fish lake

[ifishsd]

they have the aerator going, so that should help.

Why doesn't SD put more aerators in the shallow lakes that are good fishing lakes? In SW MN they have them in alot of the lakes.

[stumper]

they have the aerator going, so that should help.

Why doesn't SD put more aerators in the shallow lakes that are good fishing lakes? In SW MN they have them in alot of the lakes.

I agree,but why dont we as fisherman also back off on some of these lakes that practically get fished out by the "Thundering Heard" when word gets out about a bite? They get slammed and then picked clean by the guys that didnt get the tip until it was to late for the hot bite. Good lakes get turned upside down when word gets out. Maybe the state should limit the number of fisherman that are on these lakes,say so many people per acre at a time if its under so many acres in size??I guess what I am saying is that some of these lakes just as well winter kill to clean up the rough fish after they have been picked clean so that the state can try to restock.

[icefishin]

i dont know about fish lake but i heard they are not going to restock whitewood after a winterkill. I guess from what i have heard the lake winter kills too frequently and they say stocking isnt worth it and no longer cost effective. As for fish lake and whitewood, if it does winter kill as it probably will end up doing, taking all that fish out of there didnt hurt a thing and will at least get put to good use instead of ending up floating around the shoreline of the lake come spring time.

[TLA]

they have the aerator going, so that should help.

Why doesn't SD put more aerators in the shallow lakes that are good fishing lakes? In SW MN they have them in alot of the lakes.

Lakes in MN that are areated aren't usually done by the state or the DNR. Generally they are privately funded and done by sportsmans groups, with the states and counties okay. There might be minimal help at the county level. Kind of like an adopt a lake deal. I helped with rasing money and contributed to the one in Lake Shetek and also to one in Balaton, MN. Lol, I bought a few raffle tickets to raise money for others.

Like in most beauracracies if you want something done, do it yourself was the attude in MN. The one in Shetek that pumped in air works well and the one at Balaton that used windmill type rigs didn't work well at all. The technology was very new at the time and no one was 100% certain any of it would work the way it was expected to so the state didn't want to put any money into it. I suspect most of it is still funded by sportsmans groups.

[Brian]

They could just make the statewide daily limit for perch be 10, no reason for any one person to keep 25 of the jumbos.  Then it would be the same across the board, no confusion.  There is twice as many ice fisherman out there as there was 10 years ago.  The shack builders, auger manufactures, electronics have done a great job marketing to ice anglers and the result is increased ice anglers and pressure.  This is predicted to increase another 25% in the upcoming years so it's only gonna get worse.   They aren't making 25% more lakes to fish, so why not just lower the limit now to protect the fishing for the future. 

[Slip Bobber]

These lakes (Oak, Oakwood, Fish, Whitewood, etc) are "fished out" and / or "winterkill" every couple of years.  This isnt anything new.  There are always a few survivors - and about the time everyone forgets about the lake - things take off again a few years down the road.  Winter kill is just the nature of our shallower glacial lakes - not much we can do about it.  We're probably due for some wet years ahead (higher precipitation that the previous 6 yrs or so), which will assist in rejuvinating some of our shallower lakes.  As mentioned above - I wouldnt worry to much about people overfishing these shallow lakes (within GFP set limits)....as if we dont get em....ma nature will.

As for GF+P not restocking - I would doubt that's an indefinate decision.  It would make sense not to restock Whitewood at it's current state, but again, given a few years - things could change significantly.

[gunner]

GFP didn't put the areators in.  Those belong to the Deuel County Lakes and Streams.  There are a few local guys here that actually care about our lakes in Deuel county that take time and their own money to run these areators to keep our lakes here in good health.  So if you were part of the thundering heard reaping the benifits off Fish lake and other Deuel county lakes it might make you feel better if you sent them a donation to keep the areators going and fish stocking in these lakes that the GFP won't stock anymore.  And yes they do also stock fish in these lakes with donated money and funds raised from the Clear Lake community sale and other fund raisers. 

[pbc]

Fear - the limit on perch was 50 for many years.  I recall 200 or more vehicles on Pelican for months on end - the fish were there the next year.  The limit number isn't the problem.   I think the real problem is the flock fishermen -thundering herd - whatever you want to call them.  All the media attention has created the flock fishermenalways looking for the hot bite.   95% of todays fishermen fit in that category.  So when someone goes back to the bar tells his bud - puts it on the net - wham the flock is there the next day.  

I like to fish the NE lakes but sure ain't going to drive 200 miles round trip, spend $50 to catch ten perch.  That's insane.  The problem isn't the limit it's the culture of the flock.  When is the last time you went to a lake to just try it?

As to stocking these lakes let the GF&P know what you think.  They work for us, their salaries are paid by our dollars.  We paid for the fish hatcheries and their brand new vehicles.  If they can't get it done maybe we should just let the ducks do it!  And save some license fees.

[icefishin]

I couldnt agree with you more fear no fish! A statewide 10 limit would be excellent for panfish. 10 is plenty for one person to clean at a time and makes a great meal.

[TLA]

Well, a 10 fish limit would sure keep the crowds away. Sheesh, IMO 25 is absurd. MN limits used to be 100. Of course you could only fish with one rod. 2 in winter.

As for whitewood, why would the GFP put money in that lake when their crown jewel in the area is Thompson? The park cost a ton of money and the rest of the things they've done on Thompson draws a ton of people from all over the country. That puts a ton of money into local economies.

Of course a ten fish limit will hurt local economies because no one is going to spend the gas and drive to far to catch JUST 10 fish. There are many mopre considerations than fish limits.

I doubt many here are fish scientists or even know all the possible cause for poor catches. Reality is there should probably be different limits on every lake as every lake is different and fish populations are different.

Yep, tax money pays GFP employees. Don't like what the GFP does then vote in people to the state legislature who are going to force GFP to do what sportsman want. Lol, I moved to Thompson while the recreation area was being built. All I heard was how stupid the state was and what a waste of money it was.

Lake Preston and DeSmet still don't have one damn thing for any of the families to do when they get to Thompson. Sheesh, it's even hard to find a good meal around somedays. 19th century thinking doesn't cut it in the 21st century.

It's much more complicated than a simplistic 10 fish limit.