What % of fisherman go for each species?

[Muskyhunter45]

Anybody have a clue as to what the percentages are for fisherman that go after specific species in northern WI? I am talking about Musky vs Walleye vs Bass vs panfish.

In Madison, where I live, the majority of anglers go for panfish. What is the #1 fish up north that they go for? My guess would be Walleye followed by Musky, but I have no idea if it is like 50% go for Walleye, 25% go for Musky, 10% go for bass, etc...

I am talking about real anglers, not dad with the kids.

Any educated guesses?

[Jeff's Guide Service]

Hi
I don't know of any exact percentages of what your asking. My expieriance shows me that most fishermen and women try for anything that bites. I would say upwards of 50 percent. After that Walleye ,perch and crappie followed by Musky and Smallmouth Bass are climbing the ladder rapidly. If our DNR ever developed a trophy pike fishery it would quickly move to a top spot.From a guiding standpoint I would go Walleye #1 Musky #2 Perch #3 SM Bass #4. Jeff

[Tracker]

I can't disagree with anything Jeff has previously written. I know there are a ton of musky hunters and they are publicized quite liberally, whereas there are also a lot of walleye fisherman, but they probably don't get the press the musky people do.

My opinion - I don't know how people can stand out there and throw a plug 500 to 1000 times just to get a musky strike, let alone talk about landing one that's 40+. Although having hooked into a few while soaking walleye suckers, I have to say, it's quite the exhilarating experience.

[JimL]

I sure with the DNR would work to make northern pike a trophy fish in WI. The potential is there, they just need to manage them correctly. That would be fun.

[SecretLake]

Anybody have a clue as to what the percentages are for fisherman that go after specific species in northern WI? ...
Any educated guesses?

This is about as good of information one can get on the subject. The survey talks about what was caught, basically showing what the masses are fishing for and not necessarily what each boat is fishing for. There could be for example, 10 pan fisherman for every Walleye fisherman. I calculated out the harvest percentage to put that into perspective, so as to show what kind of pressure there is for each species.

Anglers caught 88.2 million fish in Wisconsin during the 2006-07 license year of which they released nearly two thirds – or 55.1 million – according to results of a statewide mail survey of anglers.

Anglers reeled in an estimated 57.7 million panfish, 10 million bass, 7 million walleye, 3.1 million northern pike and 1.6 million trout. They also caught 777,094 catfish and 233,101 musky.

Top targeted fish, by fish group

All panfish..........57,728,758 caught,...25,732,346 harvested (45%)
Walleye...............7,068,112 caught,....2,155,626 harvested (30%)
All bass..............10,073,286 caught,......550,335 harvested ( 5%)
All trout...............1,615,190 caught,......497,783 harvested (31%)
Muskellunge............223,101 caught,........12,493 harvested ( 5%)
Northern pike........3,158,927 caught,......621,700 harvested (20%)
Catfish...................777,094 caught,......535,658 harvested (69%)
Other..................7,580,707 caught,....2,983,290 harvested (39%)
---------------------------------------------------------
Total fish...........88,228,175 caught, 33,089,231 harvested (37%)

Source: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Artic...kup.asp?id=632

[Mark Benson]

SecretLake:

Great stuff, I am assuming that these stats are from the entire state though, correct??? Even splitting these numbers in half would logically give us the same ratios. Is there any numbers that we can find for the ceded territory that might help us??? I tried to find numbers from the GLIFWIC site and perhaps didn't look hard enough as I was looking for some different figures.

Mark

[SecretLake]

SecretLake:

Great stuff, I am assuming that these stats are from the entire state though, correct??? Even splitting these numbers in half would logically give us the same ratios. Is there any numbers that we can find for the ceded territory that might help us??? I tried to find numbers from the GLIFWIC site and perhaps didn't look hard enough as I was looking for some different figures.

Mark

Correct, that is for the whole state. I don't see any fractional data that breaks out these results by region. I also stumbled on some other data of ceded territory lakes as it pertains to Musky and Walleye density for the ceded territory, but is only a sample of a variety of lakes throughout the north. I'll sift through that data for my own curiosity and try to compile it into a more abbreviated format, but that will take some time.

I have a trip planned to head up north at the end of June to explore new waters. We have fished Vilas county extensively over the last 10 years.

Herb

[Muskyhunter45]

Thanks for the info.

Personally I see Walleye guys all the time catching tiny walleyes, battling the wind and waves while I catch trophy smallmouth on the same lake.

Walleyes don't fight worth a darn, but that's just me. I like the battle a bass or Musky gives.