johnsonaaro2 - 10/9/2015 12:16 PM

I have a friend that would like an explanation please

johnsonaaro2 - 10/9/2015 12:16 PM

I have a friend that would like an explanation please

jabird - 10/10/2015 3:05 PM

I have fished the Fergus, Alexandria, Detroit Lakes area all of my life and have formed a few opinions about this walleye vs. musky argument and maybe my thoughts are worth nothing more than the price paid but time does tell a story. In my 35 years in that area I have fished many lakes, some stocked with muskies and some not. I owned property on a lake in the Alexandria area for 30 years and can share some experience about fishing quality for that period of time and I would expect that my findings could apply to many lakes. The lake does not have muskies in it and was many years ago considered a premier walleye fishery. The lake had a lot of walleyes in it and some very nice ones at that. Along with the notoriety came the fishermen. Every fisherman that came to the lake expected to leave with his limit on the stringer and a lot of them did. In the winter it looked like a small city out on the ice. There was a lot of fishing pressure. Many of the full time residents along the lake shore, including my neighbors had freezers full of fish. Many of them went out to their houses daily and a lot of fish were kept and many of the big ones went on the wall. These days it would be difficult to go out on the same lake and catch enough for lunch much less a trophy. Things in this world never stay the same, they are always changing and nature is a very cyclical. There are many factors, none of which I would care to argue about but some factors are the result of human beings. If the walleye fishing in my lake has changed that dramatically in a relatively short period of time and there aren't any muskies to blame who is next in line to be accused? Zebra mussels? Crayfish? Milfoil? Farmers for indirectly polluting the water? Global warming? I heard all of these and more at some time or another and yes these could all be contributing factors and as a sportsman I take all of those factors seriously and have an interest in preserving our waters and resources. Not to the extreme but I try to leave nature the way that I found it for others (and my kids) to enjoy. I think the biggest threat to the walleyes (or any species) is man. If a popular lake like Pelican is low on walleyes I would be inclined to believe that the fishermen have played a part yet I haven't heard any of the musky haters concede to that. Look what Muskies Inc, the promotion of catch and release and the DNR have accomplished as far as creating a healthy musky fishery. No it is not perfect but there are more people than ever fishing for muskies and there are a lot of waters in Minnesota with really big fish...which was one of the goals. We all want a big one right? What if we went back to days when every musky was kept. The population would go down of course. Walleyes exist in a higher density and are more prolific than muskies but are just as susceptible to over fishing as any other species (or living thing for that matter) and on some of our favorite waters there is even netting. It is pretty hard to prove that the muskies ate all the walleyes but if someone or some entity had the time and dedication I would think it could be proven or guesstimated how many walleyes are harvested from a body of water. I am not suggesting that this should be done but in theory it is possible and I suspect the numbers would be quite revealing. One thing I would like to hear more of from the walleye enthusiasts is more talk about catch and release and the preservation of the resource. With the closure of Mille Lacs this year I would think this would be of paramount importance to those effected and would be a great time to ramp up the promotion of CPR or CNR. This is not meant to be inflammatory but at some point I think the fishermen and residents on Pelican need to accept SOME responsibility. In most cases I would not condone any kind of public argument because those situations can can get out of hand very quickly but in this case I think Jerry was spot on and I thank him for having the courage to say what needed to be said. Tread lightly but keep it up.