West Shoal Lake today

[HatedByMany]

Didn't get greedy, but caught enough for supper. 

[Bazinga]

Dumb question comin' at ya.....  are you fishing the shoal lake in ontario?

[HatedByMany]

The Shoal Lakes (North Shoal, East Shoal, West Shoal Lakes) just east of St. Laurent, Manitoba interlake region.

[buckster]

Had a pretty good day out aswell.Caught about 70  8 over 12  5 over 14  and one 15 1/2 that buddy is getting mounted.Also got a great sunburn on the face and back of neck that i can really feel this morn  Used small orange and glow forage minnows and small livies untill they ran out then switched to perch eyes worked just as good.Orange was deff the color they wanted.

[fishing mafia]

was out there today great day to be fishing lots of fish

[Big Timber]

What do you think the conditions will be for Saturday with all this warm weather.

[KIWICO]

We could always bring my waverunners lololol

[firefighter]

Had a pretty good day out aswell.Caught about 70  8 over 12  5 over 14  and one 15 1/2 that buddy is getting mounted.Also got a great sunburn on the face and back of neck that i can really feel this morn  Used small orange and glow forage minnows and small livies untill they ran out then switched to perch eyes worked just as good.Orange was deff the color they wanted.

You caught 70, how many anglers?

FF

[mmmskids]

These Shoal Lakes are not used to the pressure they suffered this year  and the volumes and sizes are sure to change as more and more ice anglers check them out. Hopefully the mothers that are left will have a spawning season.

[buckster]

You caught 70, how many anglers?

FF

4 guys  caught 70 didnt say we kept 70  took 6 home for supper.

[dwildwil]

IMO keeping MAs is very questionable as you are removing the breeding stock, why do think size restrictions are imposed.
I believe when I purchase my license it is a SPORT fishing license. And this is excuse that a big fish is at the end of its life is BS, since when did we become marine biologists. In fact one of my fishing buddies that knows a lot about fish, told me that the size of a fish has more to do with its habitat than its age.

Dave

[The_Big_Cat_Canada]

Well I have cleaned many a perch over the last 20 odd years and if anybody assumes that the big 14 plus inch perch all the only ones carrying eggs you are naive. You will find 8 inch perch loaded with eggs and ready to spawn this time of year. I am an ice shanty rookie and  I enjoyed seeing all the pics and chating about where the hot spots are and sharing valueable info about ice conditions and access to all these lakes. But lately all I'm hearing is some ill informed wanna be marine biologist trying to tell me that if I dare take a limit of perch home I'm dooming that fishery. Seriously do you know how big these lakes are and how impossible it would be to even catch 1 % of the fish that these lakes hold. Even with 1000 fisherman fishing it everyday. So please lets start enjoying this site for what it was intended and quit bashing these anglers who are having some great days on the ice and sharing their success stories. Keep on sending in your pics and posts Mikey and Blue, your the reasons I log on from my cramped little office every morning just so I can eat my heart out with envy.

[jasond7mm]

X2!!!

[tommy jr.]

Seriously do you know how big these lakes are and how impossible it would be to even catch 1 % of the fish that these lakes hold. Even with 1000 fisherman fishing it everyday.

If 1000 fisherman / women fished everyday that would be a pretty big number.......

Let's say a thousand people were to fish everyday for a total of 90 days (3 months) over the winter hardwater season.
That is 1000 people catching 25 perch every day.
So 25000 perch every day for 90 days would be
2.25 million perch!!!!

Now if you are talking about all of the lakes in the province maybe not so much, but if you are concentrating the numbers in your example to specific bodies of water (like the shoal lakes that have been the focus lately) harvesting 2.25 million perch would be pretty devastating!
I agree with you that people keeping their limits shouldn't be seen as a huge negative but your numbers in your example are a little misleading.
Thank god that 1000 people do not catch 25000 perch a day, everyday IMO!!!!!

Just some food for thought (no pun intended)

[5 X Master Angler]

I agree with you to a point tommy jr.  The thing is though that you aren't allowed 25 every day.  You can only have 25 in possesion.

CATCH YOUR LIMIT, BUT LIMIT YOUR CATCH!  Words to live by.

[tommy jr.]

I agree with you to a point tommy jr.  The thing is though that you aren't allowed 25 every day.  You can only have 25 in possesion.

CATCH YOUR LIMIT, BUT LIMIT YOUR CATCH!  Words to live by.

Yes, true enough.
I just wanted to illustrate how quick seemingly harmless numbers can quickly add up and get out of control.
We all need to take responsibility for the great fisheries we enjoy!

X2 on your comment 5 X Master Angler.......CATCH YOUR LIMIT, BUT LIMIT YOUR CATCH! Great advice for all to follow.

[Wendigo]

- Any Biologist will tell you that big fish breed big fish and yes surroundings have to a lot with how big a fish gets.
- Bigger fish also contain more eggs....a 14" will contain at least 3x what an 8" will contain
- In regards to a slot size limit , there is none for Perch.
- The 25 fish limit is a joke anyway....once they are in the freezer, how do you know that they were not caught in Lake Manitoba or Lake Winnipeg where there is no limit?
- To each his own whether you keep the big ones or not...the law says you can until they change it and make the Shoals a High Quality management area.
- The increase in lake depths and the fact that LM has really slowed down has put alot of fisherman on the Shoal Lakes and will continue to do so.
- One thing I noticed is that the lake also has a large population of Pike that are a lot smaller than the Perch. With the food source that is in there and the increasing depth, it will only be a matter of time before they become big and do a number on the Perch.

IMO

[The_Big_Cat_Canada]

The weather this year has been an anomaly and that has provided anglers with more ice time than any other year in the last 10. I've seen more anglers out on my local lake than I've ever seen in the last 5 years combined. Little front wheel drive cars running about all year long. So it looks like mother nature is going to shut things down early as the best fishing is coming in the weeks ahead. All the fear mongering that's going on is pretty ridiculous and these lakes that have been getting lots of pressure can handle it. I watched 200 plus vehicles pour onto Oak last weekend with at least 300 to 400 fishermen manning their lines and the concensus was the fishing was slow. Cell phones rattled back and forth as i told my buddies it wasn't slow at the mouth. 3 of us took 10 fish home(total)released as many, in total I'm guessing 100 -200 fish kept max. Not the 2400 fish (6x400) that it would appear to a casual observer. Its a fishing license not a catching license so don't assume that every angler is successful and don't criticize the ones that catch their limit and call them meathogs  because the only thing I love to do more than catching fish is having a fish fry with my family and eating the fish I've caught. MA perch taste just as good as their 10 inch cousins. Caught 2 13.5" and tested that theory out myself.

[dwildwil]

Well I have cleaned many a perch over the last 20 odd years and if anybody assumes that the big 14 plus inch perch all the only ones carrying eggs you are naive. You will find 8 inch perch loaded with eggs and ready to spawn this time of year. I am an ice shanty rookie and  I enjoyed seeing all the pics and chating about where the hot spots are and sharing valueable info about ice conditions and access to all these lakes. But lately all I'm hearing is some ill informed wanna be marine biologist trying to tell me that if I dare take a limit of perch home I'm dooming that fishery. Seriously do you know how big these lakes are and how impossible it would be to even catch 1 % of the fish that these lakes hold. Even with 1000 fisherman fishing it everyday. So please lets start enjoying this site for what it was intended and quit bashing these anglers who are having some great days on the ice and sharing their success stories. Keep on sending in your pics and posts Mikey and Blue, your the reasons I log on from my cramped little office every morning just so I can eat my heart out with envy.

You used "your" but you should have used you're.

[HatedByMany]

Keep what you will eat. Throw the rest back. Although the pics show 10 perch that were kept, only one a 14" I might add, I practice (and recommend to others) that it's the "sport" of fishing, not the keeping that rolls me out of bed before the sun comes up.   

[dwildwil]

I could not agree more! I would much rather try and catch a big fish over and over again than eat it once.

Dave

[firefighter]

If 1000 fisherman / women fished everyday that would be a pretty big number.......

Let's say a thousand people were to fish everyday for a total of 90 days (3 months) over the winter hardwater season.
That is 1000 people catching 25 perch every day.
So 25000 perch every day for 90 days would be
2.25 million perch!!!!

Now if you are talking about all of the lakes in the province maybe not so much, but if you are concentrating the numbers in your example to specific bodies of water (like the shoal lakes that have been the focus lately) harvesting 2.25 million perch would be pretty devastating!
I agree with you that people keeping their limits shouldn't be seen as a huge negative but your numbers in your example are a little misleading.
Thank god that 1000 people do not catch 25000 perch a day, everyday IMO!!!!!

Just some food for thought (no pun intended)

Wow! From now on I'm going to release every fish I catch because when I go to Sobeys to buy fish for my family to eat, then absolutely no fish will actually be harmed!

FF 

[tommy jr.]

Wow! From now on I'm going to release every fish I catch because when I go to Sobeys to buy fish for my family to eat, then absolutely no fish will actually be harmed!

FF

That really wasn't the message I was trying to make fire fighter, but your immature sarcasm is certainly good for a laugh!!!

In a recent post of yours under GIT'ER DONE (by mikey pikey) you stated while repling to Top Cat.......
Let's stop the slurs and sarcasm now girls and get back to the serious pursuit of ice angling

You should practice what you preach!
 

[wanna30]

I really wish this topic would just disappear. It's a shame that a topic that started with a guy showing pics of these monster perch ends up with a bunch of useless posts. Fishing must really suck right now with so many horrible posts being put up. Let's keep it real boys. Can't wait for chalet this weekend! It's time for a 30 incher!

[firefighter]

That really wasn't the message I was trying to make fire fighter, but your immature sarcasm is certainly good for a laugh!!!

In a recent post of yours under GIT'ER DONE (by mikey pikey) you stated while repling to Top Cat.......
Let's stop the slurs and sarcasm now girls and get back to the serious pursuit of ice angling

You should practice what you preach!

Definitely TommyJr., a good laugh as it was intended to be! No slur, direct insult or personal attack directed at you Sir! Immature sarcasm?...you kind Sir are most certainly entitled to your opinion!

But the truth of the matter is that the best thing for a lake of this kind is to fish the perch hard. Yellow Perch are a super prolific spawner's. Weak populations and stunting due to overcrowding are common with Yellow perch. In fact, the presence of so many northern Pike and the resulting depredation of juvenile perch by the aforementioned most certainly results in such a healthy and heavy perch population in this lake.

We don't have to look far! Devils Lake in NoDak as an example, receives probably 100 times more fishing pressure than The Shoal Lakes ever will... and 2 pound perch are common! The same holds true for thousands of reservoirs, impoundments, stock ponds, borrow pits, etc across the Mid west United States. Just check the I.S. online tourney and see if we can beat any perch produced by the United States!

Finally, I take as a direct insult your comparison of myself to the childish mud slinging, name calling and personal insults between several other members on the board... which I care not to name

FF

[HighlandGlen Guide]

I totally agree "wanna30"! There is alot of jealous and bored people on here! Try judging yourselves as much as your judging others! Everyone has there opinion and alot of value points have been brought up....but I don't see too many opinions being changed from another person on here! Well...like wanna30 I'm going chasing a 30"er and can't wait!

[firefighter]

I really wish this topic would just disappear. It's a shame that a topic that started with a guy showing pics of these monster perch ends up with a bunch of useless posts. Fishing must really suck right now with so many horrible posts being put up. Let's keep it real boys. Can't wait for chalet this weekend! It's time for a 30 incher!

Amen!

[tommy jr.]

Finally, I take as a direct insult your comparison of myself to the childish mud slinging, name calling and personal insults between several other members on the board... which I care not to name

FF

I actually did not compare you in any way to any one here.
I just thought it was ironic that you were being sarcastic in your reply to the comment I made, while not too long ago, you told all of us......
"Let's stop the slurs and sarcasm now girls and get back to the serious pursuit of ice angling."
Your posts are normally enjoyable and informative to read, that's why I was surprised to see the remark you made in regards to my post.
That's all I'm trying to say, sorry if you misinterpreted it or read something more into it.

[firefighter]

I actually did not compare you in any way to any one here.
I just thought it was ironic that you were being sarcastic in your reply to the comment I made, while not too long ago, you told all of us......
"Let's stop the slurs and sarcasm now girls and get back to the serious pursuit of ice angling."
Your posts are normally enjoyable and informative to read, that's why I was surprised to see the remark you made in regards to my post.
That's all I'm trying to say, sorry if you misinterpreted it or read something more into it.

No problem TommyJr, the apology is mine   

FF

[Wendigo]

I agree with you to a point tommy jr.  The thing is though that you aren't allowed 25 every day.  You can only have 25 in possesion.

CATCH YOUR LIMIT, BUT LIMIT YOUR CATCH!   Words to live by.

More realistically for those lakes say that out of 90 fishable days, 70 are actually fished with 20 of them weekends with 300 fisherman per day or 6000 (Fisherman Days) Lets say 100 on the weekdays so 100 x 50 =( 5000 fisherman days).

So in essence 11,000 Fisherman Days. If each were to keep 3 Perch on average...remember there are skunk days to bring the average down,
the harvest would be realistically closer to 33,000 Perch per year. Are those lakes  big enough to sustain that. Probably, as long as they are stocked. Just remember that not may Perch are caught in those lakes in open water, which bodes well for it's sustainability.