What happen to the Walleye?

[ncifuentes]

[fishin]Walleye anglers, I caught my fourth marble eye of the season on Sunday August 3rd. It was a seven-pound, five-ounce specimen caught on a crayfish crankbait while targeting smallmouth bass off Point Au Roche. It’s a real shame that we no longer have the walleye fishery we once had on Champlain. What happened to the good old days when walleye were stocked by the train-car-load off the railroad bridge at the mouth of the Saranac River? Loss of spawning habitat due to sedimentation and a significant decrease in stocking programs have led to the diminishing of the former burgeoning fishery. Many anglers comment to me that something should be done to improve the walleye fishery. I agree! Many feel there is far too much attention and money spent on lake trout. I like the lake trout fishing, but isn’t there some middle ground? Wouldn’t a healthy walleye fishery be a useful tool for fisheries managers to control the booming populations of alewives? Walleye are certainly more resistant to lamprey. The walleye fishery has continually declined over the past 30 years to the point that catching one is a rare event indeed. Albeit, when you do catch one it’s often four pounds or better. I’ve caught fish over 9 pounds and heard of some up to 12 or more. It seems like this lake could be an outstanding walleye fishing resource. The fishery shows a glimmer of hope on the southern end of the lake and in the Inland Sea. Hats off to the Lake Champlain Walleye Association for their efforts to restore the fishery and protect the few walleye that are out there.
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[lunkerhunter2]

Nice fish, story.
I have a much different scenario with the eyes here in UT.We are wrapped around boom and bust cycles in nearly all of our walleye waters. the perch flourish, the eyes follow suit, the perch starve, the eyes starve and the trend goes on and on. We can't find a happy medium and it doesn't look good in the near future either. Bucket biologists are ruining some of our better waters planting fish where they shouldn't be(Flaming Gorge burbot, smallmouth in nearly every trout water, and perch anywhere they can get them into). It is a reality. Luckily i just got addicted to koke.[shocked]
Kokanee salmon that is. I am spending all of my time now on the silver bullets. What am i thinking??[angelic]
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[mactuna]

Great catch, as lunerhunter said it boom or bust. My Wife and I have been catching them but nothing over 22'', wish we could catch a big one. We are going to a lake in Wyoming that has big ones in October and hope to catch some big ones soon.
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