I am new to the forum but I seen something I had to post about. I was at starvation the other day, I spent about three hours on the water with a couple of buddies of mine. When we got back to the marina noticed some big eye's at the cleaning station. After we loaded the boat I walked over to the cleaning station. The first thing I noticed was the size of the fish. There was one that looked to be pushing 30" with two more that looked to be in the 26" to 28" range with three or four more in the lower 20's. I was interested in how they got them, we had an alright day pulling cranks but nothing like this. Then I noticed they were gutting them[mad], thats right like you would a trout. I asked them if they caught them joking or rigging because we didn't touch anything over 20 inches pulling cranks. The one said, Oh no, he speared them and proceeded to show me the spear gun he used. I was so mad, I turned around and walked off. If I would have not been seeing red I would had realized he had broken the law by having too many over 24".
I am from Duchesne, and I have been fishing this reservoir since I was a kid. To see the walleye rise and fall and now start to rise again it makes me mad to see big females taken out this way. I have been fishing the tournaments on starvation 10 plus years and can remember (not to long ago) that a 20" inch fish was real rare if you caught one you cashed a check. I know that spear fishing is legal, but if these people are only going to target big fish (there were no small fish present at the cleaning station except one jumbo perch they shot) they need to have there moral compass checked.
Like the forum.
Good luck and good fishing
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Good post and good questions.[:/] I would like some answers/comments too. Is spear fishing for eyes really legal there?? Doesn't seem right to me especially taking what you saw.. [mad] I think that the Spear fishing folks have been having trouble with PR the last few years, is this going to add to it.
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[#0000bf]Deleted [/#0000bf]This thread is going to get long. [#0000ff]Deleted[/#0000ff] Was he from Colorado? A few more scenes like you saw will be another Fish Lake scenario. The spearchuckers will be stopped!
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To mad to pay attention were he was from, didn't care to look at him for very long after I found out how he got them.
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I don't get
very often, but that makes me boil!
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C'mon Kent. How am I expected to express myself without artful seasoning? [
] J/K. I'll tone down my posts on this delicate matter.
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If they were with in the Law quit crying.
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Depends on how many there were spearing. Proc states that the walleye limit is 10 with only over 24". If the spear fisher took more than 1 over 24" then they poached. If there was one 24" or over fish for each spearfisher then it was legal for them to take the fish.
The OP is a bit confusing with at one point a single person being mentioned and then the word "they" appears. We don't really know how many fishers or fish over 24" there were.
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when I asked them how they got them the one said he speared them. He was the only one in a wet suit. The other guy was just standing there. He may have not even been with him. However, If they both were "fishing" they still had too many over 24".
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Well, it seems you had a perfect opportunity to do something and blew it. Next time, settle down, call the DWR and wait for them to show up. It may take a while. I waited two hours one day at Lincoln beach after I called to report some fellows that over harvested big eyes. But they did show up and nailed one guy good!
If you see a violation and do nothing, you have no grounds to complain. Sorry man, thats just the way it is.
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If a guy can legally sneak up on a fish and spear it than good for him. Why does everyone get so pissed off at these guys? I don't spear fish but that can’t be an easy way to get a fish. If it's legal and sporting let them do it in peace. Just my opinion.
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Do you have a selective reading disability?
Start over and read the whole thing S L O W L Y
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I was at Starvation last week from Tues- Sun and I saw two guys swimming the diving wall north of Indian Bay on Wed, I think, coulda been Thurs. Anyway, they were "free diving" and looking up under boulders and such. One guy bobbed to the top holding a HUGE walleye from a spear!
Now I want to know what the difference would be for me to use my bow from my boat, during the same "season" that divers use their spears? I'm about ready to move back to Kans, Neb, Colo...anywhere that has the RIGHT idea about bow fishing!
Is it more sporting to join the fish in their element?
Freediving, I THINK NOT!!
MAKE THEM USE TANKS!!
I have done alot of snorkling for fish in Nebraska back in the day, and I know from experience that fish almost don't even know you are there if ya don't make bubbles! And they were taking that size females en mass on a lake that is STRUGGLING!! There is no such thing as "catch and release" once you've ran a fish thru with a spear. Same as an arrow cast from a bow, on the surface, having to look "thru" the water (instead of in it). I would think it is FAR more "sporting" to use a bow...out of the fish's element.
Anyway, I saw those guys and just KNEW they were doing something illegal. I usually try not to judge anyone, but it "SMELLED FISHY"! Didn't know the spear fish rules at the time. Waddayado?? The ONLY way ya knew they were there were their whoops and hollers when they got a fish. There was no boat, bouys, raft, nothing. And the one guy in the wet suit could hold his breath for a LONG TIME, cuz he popped up once, almost in my path as I was trolling that wall. That was how I first spotted them. Isn't there some law about diving and some type of flag??!!
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***READ MY REPLY***
I am the spearfishermen you saw at Starvation, and I'm setting the record straight right now!
First off an introduction, my name is Shane I'm from Salt Lake. I've been an avid float tuber since my early teens (now 26), and a big fish tackle reader since 2002. About a year and a half ago I started spearfishing when i tried it on a trip to Mexico. Its a fun challenging sport, that I dedicate a lot of time to. It's not as easy as everyone thinks.. If you dont believe me, come with me and see for yourself..
As for the fish that me and my TWO friends harvested. I admit that was the best day I've ever had spearing on that lake (I've been there a lot). I have dove that lake in water as cold as 42 degrees, and many times I've come away empty handed. The stars aligned for us perfectly that day and we did good (details below). There was no 30 inch walleye.. We broke no rules.. We just had an unbelievable day.. I will post the pictures to prove it when I get my camera if needed. We were parked next to the DNR truck, and spoke with him. Dont falsely accuse me of breaking laws.
Here is a report on how the magic happened. We were along the cliffs across from the marina and had picked up a 3 decent eyes diving the first half of the day. Sometime around 5 the weather got bad so we ducked inside a small cove. The water was stirred up a little and with the cloud cover I thought we might get into some. The depth was shallow (10-15 feet) and the weed bottom held a lot of baby perch/walleye. As the weather got worse we started seeing some walleye come cruising into our area looking for prey. Thats when we got our nice ones. Two around 26-27. Besides that we had four others ranging from 13-20 inches. It was a great day.
So after our long day we pulled the boat out and went to clean our fish. My friends changed into their clothes, but i left my suit on. This unhappy looking dude walks up and asks how I caught them. I tried to be nice and tell him where and what depth, but he still seemed grumpy. He then asks what I was using and tell him I speared them and he walks away fuming.
I think its ridiculous i have to defend myself, but this post has untrue facts. Its purpose is to create a stir against spearfishing. I wish he could have been there last year when a fishermen took me on his boat all day for free just so I could "shoot him some walleye" and I couldn't find a single one.
One last note. I can dive to 80 feet and hold my breath over 2 minutes underwater. I spear because its challenging. Its the indian not the arrow.
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i say good on ya dude!! there is not a thing wrong with going out and stooting some nice fish! i have always wanted to do some diveing and spear fishing in Utah! i did do some with some friends in So Cal years ago. and had a ball.. and as you say it's not all that easy to do.
i for one would like to see the pic's of the eye's ya got. [sly].
big walleye is a big walleye no mater how ya got them.. and i'm sure they were just as tasty as if they were caught on a hook.. [sly][sly]
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When I asked you how you got them you told me you got them across the marina meaning you. If I missunderstood then it is my fault and I must swallow with a hard gulp and apologize to you and to the forum. Those were big fish and I congradulate you and your buddies. If you guys shared in taking those big fish then there was nothing elegal about it. However, it is my opinion that taking those big femals will only hurt the fishery. I think you are shorting yourself on that big fish, it was a nice one.
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"it is my opinion that taking those big femals will only hurt the fishery."
[cool][#0000ff]That is not exactly a true assumption. There are plenty of big spawning females in Starvation. Just because anglers (rod and reel) do not get them does not mean they are not there. Most fishermen catch mainly the younger and more aggressive males that feed actively throughout the day. The big females are seldom taken except after dark on big baits. They don't mess around and most fishermen do not gear up for them nor do they fish where and when the bigguns are feeding.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short...there is no shortage of walleyes in Starvation...including big females.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like most "conventional" fishermen you hate to see a big fish leave the lake...because MAYBE you might be able to catch it some time in the future. The truth is that far more big walleyes die of old age than are ever caught by anglers...or taken by spear fishermen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Props to ya for owning up to your mistake and apologizing to the person you flamed. Takes a good man to do that. [/#0000ff]
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I think the thing that pisses people off about spearfishing isn't that they feel it takes no skill, it's that they kill so many big fish. They target only the trophies, and there's certainly no catch and release. I think people would be irritated if someone kept a mess of trophies using conventional tackle too.
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the way i look at it is i do the same thing!! as do most all the members on this board.. we dont go fishing looking the smallest fish we can find? !! i go fishing for the biggest fish i can find.. and if i catch it and it's one i like to eat, guess what, i'm going to take it and eat it!! and walleye top my list of fish i like to eat! [sly]
the only problem i had with the spear fishing was at fish lake 2 years ago when the state alowed spear fishing when the lake trout were spowning.. that was not far to the fish.. other then that i say good luck to them and get a big one!!
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I agree. I dont like to see the big fish taken. I release every Walleye over 23". Even if I only catch one over 23", it gets to swim. That said, if someone wants to keep big fish it is their right to do so. If they were shooting huge Walleye every trip I would have a problem with it.
Sounds like they just had a real good day.
If they are that good at taking big eyes, they should go to a lake where Walleye are a problem and use their skills to help the fishery. It would be fun for them and help with the bad image spear fishermen have.
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