Should they stock walleye in Red Lake?

[Paradice]

The gentleman in the outdoor news that wrote the letter about this made a great point.  The entire state is managed for walleye and trout.  Don't get me wrong, I love walleye, frankly it's one of only four fish i'll eat.  But I think they should leave Red Lake as the Trophy Crappie lake it is.  If you want walleye, you can go to every other large lake in the state.

[Hard_H2O]

Amen Brother.

[MN_transplant]

I frankly don't see the need to stock it with eyes as it's been my experience that it already produces and sustains a very healthy ppulation. I agree that it should remain a world class crappie fishery, but that is only possible with some moderation on our part. I've noticed in the last 5 years or so the amount of publicity Red gets is bringing more and more people to the ice and it is becoming over fished.
 More catch and release would help sustain the lake for years to come.

[Paradice]

You make a great point, and such is the situation with almost all resources.  I started practicing quality deer management on my property this year in the hopes of growing something bigger and better, and maybe even a bigger herd.  But you're right, everyone has to participate.  I make it a point to to release any of my walleyes that are over 18 inches.  In my opinion, a fish bigger than that doesn't appeal to me in the frying pan, and it's on the verge of becoming a bigger fish.  I only keep what i'll eat in one meal as well. 

[MN_transplant]

if memory serves me, they plan on opening Red to walleye in 2006. So based on the rules of the land, the walleye will then get over fished again, thus causing another boom in crappie population, then back to slab crappie, then back to walleye, and the circle continues. But again, only if we as sportsman practice some catch and release.

[fisher35]

even if they didn't stock the lake with walleyes , the walleyes would have came back the crappies haven't pulled off a hatch since 1998 or whenever it was there old dieing fish

[nunzio]

No disrespect intended but these Upper Red Lake for crappie statements/discussions just crack me up. They all come from people who had never fished or heard of Red before the demise of the walleye. I don't wish to rehash whose "fault" it was, as many were to blame.
Red was and will be again, a walleye machine. The stocking was used to speed up the recovery, as I and many others have personally caught and released many walleye in the upper 20's before the stocking began. The crappies have always been there, the fluke was the numbers. I personally was glad to see them and will be sorry to see them go but can't wait until 2006. Just my opinion. 

[MN_transplant]

Though not generally one to be defensive, i will state that growing up in Emily and spending a ton of time in the Black Duck area, i have fished Red since i was tall enough to carry my own gear and i do remember how much of a walleye lake it was. Frankly, i have never been on Red and not managed to catch at least 1 20+in eye, nor have i ever not managed a limit of decent crappie. both statements held true 25 years ago, and today.
 I will agree that everyone is to blame for the state of the lake as we now know it, though

[nunzio]

Transplant;
Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers with my post just an opinion.

Good to hear from someone that fished Red in the "old" days. Sure miss the solitude an ice fisherman had back then, tho that could be said for any body of water.

I grew up in Alvwood and am fortunate to still be there. Didn't mean to throw such a broad stroke out there. Just have heard/read alot of others putting in their .02 and finally had had to put in mine.

I should be used to the taste of my own foot by now  

[Paradice]

To be perfectly honest with you Nunzio, I heard quite some time ago that the massive trophy crappie school in Red isn't reproducing, at least not to sustain such a cloud of trophy fish.  And I don't consider myself anything near a fish biologist, but I am glad so many of you guys put up opinions.  Sure was a good way to get an array of ideas. 

[twodoggs]

The problem is the number of crappie.  Crappie tend to run in cycles.  A year class that grows up without much compition takes over and big slabs eat the small fry so they do not have to compete with them.  even with catch and release nature will take over and the huge slabs will die off.  four or five years later new group of slabs.  probably not as big since the walleyes are back and the notherns are big.

[nunzio]

The explosion of crappie on Red was a case of opportunity. A "door" was opened and they filled the void. There was a similar situation on a smaller area lake a few years back. This lake had some huge crappie in good numbers (for such a small body of water). The word got out and people went wild, crappie numbers dropped and the Lg mouth really took over. Every cast is followed by half a dozen of those eating machines. It sure is fun catching those bass, just miss those awesome crappie.
As a kid I'd seen that small lake produce some 18" crappie. Back then we thought nothing of it.
I'm sure this has played out on many lakes.

[Paradice]

Interesting that you bring that up Twodoggs.  We had a severe crappie kill in our local lake that took out an estimated 10,000 fish, which could have been about ~80% due to algae.  We were all hoping for the same thing, that the remaining 20% would turn in to the super year class in the next few years, but the lake suffered from winterkill, or so it's been thought, and it never materialized.