JoePa wrote:
Sean - where did you get the idea that we Americans don't have fishing seasons, limits, .etc - sure we do - and everyone is expected to follow them without exception - as a non-Canadian I can't understand how one group of people can act differently from the rest of the population - treaties that were made many years ago when conditions were far different should not have any relevance today - all Canadians should be treated the same - one other point - people who buy these fish are just as guilty as the guys catching the fish - restaurants that sells walleye should be boycotted because if people didn't buy these fish where wouldn't be an incentive to catch so many
I can see why some people don't obey the fish laws - like size limits and possession limits - one guy is expected to only keep a couple while another guy is keeping hundreds - or one guy has to throw back fish because they are a inch too small while another guy is loading up on all size fish - high time to get rid of these unfair treaties
I mean no disrespect JoePa, I am Canadian. It lived in the US for the past 15 years only to recently return. I may be misinformed about "seasons" and with a little research I was wrong about that. The point I was making, there are guys in Minnesota and Pennsylvania that are fishing walleye right out of the river as they spawn. I watched people every day where I was pulling bass right off their beds. My point is that they shouldn't be fished while spawning because there's a good chance that that fish won't have a successful spawn because of it. I know up here we close fishing for specific types when they are spawning so that they can reproduce naturally.
Now I know rules don't always apply when fishing a man made lake or resovoire but the seasons really apply to natural bodies of water.
I just believe that in order to have a good sport fishing industry for years to come then the fish should be left alone to do their business.
As for the spearing or netting, I know it's tradition or whatever. But those days of necessity have certainly passed. Most do it to sell and make side cash, some merely do it cause they can. I have seen several dump sites for these speared fish where the fish weren't even filleted, I actually called one in a few years back that I came across down the old rail way bed while four wheeling. Truck load of big dead walleye not even cleaned.
My point is this needs to be monitored or done away with completely. It is being abused and it only take 1 person abusing it to have an over all effect. There is no reason a person should take 300 fish in one outing, then go back and take another 70. That 370 fish that most likely didn't spawn. That's going to affect a lot of things.