Asking For Input From Fellow Members!!

[adipose]

by the time the govt gets involved...too late.
Same is happening with the wildlife in our "great" province. The wildlife is being raped blind by people that say they own the land. I honestly believe the govt is afraid of all of them. Be thankful they have not gone to every lake in the province and raped the fish out. It may be coming next. Incidentally they roamed the land...they did not own it ....ever. Never being in one location very long

[bigk]

I believe  blaming "them" is an easy way out. Would like to bet there are as many if not more whites that rape and pillage our fisheries and wildlife.

[MeadowPikeman]

I believe  blaming "them" is an easy way out. Would like to bet there are as many if not more whites that rape and pillage our fisheries and wildlife.

This. I've said it before most of our abuses of resources come within the law. I.e. a non status angling license holder can go fishing 100 days a year and keep 100x60 cm walleye. This may be an exaggerated example (albeit not by much) but shows how one can abuse the resource while never breaking the law. I personally know "anglers" who will keep every single oversize walleye that they legally can. 

[gman51]

its all up to the individual and the upbringing and teaching of their kids to make a difference.it might take a couple generations to see any kind of effect but most likely the only way.its highly unlikely that commercial netting would be brought up do to the fact that people up north depend on it for food and income. and you don't want to tread those waters. like stated above Tobin flats is a joke.its a great example of whats going on. common sense will pervale.it may take 50 years.

[amatue]

So if the guy had a bus load of kids and took home their limit legal.If he put all the fish in his own deep freeze that would now be over his possession limit.I have heard once a guy kept fish every day all winter and conservation officers checked his deep freeze and find him. May have been just a story but if you fish a bunch you must count the fish at home in your limit.

[mountainguy]

Uh ya, its possession!  What you have in your freezer counts as you limit.

If kids are with you and they are on a free licence they should count to the adults limit.

[LOTALOTA]

with todays technology the CO's should have the license plate reader like the city police have.  That way the can record frequency of vehicles on the lake and if it gets to a certain number of trips pay that house hold a visit.. If that is possible

[ran7ger]

with todays technology the CO's should have the license plate reader like the city police have.  That way the can record frequency of vehicles on the lake and if it gets to a certain number of trips pay that house hold a visit.. If that is possible

 i was going to stay out of this but that is just crazy.  fishing often in no way justifies having my home searched.  i'd have to keep the coffee on 24-7 for the amount of c.o. visits i'd get..

lots of other good ideas on this thread though, and if i'm able to photograph anything of value i'll be sure to contribute.  also agree totally with ripnflutter about upbringing and education.  it's the parents passing on their fishing ethics and values to the children after all.

[Walleye Annihilator]

  I agree,  we don't want little billy going out night hunting without his daddy showing him how to use spotlight first   

[swc21]

Enforcement of the existing rules would be a huge step in the right direction. Especially in known spawning areas where I've seen ppl take stringers of prime spawning size fish day after day. I understand the shortage of man power our government has put our conservation dept in. But at least monitor the know spawning areas. Let's help the population right where it starts.

[Tguns]

I fully believe that it pays to be apart of social media for these types of things, if we had some sort of conservationist organization we could have a small booth at some of these leisure shows and events and have petitions there to be signed , have ones that favour a number of changes like slots on specific lakes, the entire prov, cr1 /cr2 lakes, daily limits on different species etc. there is a cost to be at these shows and to have the type of advertising like a banner etc. starting a facebook page or twitter account is cheap and easy advertising for photos but being at events with petitions in hand would get a lot more signatures. I know where a person could get banners made up and then its a matter of a steak night here and there to raise a little money to get booth space. I for one would be willing with to put something into this.

[jiffy22]

SFW Sports and Leisure Show is on this wkend in Saskatoon.  SERM usually has a booth.  Anyone attending should stop by, chat with them and let us know what they have to say.

[kiss68]

Dooman, policeing other fisherman yourself will most likely get you punched in the head by some people .Don't cry assault if this happens.

[PTN4BIRD]

http://montanawalleyesunlimited.net

http://www.montanapikemasters.com/

Here are a couple of our conservation groups in Montana that promote Pike and walleye.  Non-Profits that raise money for awareness and habitat restoration.  Im not sure if Canada has anything like this, but they do work.

[Gotspooled?]

I'm originally from Manitoba and Great Lakes I fished my whole life have had there ups and downs and I remind you all fishing season is open well into April when many fish such as walleye are staging and you can catch hundreds in a day when it's going good. These lakes consistently bounce back. As long as you aren't taking the breeding population out of the lake it should sustain with a proper limit on the lake ! One lake I fish the limit is 6 and then four after March !

But for the sask lakes putting a slot size of 18 inches for walleye and 35 inches for pike and lowering limits in spring months such as May and June will greatly help the population as the fish are usually stacked up near their spawning grounds ect.

Poachers and unethical fishing is up to one self and the conservation officers ! Illegal netting is also a problem but in reality it is up to all of us as a group of conservationists to appreciate and responsibly harvest fish,big game ect.

Slot limits keep the breeders breeding and lowering the limits s all you really can do !!

[fishcrusher]

This is why I bought a lodge in Manitoba (as a Sask boy)!  Even if Sask made it barbless, and no fish over the slot size, I think the fishery would withstand the existing pressure.  If you look at studies of catch and release mortality, there is always that risk.  Our water here all all Barbless Mandatory, and it helps for sure!

[Tguns]

nice to see back to usual banter after a few productive posts. anyway, most likely any change that happens in this province needs dollar signs associated to it. Tobin lake as far as I am concerned is the poster boy for the changes that need to happen and promote the tourism of that community. we just so happen to have a fisherman as a premier in this province and annually host a premiers cup event in nipawin. I have never met mr wall but he seems like a very approachable figure. no better time than now to present these types of things, and easy way to make positive change and boost economy long term. its not difficult to have a conservationist group and promote ethical fishing and different hunting and fishing events in the prov but those types of things don't necessarily correlate to changes made in legislation. farmboy whom do you write the letters you have drafted too? is drafting one directly to mr wall make any difference? just thinking out loud. another thought I had on the drive home yesterday was maybe for trophy fish above slot guys need a tag to keep, that way guys pay whatever another $10 bucks a year for trophy tag you get a 30lber you want to mount on the wall and your taxidermist requires the tag to do the work. adds to the economy and keeps weekend fishermen and women from legally possessing a trophy fish without a tag.

[jackslayer]

I like the tag idea as long as you are only allowed 1 tag per year.

[farmboy]

Right on this is great, lots of great ideas! I have drafted and sent letters to the minister of Sask Environment Tguns but received no response.

Lots of great ideas, keep them coming guys!

[jhepting]

Well start writing all your candidates, and current government officials.  Government officials assume that for every letter and email there are 100 to 200 other people minimum that have the same view.  perhaps someone who has a better command of the written word than myself could make a form letter that we could use to start sending to politicians.  Some points that could be considered:

1) the sports fishery and hunting  contributes about $300 000 000 (can't find new stats but I know that is its ruffly the same) to the economy and if the levels of wildlife drop the number of people partaking in these activities will drop as well.
2) Slots limits would help protect breeding stock
3) lower limits would help on heavy pressured lakes
4) there is a serious lake in CO's to enforce the province
5) Fines and penalties for in SK are very low and really do not put any fear into people. (in bc some of us used to joke it worse to get caught poaching rather than an armed robbery)
6) barbless hooks help to release fish easier and would help keep mortality down
7) mabey they need to release the fishing and hunting reg in other languages and spend more effort educating people who come from different cultures and do not realise that there are rules that need to be followed

The fishing and hunting community is rather large in this province and I think if government parties and candidate started getting lots of letter it would get their attention really quick.  If 1000 people sent 5 to 6 letters each to different people it would at least make them talk about it.  if the leader of each party got 1000 letters it would at least make them aware that this could be a voting issue. 

well it's late for me and I hope this made sense to someone and I would love to help out how I can, and I will leave on this note.  In Canada the its often not the majority that rules, but often the loudest. 

[Morrison l d]

I think that the existing regulations are pretty fair.
Asking for more regulations and laws doesn't make everyone happy either.
I believe that the people hired by the government have a pretty fair grasp on how to
maintain a fishery . We may not agree with all their decisions but they have the education
and dedication to maintain a healthy fishery for everybody--not hopefully just the loudest.
From time to time a body of water does get overfished, but we are not exactly dealing with endangered
species, and if I fail to catch a fish of course  I go to the nearest tackle store and spend a whole bunch more
money.
If that still doesn't work I try a different lake.

[jhepting]

The problem in Canada and other places is that they are reactive rather than proactive.  I think that there are a growing amount of people that would rather see small steps taken now rather than large reactive actions later.  Preventive maintenance is a proven concept and there is no reason why that would not transfer over to our fisheries.

[TykeSpike]

If you want to get some photos for your files just head on over to fisher creek candle lake around mid april. Should be some photo ops of over harvesting spawning walleye.