Quinte Fishing

certainly not pointling fingers at anyone. But I would like to know the season totals of a few people out on the bay. Is the guy who fishes once a year and keeps 5 really worse than the guy who fishes 5 days a week, keeping 4 a day???? Funny how some use the words conservation and sustainable.

AGREE!!!! I fish Quinte probably 10 times/year, summer through winter. I would say that I throw back 95% of my fish. Costs me about $5,000/year to fish. (Boat payment, gas, park rentals, licence, bait, lures, etc....) I don't feel guilty when I keep a few!!! It's about $800.00/pound for what I keep!!!!!! LOL.

_________________
There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!

Pea's from the same pod as far as I'm concerned. Nothing wrong with enjoying some fish, but anybody who is keeping 20 walleyes/week is at the very least a fish hog and probably in violation of the law unless they are eating 4 walleye a day, 5 days a week. Daily limit is 4 on a sportfishing licence, but it is also the posession limit. So if you take 4 home, from then on you're only allowed to catch one walleye for every one you eat. Still got two in the freezer then the next time you are out your limit is two. Put one over 24.9 in the freezer and you can't keep another one next time out.

No, one person keeping one extra fish on a single trip to Quinte is not going to jeapordize the fishery, but if everybody who made the trip to quinte did the same, well then you can see the larger impact.

Both cases people are breaking the law so they can take home more fish than they are allowed. IMO the current regulations strike a great balance of allowing you to take some eaters home for a meal, and keeping one trophy sized fish if you so wish.

To me conservation means not taking home a limit every time you can, just because the law allows me so many fish, and sustainability means selective harvest so that most of big breeders go back to help repopulate the fishery.

Not going to get into a numbers game here, just say in my experience that the hardcore anglers who are out there alot are usually the ones most concerned with the health of the fishery. You might find they keep less fish in a year than many of the casual anglers who keep a limit every time they can catch one.

_________________
Bruce Ogilvie

"Fish Hard, Hunt Hard, Live Hard"

http://www.muskiescanada.ca/

I would have to agree with that!!

If I really want fish, I prefer to keep them from my local lakes and rivers because the fishery is less fragile than Lake Ontario. I have kept fish before but in all reality I might keep 1 out of every 20 I catch. A good rule to follow is only keep what you plan on eating that day.

_________________
U.S.C.G. Licensed Captain
Pure Fishing Ambassador

Its nice to see every body worried about the big fish but were are you all in spring time when the truck loads are going to the city

I think that is out of peoples hands bigfishman. There has been many a discussion on that. I and we know what you are referring to and no one likes it but it is what it is.

_________________
U.S.C.G. Licensed Captain
Pure Fishing Ambassador

If you talk to the local natives about the spearing and netting , and I have , they point to the 500 white men fishing quinte every day, some of them keeping the large spawners , some keeping limits . I am 100% against the spearing of spawning walleye , but I have spoken to the local police , the MNR , ducks unlimitted ...etc , etc .... no one has the balls to step in .
Natives also tell you that the hatchery near Deseronto releases over a million fry into the bay every summer , and then they ask you how many fry are released by all of the area fishing lodges and guides that profit from the fishery!!!
Merland Park ? Perfect Vue? etc .... nope ....they just take and don't give back.
It's a really tough issue , and there are two strong arguements !!
I know a guy in Deseronto that has kept a hundred walleye this winter ..... what can you do??
I'd love to see a walleye hatchery for quinte , but the MNR loves stocking lakers and splake in small lakes with our money instead!!

Round and round the old argument goes. Unless we can get past laying blame on groups of people, start identifying individuals and reporting them nothing will change. The guy in desoronto who has kept over a hundred fish this winter is just as big a problem as the guy driving that truck to the city in the spring.

Caught a repeat of the "Wild Justice" show on National Geographic yesterday. This is the type of enforcement the MNR needs to adapt. Perhaps if people knew cases of poaching were going to be aggressivly investigated they would be more than willing to call the tip line. I don't think their is much fear of getting caught out there. I've only been checked twice on the water and have been fishing the waters of this region for over 30 years. Need more visibility of the COs, spot checks at access areas, etc.

_________________
Bruce Ogilvie

"Fish Hard, Hunt Hard, Live Hard"

http://www.muskiescanada.ca/

all looks good on TV but they have a tough time down there as well with cut backs and the such......... Tiogs county the county I live in has 1 CO he has to cover alot of miles but they all help eachother out and move guys around durring peak times of the year..... them boys are federal with alot of pull they can enter your house just on suspission alone surch yer cars boats camps/campers.land...... all they need is a suspission to act so if you called them on hot line say Joe Blow just drug a deer into his gerage there is a good chance he will show up to investigate it .............