Walleye Length Limit Question

[fishingtim]

Craig,

Since the length limit of walleye was raised to 21”, at Cheney, catching a 25” + walleye is a common along with hearing of people catching a 10lb walleye out there. With El Dorado length limits now matching Cheney catching bigger walleye more often at El Dorado should follow suit, similar to Cheney. Has there been any talk or research to try to make the lakes “trophy” walleye lakes? Instead of having a 21in length limit you would set a length limit that you could keep walleye between 21in and 27in, or somewhere around there, and release everything over 27in. Similar to what they do in a lot of Canadian lakes. Do you think Kansas walleye fishermen in general would like or dislike this idea? Or KDWP would ever consider this? Would this be a biologist or anger decision or both? One downside is that you did catch a 29in walleye, you couldn’t take it home to put it on the wall, you would have to measure it and get a replica.

Just courious of your thoughts on this.
Thanks,
Tim.

[Craig Johnson]

Craig,

Since the length limit of walleye was raised to 21”, at Cheney, catching a 25” + walleye is a common along with hearing of people catching a 10lb walleye out there. With El Dorado length limits now matching Cheney catching bigger walleye more often at El Dorado should follow suit, similar to Cheney. Has there been any talk or research to try to make the lakes “trophy” walleye lakes? Instead of having a 21in length limit you would set a length limit that you could keep walleye between 21in and 27in, or somewhere around there, and release everything over 27in. Similar to what they do in a lot of Canadian lakes. Do you think Kansas walleye fishermen in general would like or dislike this idea? Or KDWP would ever consider this? Would this be a biologist or anger decision or both? One downside is that you did catch a 29in walleye, you couldn’t take it home to put it on the wall, you would have to measure it and get a replica.

Just courious of your thoughts on this.
Thanks,
Tim.

Tim,

Great questions! Biologists are always asking the 'what if' questions when it comes to fish populations. A recently published study Exploitation of walleye in a Great Plains reservoir: harvest patterns and management scenarios contains the most recent information on Kansas walleye management options. Several management scenarios are discussed in detail with strengths and weaknesses given. The walleye tagging portion of this study was conducted at Glen Elder Reservoir from 2000 though 2003.

Walleye management in Kansas can be quite the controversial topic as various angler groups have different expectations of a walleye fishery. Some walleye anglers fish strictly to put walleye fillets on the table and they are usually not in support of restrictive length limits. Some walleye anglers fish for (like you mentioned) 'trophy' walleye and don't have a problem releasing smaller fish if they have increased chances of catching larger walleye, while keeping the occasional fish for the table. It is difficult to make both sides happy on one water body. However, as you will read in the study there are some options that may assist in reducing the friction between these two types of walleye anglers at Glen Elder, and possibly other Kansas reservoirs, while improving the quality of available walleye angling opportunities.

The study discusses slot length limits for walleye and why they are probably not the best solution for improving Kansas walleye populations.

Take a look at the study at the link provided above. I think you will find it most informative.

[fishingtim]

Thanks for your response, Craig. Had to do some conversion from metric to make the lenght limits make more sense, but a pretty deep read. All in all it think you guys have the best lenght limits of 18 and 21in set for most bodies of water for walleye.

[crappiedoc]

Craig,
Thanks for posting that study, I had that one explained to me but never had seen it. I did see the one done around the same time, maybe later, using Mark Shaws data interpreted by a KDWP official from Topeka. It is and remains a "can of worms". I also liked the data on water stratification at Glen, it was a heated debate last year for me. It only supported my position, Thank You.
Back during the '93 flood I caught 2 tagged walleye, 1 in the spring and 1 in the early fall. Both of these fish were "lost" through the dam during releases. I did supply Bruce Z with the data he asked for on these fish. I was fortunate to get to help him on the lakes in his studies, he is the father of our modern walleye fisheries. Walleye have become "persecuted" in todays fisheries, Bruces data seems to have been lost or forgotten on walleye and I'm very lucky to have been instructed by the Master. I don't envy you in having to make some decisions of stabilizing fish populations, as you stated it's very tough decision keeping everybody happy. Thank You and keep up the hard work, I can attest to your contributions. Good job Doc