04-13-2023, 09:31 PM
(04-13-2023, 08:32 PM)oldguy Wrote:(04-13-2023, 07:28 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: I think what he was saying is that those that are there below the baffles snagging the walleye are bozo's, not those that are there trying to catch them legally.
That is whom I was addressing.It seems we have this conversation every year. It just seems that the same group of snaggers only gets larger every year. If the walleye are not allowed to spawn we will soon not have any in the future. We all need to do our part.
Actually, the illegal harvest of walleyes at the inlet is not likely to have that much effect on the overall walleye population. It is more a matter of sportsmanship and ethics...and legality. The eggs from walleye that spawn at the inlet have a very low survival rate. They are often killed by settling in the silt, rather than in well aerated rocky bottom as in "typical" walleye spawning streams. Ditto for those spawning around the wave washed rocky shoreline. Always some survive but not nearly the numbers that we would like.
That is why DWR has been netting and collecting eggs and milt from spawn-ready Willard walleyes for the past few years. They hatch them out and plant them back into the reservoir as "sac fry"...with a much higher survival rate than those naturally spawned. This has been quite successful and walleye numbers are getting better every year.
My biggest gripe is that those who use "Willard dry flies" (large lures with big trebles) to catch the fish illegally are at least reducing the number of adult fish that ethical anglers would like to catch legally...post spawn.