Author Topic: Swan Lake walleyes (Read 11627 times)

tdbarstow · « **on:** Dec 20, 2015, 09:09 PM »

Everyone is talking about the walleyes in Swan Lake. Does anyone know what kind of size and population there is?

missoulafish · « **Reply #1 on:** Dec 20, 2015, 09:25 PM »

They netted two fish. No established population likely.

tdbarstow · « **Reply #2 on:** Dec 20, 2015, 09:46 PM »

Kinda what I thought thanks.

BK_Fisherman · « **Reply #3 on:** Dec 20, 2015, 11:00 PM »

As of December 10th, you are required by law to kill any walleye you catch out of Swan Lake or the Swan River. Secondly, the catch must be reported to Montana FWP, and the dead fish must be submitted to FWP within 10 days of its initial harvest. In the event you catch a walleye in the aforementioned locations and don't follow these steps, you can be fined up to $500 and have your hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked.

missoulafish · « **Reply #4 on:** Dec 20, 2015, 11:17 PM »

I've read a lot of articles about the mandatory kill and none have mentioned losing privelages of any sort for not reporting a walleye out of Swan lake.

CarpCopRetired · « **Reply #5 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 06:55 AM »

http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/fwp-commission-approves-mandatory-walleye-kill/article_5cab6bc0-17f1-528d-a087-e3b3d35dd632.html

missoulafish · « **Reply #6 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 08:43 AM »

Weird, that's the only article I've seen that days that. Wonder if it's true....
Thanks Chris.

Strippnthedream · « **Reply #7 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 08:45 AM »

Quote from: missoulafish on Dec 20, 2015, 11:17 PM

I've read a lot of articles about the mandatory kill and none have mentioned losing privelages of any sort for not reporting a walleye out of Swan lake.

Yep for sure says loss of privelages. Third paragraph down. Crazy.

Born Late · « **Reply #8 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 02:02 PM »

Speaking of mandatory, Captain Anderson should be required to repeat Public Relations training if he thinks that's the way to encourage public cooperation.

PerchAssault · « **Reply #9 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 06:35 PM »

OK, allow me a rant please...

Remember about 3 years ago when they came out with the "Statewide fisheries management plan? Well they laid out ALL these options in the case of an "illegal introduction"...I remember at the time, after I got the final decision notice which included ALL 70 comments received about the plan...most of those comments (about 40 percent) were from GROUPS such as Forest Service, Glacier Park, TU, BLM, et al. I remember thinking that out of the quarter million or so licensed anglers, 70 comments was a pretty lame number.

But THIS is how these laws get passed, right under our noses. This was one of the options, in fact, except for an outright "eradication at all costs", it was the most extreme and I knew, when and if it got used, people would exclaim "its not fair, they can't do this".

Well they can, and they did. ...if even ONE PERCENT of the licensed anglers had spoken out, it would have been hard for them to say "The majority of the comments were for this rule of law"...(which they most certainly will when questioned) Think about that the next time you let a comment period come and go.

Rant mode OFF

Mike

coldcreekchris · « **Reply #10 on:** Dec 21, 2015, 07:22 PM »

mike I remember 3 yrs back when you were askin everybody to stand up...I know flathead is your livliehood...but walleye in the swan...smallies in the lake,,,and now pike in lmr....its just sad....not that i'm a big MFAW life guy...whoever dumped those pike in lmr should pay a price..pike in lmr is just sickening..

fishermanj · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 02:55 AM »

It sure seems odd to me that some guy caught the pike out of LMR? And not one but two! I know of probably 50 or more perch fisherman that fish this body of water all year around and they would know if they were ever bit off by a northern. You cant tell me that one guy can go out and fish it and catch more than one northern in one day, and no one else ever catches another! It is a crock and it is simply a way of funding more fish and wildlife jobs for netting! So Swan lake... do I need to go there. FWP has been netting and slaughtering the fish in this lake for many years. Now all of a sudden they catch once again not one but two mature walleye! So we wait for the ear bone DNA results, and yes each and everyone of us own the right to these results. But here we are just waiting, media and clubs are pointing fingers before anyone knows where they came from or where the picture of the walleyes in the bottom of the boat actually came from. In the mean time, why doesn't some one care about how many salmon or bull trout are caught in these nets daily!! The numbers are amazing. Also there is an exact money amount of what one planted bull trout or salmon is worth, why does no one care about the money being spent on the rehabilitation of bull trout and then the same people who planted them are catching them in nets? might be me, but this seems odd....

coldcreekchris · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 03:26 AM »

good points....I was wonderin bout some of the same things....without getting in to some conspiracy theories...I agree...it is indeed rather odd....

fishermanj · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 05:19 AM »

I am active in a few different outdoor and fishing clubs and I hate the word conspiracy! It just really seems odd. I have seen first hand the FWP try and pull a few fast ones on some of the local non profit clubs. One interesting fact is that the retired region 1 fish biologist is now the president of a local non profit organization called Flathead Wildlife! My best advice would be to join one of the local clubs that constantly battle with this sort of stuff. I have a really hard time with the FWP paying for all the studies and hours of netting fish then have the couth to ask a non profit fishing to donate rods because they just don't have the budget! Well my advise is hold a bake sale or something that's what we did you earn the money we have!

fishermanj · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 05:41 AM »

this might be way of topic but it just kills me. So in the greater flathead (region 1) name two lakes you can go to and catch a nice size NATIVE species. ok name five lakes you can go and catch nice size NON Native species. Did you do it? Now do a little research and see how many tax dollars are going to FWP grants and studies on Native fish. It is truly a mess. If I want to catch a trout I have to buy a very expensive reservation license and drive over 200 miles round trip to maybe not be blown off the lake! It makes no sense. look at the money in license sales alone on McWinneger slough, smith lake, Lower Stillwater and lake mary ronan!!! What if they made it free to fish for non native fish? oh no don't go there!! A fish becomes a resident of that body of water after ten years of catch rates noted by FWP. I could go on forever about these little rants, truth is they will get us nowhere except back on one of my local lakes fishing for more non native fish that taste delicious and make my kids smile all day long! Now to me that makes sense....

CarpCopRetired · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 06:39 AM »

ATTENTION:

Blue Light special- Buy one roll and get the second roll of tin foil free…

Strippnthedream · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 07:33 AM »

Quote from: CarpCopRetired on Dec 22, 2015, 06:39 AM

ATTENTION:

Blue Light special- Buy one roll and get the second roll of tin foil free…

And this is what a retired carp cop offers 2 the thread. Thanks.

albo · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 10:05 AM »

I think there are less illegal fish stockings than what the Fish, Wildlife and Parks want the general public to believe. Their own records indicate they stocked 500,000 walleye in Lake Helena in 1951 so anything from Hauser down stream was stocked by them and this would include up river to the old Canyon Ferry Dam. As construction on the new dam ended in 1954 that chunk of river in between had Walleye in it. On 06/27/1996 they stocked 10,800 1.6 inch Walleye from the Miles City Fish Hatchery in the Missouri River in Region 3 in Broadwater County. In their fish stocking records I have found that they have been stocking Walleye in the Missouri River in Region 4 since 1933

Born Late · « **Reply #18 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 10:07 AM »

Quote from: coldcreekchris on Dec 21, 2015, 07:22 PM

walleye in the swan...smallies in the lake,,,and now pike in lmr....its just sad....not that i'm a big MFAW life guy...whoever dumped those pike in lmr should pay a price..pike in lmr is just sickening..

Agreed. The mandatory kill requirement could be a useful tool there and elsewhere...Canyon Ferry pike come to mind. My issue is with the warden's "DROP AND GIVE ME 20" bombast. That pretty well shifted the focus away from the reward being offered for information regarding the Swan scumbucketbiologist(s).

CarpCopRetired · « **Reply #19 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 10:54 AM »

“conspiracy theories...” = tin foil hat = good buy on foil…

MT_btagger · « **Reply #20 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 02:40 PM »

The Swan river and Swan lake are amazingly scenic mediocre fisheries. I can't imagine walleye doing well there (cold deep lake, limited nutrient input), but maybe they'll establish another mediocre (walleye) fishery in the system.

So what's the worst thing that could possibly happen?

The Swan river system is nationally important to bull trout recovery. Yes there are already pike in the system, but walleye are one more nail in the bull trout coffin. So when USFWS gets hit with another lawsuit by environmental groups in 3-5 years to upgrade bull trout status from threatened to endangered, they'll have to account for the additional non-natives in the Swan lake and Clark fork drainages in addition to everything else.

That's really hard to do, because the enviros only have to show the possibility of an impact that wasn't considered last time, USFWS will have to try to show that there is no impact. It's not easy to prove that in court. The feds and the 5 states involved will do anything they can to prevent that change in status (think sage chickens), and there's no telling what kind of protective measures they might adopt in a court settlement to prevent the change in listing status.

But a short list might include elimination of the recreational bull trout fishery (That's a no brainer, it was fun while it lasted), year round fishing closures for nursery/headwater streams (Monture creek, n. fork Blackfoot, S. fork Flathead, Fish creek, etc. come to mind), elimination of bait fishing in any water body with bull trout, further restrictions on roads and logging in those drainages, etc., etc.

For what? The chance of a mediocre at best walleye fishery in a state full of outstanding walleye fisheries.

Really does not seem like it would be a good deal for most anglers in Montana. These are obviously worst case scenarios, but no one knows what will happen. Which is reason enough to avoid moving fish around the state.

It's a shame ice shanty doesn't have the steaming pile of **** emoticon available, because it would be really useful here.

WilleyBooger · « **Reply #21 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 08:41 PM »

There was a FWP fisheries manager (now retired) who said the way to stop bucket biologists was to make it illegal for anyone to fish for illegally introduced species planted into a fishery by a bucket biologist. The rule on walleyes from Swan Lake appears to be FWP putting that idea into action. I have to give FWP credit for taking action instead of sitting there wringing their hands.

Something else to note is that they really don't plan on fining anyone or taking away their fishing privileges. How are they going to know someone caught a walleye in Swan Lake unless a warden checks their boat while on the water or coming off of the water? At that point, the warden cannot fine the fisherman because he has 10 days to turn the walleye over to FWP. Isn't everyone going to turn over the walleye rather that take the punishment?

fishermanj · « **Reply #22 on:** Dec 22, 2015, 09:38 PM »

What about the walleye that are netted yearly in the flathead river sloughs, like fennon, church and half moon? Or maybe lake 5 for that matter ive even heard claims of them coming out of the Stillwater river as well as tally lake. I agree there is a time and a place for walleye. Not all lakes are ideal. Fact is, FWP claims noxon res. was all bucket biology. Well around 1981 the FWP stocked walleye fingerlings on accident when the ponds at the Miles City fish hatchery flooded due to a levy that broke. Just when they thought they were only planting bass, they actually dumped thousands of walleye into the system! Because of this, they now hand cull fish before planting!!

Moral of this rant, there are more little bachelor groups of walleye in local waters then most would ever admit. Also there are plenty of people who catch these fish and release them nice and quietly. Its hard for sportsman to trust the FWP and do what ever they ask (turn in walleye caught) I would bet money that if and I emphasize they word "if" someone caught a walleye out of swan lake they would either eat the fish or release it in hopes of one more fish that may spawn and hopefully someday put another bend in their rod!

whiptail · « **Reply #23 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 12:18 AM »

You all are saying what i say every day.
1) Lmr two Pike caught in the same day. Fwp net 5000+ perch Sunnys and bass and put in gravel pit. Now I talk to fishermen and women regularly that fish Lmr they have never heard of pike being caught sense.Now Fwp has never let the public know if they found Pike.
2) Now we have walleye in Swan lake according to Fwp. Wow two walleye where caught in the nets in Swan, now we only see one in the picture and no background in the picture.

.
3) now they are playing the Government game P.R.S. Problem Reaction Solution 1. Problem walleye in swan lake 2. Reaction use the media to to get the public into an outrage either pro or con.3 Solution massive fines, loss of fishing & hunting rights or 3yrs. prision sentence for targeting walleye if caught and not turned in to them.

4)Now what they have done is unconstitutional The laws need to be passed by the legislature. This is a policy and not a law.

Now remember 911 and Bush got the Patriot Act passed and when they said we needed to give up some of our freedoms for security.
This is to fishy to me and to many coincidences for my book. enough said.

Golden Trout · « **Reply #24 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 01:41 AM »

Where can I find info on FWP putting 5,000 fish into a pit? Only interested in reading up on it myself as well is all.

fishermanj · « **Reply #25 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 03:34 AM »

You can go to the FWP office and get the full EIS for any lake they have netted. This proposal will tell you in it what the plan is for the fish that are netted. LMR is a certified disease free lake, meaning that the perch have been selected and tested for disease. For years the FWP has netted close to 10,000 yellow perch out of LMR, that's not counting bass, trout or sunfish. In this proposal it claims they will be disposed of properly. There is no criteria on what the "proper" means to a non native fish. The fish were disposed of in a local gravel pit in proctor mt.

there is a local club that offered to pay for the transplant of these yellow perch to waters such as lake Francis, Fresno res. and or tiber res. Instead they just killed them all. In the early 90's the FWP used to transplant a few fish over to some eastern waters, I believe it was bailey res. near Havre.

The answers are all there and they are all available.

My advice is join one of the local fishing organizations and you will be surprised what actually goes on.

CarpCopRetired · « **Reply #26 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 07:12 AM »

“4)Now what they have done is unconstitutional The laws need to be passed by the legislature. This is a policy and not a law. ”

I do believe that you are incorrect…

http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/2/4/2-4-102.htm
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/87/1/87-1-201.htm
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/87/1/87-1-301.htm

Papa John · « **Reply #27 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 08:40 AM »

I just have to ask....... what the heck is a Carp Cop? Great name!

Cold toes · « **Reply #28 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 09:08 AM »

[qoute/]

there is a local club that offered to pay for the transplant of these yellow perch to waters such as lake Francis, Fresno res. and or tiber res. Instead they just killed them all. In the early 90's the FWP used to transplant a few fish over to some eastern waters, I believe it was bailey res. near Havre.
[/quote]

You realize when they net them they die. That's kinda unavoidable with kill nets. It's not like they're dumping a bunch of live fish into a pit just out of spite. I imagine they also collect otoliths for aging and population structure, that also kills them pretty dead.

CarpCopRetired · « **Reply #29 on:** Dec 23, 2015, 10:27 AM »

“…what the heck is a Carp Cop?...”

One of the terms of endearment that I and all Wild Resource Law Enforcement Officers are referred to at some time or another in our careers…

Among other common names…

Moose Marshall, Prairie Pig, Forrest Fuzz…and many others that I cannot include in this post due to Site rules and policies and common decency… Ó¿Ò...è¿è...

News:

Author Topic: Swan Lake walleyes (Read 11627 times)