Walleye a Native fish in Montana

[mtoutdoorsman]

Here is a interesting article about walleye being possibly native to Montana and how it relates to management of fisheries.

http://montanauntamed.com/fishing/article_149205e7-84d3-56ad-b07f-5f3368c4368a.html

I found some of the information interesting but I don't know what fully constitutes "Native". I have also heard some of the same arguments about pike in Montana.
Also I can't wait to see the peaceful Debate about this...

[Jared D]

As long as the walleye "self identify" as natives they should have the right to be considered as such right? That seems to be my understanding on how things work nowadays.

[Wenger]

Typical of FWP under Vermillion. Hold public forums but refuse to listen. But then overreact to a natural whitefish kill while not listening to biologists who had seen it all before.   

He is right about one thing....he and Bullock certainly have politicized our fisheries.

[slickice]

It's hard to believe that walleye aren't native to Montana.  Years ago I read that Lewis & Clark spoke of catching them in their diary while camped at Great Falls.  FWP would probably take the position that they were illegally introduced by native tribes . . . of course at the request of TU. 

[lspower]

They are native,the people making the decisions for our state are NOT.

[SLIMMETT]

Have been down this road before.

[Wenger]

It's hard to believe that walleye aren't native to Montana.  Years ago I read that Lewis & Clark spoke of catching them in their diary while camped at Great Falls.  FWP would probably take the position that they were illegally introduced by native tribes . . . of course at the request of TU.

I strongly suspect L&C were catching sauger.  I know that they conflated whitefish with trout as well.

Given walleye were stocked in ND in the MO system around the turn of the century who knows.  I think the real point is that FWP does need to listen to the public far more than they do. Noxon is a great example. They declared war on walleyes despite the overwhelming public comments expressing the opposite but only relented when it became obvious to them that there was no way they could eradicate them. 

[niceice87]

Sauger are a native fish that are a great alternative to walleye. In my opinion they fight harder and taste just as good. I enjoy catching sauger year round in the lower yellowstone.

I am unsure of fwp's actions. They seem more keen on stocking rainbows than any other fish. Rainbows are unable to spawn in lakes they require suitable tributaries to reproduce. Meanwhile there seems to be a war on the brook trout a fish able to reproduce in lakes with out a suitable tributary. Cutthroats are native and can also reproduce in lakes but still resources are wasted on rainbows.

I understand Montana's cold water fisheries attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year however much of montana is not a cold water fishery. According to L and C journeys a good portion of waters only had whitefish and suckers. Many residents such as myself that grew up catching trout enjoy the opportunity to catch other species. Anymore I am more excited to catch a wild whitefish than a hatchery trout.