03-16-2016, 03:39 PM
While I agree with you that keeping a snagged fish is wrong and especially intentionally snagging a fish, I don't think it was a bad idea or a big deal to allow fishing in the inlet during the spawn and here is why....
If people are so concerned about catching spawning fish, then by that argument the rest of the lake should be closed during the same time frame that the inlet used to be closed. I used to fish Willard during the spawn along the dikes and caught and kept my fair share of walleye over the years there. Some nights/days were a bust and others were just plain easy to catch walleyes. It never affected the population and those rock spawning fish are supposed to be the ones that successfully spawn.
I have tried fishing the inlet a few times since they opened it and did so during the peak of the spawn. I NEVER tried to snag a fish and fished no differently than I would have off the rocks or any other spot for that matter. My total haul has been two walleyes! One snagged on the front fin by accident and immediately released and one 20" that bit it legit and I did keep that. It was a zoo there and I did see some walleye being kept, but mostly legit......I was looking for snaggers! I saw a few snagged fish being kept by two people and a phone call was immediately made to DWR.
The biggest turn off for me to be brutally honest was that every time a person got a walleye on there always seemed to be the self appointed guy that is going to make sure that nobody is keeping snagged fish and would holler and talk loud and remind every last one of us that if it was snagged that it had to be turned back or he would call the DWR. While I appreciate the vigilance, it made fishing there miserable for those of us giving it an honest shake and had I been on the same side of the inlet as him I think I would have drown him ( the "him" changing every time I was there).
I guess bottom line is that I don't break the rules and MOST people I saw don't break them either, so what is the harm? If the rest of us are willing to keep an eye out for poachers and report them then that should suffice. And also, keeping a walleye or even a limit when you feel like it is not a big deal....after all, they are plentiful, not very many people are successful at catching them, and they are at their best when on a plate with lemon wedges!
Though I won't fish the inlet anymore due to the irritating people and circus like atmosphere, I certainly trust that our DWR biologists have the best intentions for willards fishery and trust them to know their jobs better than the rest of us.......now let the darts fly my direction[
]
Mike
[signature]
If people are so concerned about catching spawning fish, then by that argument the rest of the lake should be closed during the same time frame that the inlet used to be closed. I used to fish Willard during the spawn along the dikes and caught and kept my fair share of walleye over the years there. Some nights/days were a bust and others were just plain easy to catch walleyes. It never affected the population and those rock spawning fish are supposed to be the ones that successfully spawn.
I have tried fishing the inlet a few times since they opened it and did so during the peak of the spawn. I NEVER tried to snag a fish and fished no differently than I would have off the rocks or any other spot for that matter. My total haul has been two walleyes! One snagged on the front fin by accident and immediately released and one 20" that bit it legit and I did keep that. It was a zoo there and I did see some walleye being kept, but mostly legit......I was looking for snaggers! I saw a few snagged fish being kept by two people and a phone call was immediately made to DWR.
The biggest turn off for me to be brutally honest was that every time a person got a walleye on there always seemed to be the self appointed guy that is going to make sure that nobody is keeping snagged fish and would holler and talk loud and remind every last one of us that if it was snagged that it had to be turned back or he would call the DWR. While I appreciate the vigilance, it made fishing there miserable for those of us giving it an honest shake and had I been on the same side of the inlet as him I think I would have drown him ( the "him" changing every time I was there).
I guess bottom line is that I don't break the rules and MOST people I saw don't break them either, so what is the harm? If the rest of us are willing to keep an eye out for poachers and report them then that should suffice. And also, keeping a walleye or even a limit when you feel like it is not a big deal....after all, they are plentiful, not very many people are successful at catching them, and they are at their best when on a plate with lemon wedges!
Though I won't fish the inlet anymore due to the irritating people and circus like atmosphere, I certainly trust that our DWR biologists have the best intentions for willards fishery and trust them to know their jobs better than the rest of us.......now let the darts fly my direction[
]Mike
[signature]