano box with a few proven colors for the big girls on the big windy.

The Winni pack sounds like a winner.

 

[Captain Ahab]

I'm no longer excited because I see no "teeners" up there. For those looking for an 8+ I say Godspeed!

 

[1gdhntr]

You couldn't be more right Ahab. I was up there from Sunday until this Thursday morning and out of the 12 of us we got 2 over 28 inches. tons and tons of 18 inchers. it was brutal to say the least. we fished all over hell and back but ended up at the big crack in the mouth. marked lots of fish but we maybe had about 15% of all marks bite. Once we figured out that spoons with full minnows worked that is all we used. lots and lots of water and slush on the ice. people are driving everywhere with vans and cars so travel is simple. some spots had wind blown ice but other than that is was fine.

Good luck to anyone going up looking for 30 inchers.

 

[guywhofishes]

FM Walleyes group did well. one guy got a 27", 31.5", 27".

 

[Jigaman]

so is it safe to say that in 5 years or so fishing is going to be awesome up there once this huge population of eater sized fish get to be 25"+? no idea how fast they grow up there. Hopefully the nets done get them all.

 

[1gdhntr]

some of the locals we talked to up there said something about the net sizes being changed last year to caught more of the bigger fish. He said typically the bigger fish would swim out of the normal nets but this past year the commercial fishermen were targeting the larger walleye with their new net sizes. The local was a guide up there and was not too happy about the situation. We also found a net line on the ice on the west side and followed it. tons and tons of huge walleye heads laying next to each hole. I have never seen anything like it. had to google how the hell they next under the ice. it was crazy to watch the video.

 

[guywhofishes]

why are bigger fish now more popular for netters?

 

[Jigaman]

why are bigger fish now more popular for netters?

I was told by the owner of smoke-n-fish it is because the price of walleye roe is really high right now so they are after the large females. Makes me sick.

 

[Vollmer]

Yup, last I heard it was around 80% Walleye filling the quota, as opposed to what used to be 50/50 with whitefish.

They need to do something with that fishery. It really is not managed well. At some point they will do something, since the recreation market brings in more money than the commercial. It is a sad deal, really. The 2 could co-exist really well with proper management.

 

[guywhofishes]

walleye roe? say what? for what???

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[h=1]Fisheries management needs overhaul[/h] [h=2]Look to B.C. for a workable model the Progressive Conservatives could get behind[/h]
As anglers prepare for another hard water season, there have been some interesting developments in fisheries management in Manitoba. In November I attended an Angling Forum put on by fisheries staff.

The goal of the forum was to hear from stakeholder groups about steps moving forward in the management and implementation of our province’s fisheries resource.
"> Don Lamont holds a Lake Winnipeg trophy.
It has been obvious for years to many anglers in this province the government does not have any appetite for spending money on management and research.
Manitoba Fisheries currently has a working budget of $4.3 million. The economic impact generated from sport fishing in Manitoba is more than $400 million. This number is from a study done by Travel Manitoba in 2012. Brian Parker, senior fisheries manager for Manitoba, has suggested we look at different models that work in other jurisdictions that allow the public and private sectors to work together to generate sufficient funds to properly look after the fishery.




The ideal model, it seems, is to have a small management team oversee fisheries policy, with a separate entity responsible for implementation. Many provinces and states already have these types of agencies in place.
One need look no further than British Columbia. The Freshwater Fish Society of British Columbia (FFSBC) is responsible for all of the province’s freshwater hatcheries, plus restocking and angling education. It has worked very well, with angling efforts continuing to rise. It has also taken most of those headaches away from government.A professional, independent board was formed to manage day-to-day operations.
While only a portion of angling licence sales goes back to the Fisheries and Hunting Preservation Fund (FWEF) in Manitoba, all angling licence sales are allocated to the FFSBC. This also acts as a great incentive for the non-profit organization, as income is based on the success they have, a results-driven model that a Progressive Conservative government would buy into.
The FFSBC generates $15 million from licence sales alone. In Manitoba at the current rate, licence sales generate about $5.4 million per year. For this new agency to be effective in Manitoba, more money has to come from somewhere.There is no doubt that to be operational at least $10 million is needed for formation and implementation on a yearly basis.
Down the road, other revenue streams will be need to be found. The change in management structure will not come overnight. There will have to be much input and agreement from stakeholder groups in this province as to how to move forward. The government might want to consider hiring a consultant to help get the ball rolling.
The sooner this new agency gets in place, the better off our fisheries will be, given the almost total state of flux we are in right now with management of this precious resource.
For example, did you know the Freshwater Fish Marketing Agency was able to pay commercial fishermen top dollar for all big walleye delivered in the last year? While the average large walleye brought in to Freshwater is worth $19, Travel Manitoba and other agencies have put a sport fishing value of $400 on a trophy fish (28 inches or longer) caught and usually released in Manitoba. It just doesn’t make either economic or sustainable sense to kill your most valuable fish.

Scott Forbes is an ecologist at the University of Winnipeg who works on fish and wildlife. He and his students participated (pro bono) in the Eco certification of the Waterhen Lake fishery. He believes we need a moratorium on the roe fishery and mesh-size limits to protect the spawning stock on Lake Winnipeg.
"So much for the claim of the commercial fishers that they don’t need any management oversight because they always fished sustainably."
If this keeps up, Forbes says we will see another collapse of the Lake Winnipeg fishery as we did in the 1960s. Forbes says with commercial catches of walleye in freefall, we are headed in that direction.

 

[Vollmer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikgoCR05oM8&t=105s&list=PL8Jzp3jvEEVg2RkNgzltwrS9Wo7za49Xs&index=3

 

[Captain Ahab]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTaSjH6i9M

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It's getting to be a joke.