2011 Limits

As of Monday March 1, 2011, it was reported that two of the board members of the LECBA (Lake Erie Charter Boat Association) met with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. After the meeting, the LECBA reported that they are confident that there will be no limit changes in 2011. This is unofficial but it sounds like good news to me.

I will be attending the LECBA's Captain's Conference this Saturday and will report back any changes or news that I hear.

FYI, you do not have to be a captain to join this organization. Anyone can join as an associate for $35 per year. This organization not only supports the captains but also works on causes that directly affect Lake Erie, i.e, the Asian Carp problem, algae blooms, Toledo's fish killing power plants, the impact of windmills in Lake Erie, etc.... Why not support an organization that has our best interests at heart? (Note: I don't work for nor am I paid by the LECBA. I just strongly support them and believe in their cause.) Their website is www.lecba.org if you are interested.

I believe they should drop the 6 fish limit down to 4 I'm from Buffalo New York and I'm an avid fisherman (and soon to be charter captain) on our end of the lake and wish they would drop our limit to 3 or 4 fish we are at 5 per day. Also we as fisherman as a whole take way too many fish out of the lake every year to sustain this fishery. I fish the Port Clinton area off south bass island the first week of may every year its sickining to see how many fish that are brought off the lake to the fish cleaning area where we stay. I also think the ODNR needs to crack down on these guys that take double and triple limits a day.

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Originally Posted by fishkiller16

I believe they should drop the 6 fish limit down to 4 I'm from Buffalo New York and I'm an avid fisherman (and soon to be charter captain) on our end of the lake and wish they would drop our limit to 3 or 4 fish we are at 5 per day. Also we as fisherman as a whole take way too many fish out of the lake every year to sustain this fishery. I fish the Port Clinton area off south bass island the first week of may every year its sickining to see how many fish that are brought off the lake to the fish cleaning area where we stay. I also think the ODNR needs to crack down on these guys that take double and triple limits a day.

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They don't care, have reported several people for this, and they say it doesn't hurt. I have seen the fishery go down in the last 20 years.

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Originally Posted by fishkiller16

I believe they should drop the 6 fish limit down to 4 I'm from Buffalo New York and I'm an avid fisherman (and soon to be charter captain) on our end of the lake and wish they would drop our limit to 3 or 4 fish we are at 5 per day. Also we as fisherman as a whole take way too many fish out of the lake every year to sustain this fishery. I fish the Port Clinton area off south bass island the first week of may every year its sickining to see how many fish that are brought off the lake to the fish cleaning area where we stay. I also think the ODNR needs to crack down on these guys that take double and triple limits a day.

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You could be right on the desire to lower the limit, are definately right about those who make 3 or 4 trips in one day taking a limit or more each trip, they hopefuly will be caught and get a huge fine. I am not posting here to be critical of your thoughts on this matter, as we both want the same thing, more walleyes to catch. But there must be another factor at play here much larger than possible over fishing, because after the 2003 hatch became old enough to spawn there were aprox. 30,000,000 (30 million) breeding fish available to carry on the population. There has not been a hatch since 2003 that has been much above average if even that good. My question is why? It certainly was not due to the lack of adult spawning fish for the next several years. With 30 million fish playing whoopee out there one would think that something else is at play here instead of over fishing. These are just my thoughts on the matter.

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Originally Posted by Fishing Dude

They don't care, have reported several people for this, and they say it doesn't hurt. I have seen the fishery go down in the last 20 years.

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Tell that to those who get caught double and triple tripping out of Turtle Creek and Wild Wings each spring just to name 2 of the areas/marina's they watch each spring. The Wardens that I have had contact with take their job very seriously, most often asking if I/WE have observed any possible violations of bag limits, and that is as it should be. If in the future you observe over bagging violations and a Warden makes that statement about it does'nt hurt then by all means turn in that Warden at the TIP hotline, get his name and/or badge number if possible, car or boat number anything that can be used to identify the Warden in question, as well as the place, date and time of day reported to him/her and file a formal complaint. Those are our fish he/she is talking about and it needs to be stopped.

Personally, I feel that ODNR does a pretty good job managing the Lake Erie fishery. I have to believe that they appropriately study the various species and apply scientific formulas for deciding regulations. As a new fisherman to the Ohio side of Lake Erie, seeing ODNR at the boat ramps from Fenwick to Huron was amazing. I think they do a pretty good job considering the resources and budget that they have to work with. Whatever ODNR sets catch limits at, I think we need to trust that they know the fishery better than anybody. Beyond abiding by the law, fisherman can choose their own limits based on individual values, and respect that those values vary from person to person.

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Originally Posted by peleebound

Personally, I feel that ODNR does a pretty good job managing the Lake Erie fishery. I have to believe that they appropriately study the various species and apply scientific formulas for deciding regulations. As a new fisherman to the Ohio side of Lake Erie, seeing ODNR at the boat ramps from Fenwick to Huron was amazing. I think they do a pretty good job considering the resources and budget that they have to work with. Whatever ODNR sets catch limits at, I think we need to trust that they know the fishery better than anybody. Beyond abiding by the law, fisherman can choose their own limits based on individual values, and respect that those values vary from person to person.

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To agree with you I also believe the ODNR does one heck of a job with the resources they have to work with especially the enforcement of laws and the management of the fishery, not to mention our four legged and winged wildlife they also manage with some Wardens pulling double and triple duty. Most people forget that their jobs are multi functional. On top of that they all seem to be very dedicated to their work.

In my humble opinion. Every time you go in a restuarant and see Canadian Walleye on the menu? Where in Canada do ya think it came from??? LAKE ERIE via a gill net. I watch the gill netters and you want sickening. Get ready to PUK!

The way I understand it. The ODNR for the most part blames the low hatch rates on the winds and currents.. They have an area they call the hatchery. If the baby walleye get blown out away from that area they will die.. It is neat to watch a lectur by the ODNR on hatch rates. They show a good hatch about every 10 years or so and two moderate hatches in the middle.. We are definatly due..

Here is a little more information about how much our ODNR cares about our walleye population and what they are doing to find out more in the mystery of walleye hatch vs. fry survial.

http://www.fondriest.com/news/lake-e...leye-hatch.htm

Seems every year the same 'ole debates crop up.

Not enough walleye. Too many little walleye. The limit is too low. The limit is too high. The Canadians are taking all the walleye. ODNR Fishieries doesn't know what they are doing. Etc., etc., etc.

It is a HUGE Lake and Lake System. The entire Great Lakes, especially Lake Erie, have gone through drastic changes over the last 180 or so years. The system is still in a state of flux, as change continues. It is a big job with very limited resources to track, study, and develop methods to predict and manage the Lake Erie fishery. Our fisheries people are the professionals. They know what they are doing, and do it well. You either trust them or you don't.

Lake Erie does not remain constant. The fishery does not remain constant. It will do what it will do and there isn't a lot we can do about it in the short term.

Think of fishing methods. Do we use the same fishing methods / lures we used 20 years ago?

Enjoy the resource responsibly and remember every year is going to be different.

West

I disagree I think it could be managed a lot better by Ohio DNR, Pennsylvania Game Commission, NYDEC, and especially Ontario's DNR. Everyone will complain after its too late instead of doing something about it now. The limits need to be lowered across the board. I personally thinks its very very poor managment on Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Ontario not to close their walleye season during the spawning season (mid march-may 1st). And the gill nets need to be gone, they outlawed them in the eastern basin in the 80's.

Good point WB. Last year we pulled out old Hilldebrandts Gold Nuggets and Silver Nuggets. They caught fish. LOL It was great. We decided we wanted a trip where everyone had to use old lures and cast. What a hoot. The remininci never stopped and we limited. Everyone should give it a try. Sometimes old becomes new. Look at the clothes the kids are wearing today. We should have kept our old ones. lol

Good Luck and Good Fishing

Caught more walleye on weight forwards last year than I did on harnesses. Red and white or green and white were the best.

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Originally Posted by fishkiller16

I disagree I think it could be managed a lot better by Ohio DNR, Pennsylvania Game Commission, NYDEC, and especially Ontario's DNR. Everyone will complain after its too late instead of doing something about it now. The limits need to be lowered across the board. I personally thinks its very very poor managment on Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Ontario not to close their walleye season during the spawning season (mid march-may 1st). And the gill nets need to be gone, they outlawed them in the eastern basin in the 80's.

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Please educate yourself on the subject if you plan to be a charter captain. There are not that many fish caught during the spawn in Ohio. I think last year (a good year for early season) Ohio caught roughly 100,000 walleye, of which 90% were MALES. A better choice of season to close down would be june/july or july/august when the most walleye are caught out of lake erie (nearly 500,000 for the few months) and of those 50% are females. Seeing that you are from NY that would pretty much shut down all your fishing. It's not the numbers of walleye in the lake and it's not the number of females spawning. after 2003 there were nearly 60 million walleye in the lake and they could not produce an above average hatch. I think the 2010 hatch was the best hatch we have had since that 2003 hatch (or close to it) and as it stands the estimated walleye population is just under 20 million. It's very possible that lake erie can't sustain 60 million walleye constantly. The resources for food, shelter, etc. are not infinite in the lake.

I know there are yay' and nay's about this topic but it would help protect the prime spawners.