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WALLEYES FOREVER E-NEWSLETTER No. 4: 1-6-07
Ken Frazer, fisheries biologist
for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Billings, will talk about the fishery on
Bighorn Lake at the 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, meeting of Walleyes Forever at
the Elks Club. Ken has
done a lot of work with both rivers and reservoirs in the Billings area. After his talk, he’ll be available to
answer questions about area waters.
He’s been a big supporter of youth fishing activities over the years
and a great ambassador for the sport of fishing and protection of our
fisheries in Montana. Be sure
and bring a friend to the meeting.
The public is welcome. _________________ Boysen Reservoir
fishery seeing benefits of good water years in 2004, 2005 Wyoming Game and Fish LANDER
- As Boysen Reservoir, with its wide variety of
fishing opportunity, attracts growing attention from anglers across the
region, it continues to be analyzed by fisheries biologists to help sustain
the popular product. The
latest netting survey in September bears out what many anglers have reported
this summer and fall: a resurgence in yellow perch fishing. Joe Deromedi, the regional fisheries biologist who leads Boysen management, says the same phenomena responsible
for the upswing in perch fishing, also contributed to slower walleye fishing
this summer. He
explains that vegetation invaded exposed shoreline after the reservoir
dropped significantly in 2000, and then when re-immersed in 2004 and 2005 the
environment provided excellent habitat for shoreline spawners,
such as perch, bullheads and carp. In addition to numerous 2-year-old perch
ending up in the creel this summer, the abundance of small fish from
successful shoreline spawning has simply provided the predatory walleye
plenty to eat and resulted in the species being less likely to chase anglers’
offerings. September
netting revealed a thriving walleye population with numbers and size similar
to last year. Average length stayed consistent at slightly over 16 inches.
Immediately following impending ice-up, Deromedi
predicts a short period of good walleye fishing before the species becomes
very inactive with colder water temperatures. Boysen’s
boasts both the Wyoming state record walleye and former North American ice
fishing record with a 17.42-pound lunker caught
Dec. 28, 1991. Burbot, or ling, are
doing well and a good ice fishing season is also predicted for specific
areas. Deromedi recommends fishing around the dam
and other steep rocky areas in the lower end of the reservoir. He will set
trammel nets immediately after ice-out in March to help identify trends in
the species. Ice
fishing should also be productive for trout. In its annual October stocking,
the reservoir received 50,000 9-inch rainbows, but anglers are just as likely
to catch larger, older fish. The annual trout survey in May revealed an
average length of 18.0 inches, down from 18.6 inches in 2005. "Since
the surface size of the reservoir dropped in 2006, I expected to catch more
trout because they are more concentrated, but better survival of trout
stocked the previous October helped lower the average length," Deromedi said. "Next April’s trout fishing should be
excellent as it has the past several years." He
adds the annual trout stocking has been shifted to the fall to help reduce
the amount of predation from walleye. Because of the silty
environment, trout have little success spawning in the reservoir. But,
walleye are very successful spawning on the reservoir’s rocky areas and hence
haven’t been stocked since the 1970s. In
addition to perch and bullheads responding to the flooded vegetation spawning
conditions, Deromedi has seen more crappie and even
more bluegill in the reservoir. He predicts a habitat-improvement project of
cottonwood trees anchored to the bottom in the Tough Creek area to provide
good crappie fishing. North Platte
Walleyes Unlimited of Casper and Rocky Mountain Discount Sporting Goods in
Riverton provided funding for the project. _________________ Ice fishing fun day
planned at Petrolia Walleyes
Forever has planned an Ice Fishing Fun Day for Saturday, Jan. 13, at Petrolia
Reservoir, east of Winnett. Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy a day
out on the ice and perhaps learn a few new tricks for catching fish through
the ice. This will
be the first of many fun days the club hopes to hold throughout the
year. One of the goals of this
organization is to urge families to get into the outdoors more. Kids are the future of the sport of
fishing. And outreach efforts should
begin with our own kids and grandkids.
Let’s all run for a few tip-ups and have a good time. _________________ New FWP commissioners named Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced
two appointments to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission on Jan. 4. Dan
Vermillion, Livingston -
Vermillion is the Vice President and Co-Owner of Sweetwater Travel Company in
Livingston and is the founder and developer of Taimen
Conservation Fund in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He worked as an attorney in
Billings for close to a decade. Vermillion received his bachelor’s degree
from The American University and his juris
doctorate from the University of Montana. Qualification: District 2 resident. Willie
Doll, Malta - Doll owns and
operates a 27,000 acre farm and ranch in south Phillips County, with 800
mother cows. He is an avid hunter and has an active interest in streamside
management, improved range conditions and waterfowl production areas. Qualification:
District 4 resident. Doll will assume the role of designated member with
experience in breeding and management of domestic livestock, a role
previously held by Commissioner Shane Colton of Billings. Vermillion and Doll replace outgoing
commissioners Tim Mulligan, of Whitehall, and John Brenden,
of Scobey, whose four-year terms had expired.
_________________ South Dakota summer tourney criteria changed South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks South
Dakota Game, Fish and Parks reminds anglers that new fishing regulations are
in effect as of Jan. 1, 2007. A new
provision has been added to the criteria that fishing tournament sponsors
must meet in order to get a permit for their event. That provision prohibits
catch and release walleye and salmon tournaments from June 1 through Sept.
15. Of
particular interest to those who fish on Lake Oahe
is a change in the possession limit. While there has been no change in the
daily limit of four, the possession limit has changed from 12 to eight. “This
change brings Lake Oahe in line with the other
walleye possession limits throughout the state,” said Dennis Unkenholz, fisheries program manager for the S.D. Game,
Fish and Parks Department. _________________ 2007 fishing banquet dates March 31: Walleyes Forever, Elks Club, Billings,
contact Linda Granholm
at 652-2605 for ticket info. February 24: Montana PikeMasters, Elks Club, Billings, contact Joe Stenglein for ticket info February 24: Upper Yellowstone WU Chapter, Park County Fairgrounds, Livingston,
contact Darren Raney for ticket info March 10: Gallatin/Madison WU Chapter, MSU SUB Ballroom, Bozeman, contact
Sherry
Hoekema at 586-7425 or Marvin Hansen at
388-9780 for ticket info. To add your fishing banquet date
to the list, just e-mail us at walleyes@walleyesforever.com _________________ And, finally…….. The Blonde
Work Crew Two
blonde guys were working for the city works department. One would dig a hole
and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They
worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the
next street, working furiously all day without rest, one guy digging a hole,
the other guy filling it in again. An
onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn’t understand what they
were doing. He asked
the hole digger, “I’m impressed by the effort you two are putting into your
work, but I don’t get it. Why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner
follow behind and fill it up again?” The hole digger wiped his brow and
sighed, “Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we’re normally a
three-man team. But today the guy who plants the trees called in sick.” _________________ The Walleyes Forever E-Newsletter
is issued periodically and distributed by e-mail from www.walleyesforever.com. To remove your e-mail address from the
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