03-26-2013, 04:33 PM
I agree with much of what FF2 posted - limits are in place for a reason, and not everyone is keeping all the wipers they catch (or walleye).
However, I don't believe that availability of wiper stocks is the problem with "limited" wipers right now. I think, again, you have to look at the population of predators as a whole in Willard:
Why was the inlet opened to fishing? Because the UDWR felt that the harvest of walleye was not enough.
What happens if there are too many walleye? then forage numbers decrease and predators run out of prey.
How can you compensate for too many predators? Through harvest and stocking. The harvest issue is being dealt with by opening the inlet to fishing. I'm guessing that the numbers of wiper being stocked have also been reduced to help compensate for high population numbers of walleye.
If wiper numbers (hatchery) were an issue, we wouldn't be seeing additional stocking at places like Minersville, Piute, and Otter Creek.
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However, I don't believe that availability of wiper stocks is the problem with "limited" wipers right now. I think, again, you have to look at the population of predators as a whole in Willard:
Why was the inlet opened to fishing? Because the UDWR felt that the harvest of walleye was not enough.
What happens if there are too many walleye? then forage numbers decrease and predators run out of prey.
How can you compensate for too many predators? Through harvest and stocking. The harvest issue is being dealt with by opening the inlet to fishing. I'm guessing that the numbers of wiper being stocked have also been reduced to help compensate for high population numbers of walleye.
If wiper numbers (hatchery) were an issue, we wouldn't be seeing additional stocking at places like Minersville, Piute, and Otter Creek.
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