Fisher_i_am – read my previous post below, it tells how ODW estimates the recreational catch on Lake Erie.

Fisheries Management have several options to use to increase or decrease recreational fish species catches, or otherwise manage a fishery, besides daily bag limits. They include establishing open and closed seasons; open and closed sections of the waterway; daily time restrictions (night and day usually); fishing method (artificial or live bait for example); size limits (above 15 inches for example); and slot limits (can’t keep fish between 10 and 15 inches in length), amount others. Even if they can’t raise or lower the creel limit (daily bag), ODW has methods to use to increase or decrease the potential number of walleye caught. Whether or not they use any of these tools depends on the situation in the fishery being managed.

One of the biggest factors in Lake Erie is weather. The more days of bad weather (especially windy), especially on weekends, the lower the potential yearly catch will be simply because there were less hours fished. The ice fishing season also has a significant effect. Three winters ago we had a very long and stable ice fishing season which resulted in a lot more overall fishing on the Lake, increasing the potential total catch. This last winter we had no ice fishing, thus no winter increase in the total hours fished, which will likely reduce the potential total yearly catch.

A lot goes into both the effect on and estimating Lake Erie’s Walleye and other fish species populations. A fishery population in a body of water the size of and as dynamic as Lake Erie is very difficult to predict, or estimate. ODW and their counterparts in the other States and Ontario do a pretty good job, and technology and increased knowledge potentially make their estimates more accurate over time.