slow fishing?

[fishfinder]

does anyone have an answer for the poor walleye fishing in littlebay as of late? possibly the cold weather pehaps, and why all the throwbacks.

i will be visiting the area in two weeks, and hoping to be bringing some warmer temps. with me.

[CaptainKenLee]

I'm thinking it will pick up when we get a good warm-up. We've had several guests the past few days getting some really nice fish way up in the Whitefish River, and have heard reports of many fish still miles up the river that have yet to drop down to the Bay. It's supposed to get down into the low to mid 30's again tonight, so that doesn't help the situation. On a side note...my brother Kevin and I went and got some nice bullheads last night from shore, a few more tonight and we'll have enough for a great bullhead fry! They are very tasty if you've never tried them. We'll be on the water Sunday, and will post our results. Good luck from all of us in the Bay de Noc area.

[fonzypoo]

Yeah a caught a couple nice walleyes in the Escanaba river,maybe thats where the eyes been hiding.

[Big Tom]

There are several possibilities... I have been fishing LBDN for over 30 years and this season has seen the fewest females ever...but it has been nasty weather.

In my last three trips (including yesterday) My partner and I caught 46 total walleyes...33 were released under 16"(our personal slot limit)...we kept the 13 that were 16-20" long. All those were males.
That is typical for post spawn the past couple years... I think that the majority of bigger spawners either leave the Bay after they spawn or simply don't exist or their numbers are way down.
We will see more as the summer pattern sets in and the night trollers get after them.
I only drift and jig so we will wait/see how they do...if they will kindly report their progress.

[hook em and cook em]

I have noticed over the past 6 or more years that the early season fishing has diminished. I dont even go out fishing walleye until at least june now beacuse of that fact. I wonder if the slot limit might have something to do with the larger fish not wanting to hang around here. I would assume a large fish needs a lot more forage base than a smaller fish, and the certainly arent going to get that in the bay. Every year I hear guys say "catching a lot of small fish, which is good news for the fishery", but arent these fish ever getting big enough to eat? If you throw back undersized fish all season, why arent they bigger the next year? I would think a 14 1/2 inch fish would be 15 or bigger next year, But next year we'll be saying the same thing "Lots of small ones, but that is good to see". Well..I want to see keepers, not 13 to 14 7/8 inch fish. I heard once that fish school according to size. I guess these schools must all move out because it is rare to catch a fish over 23 in the bay anymore. I catch fish when most the times I go out, but havent caught a bigger fish like that in many years. Anyone know what the DNR have been seeing in the spring egg collecting nets? Are they noticing a trend toward smaller fish, or are the fish coming in bigger every year?

[slammer]

Hey!!

Just a thought . Maybe the slow fishing and the large amounts of throwbacks are because those really small fish are the only ones small enough to swim through the nets that have been out for the last bunch of years over the winter and the larger ones are feeding someones pockets instead of their bellies. Just a thought. Have been checking the posts though every day and sounds like I'm not missing a whole lot other than good time on the water. Don't fish the soft stuff much and already miss the hard stuff and can't wait for next winter.
Haven't heard any good gossip regarding our local netting afficionodos. If it were you or me I'm sure our names would be smeared all over the papers and news . Is or will there be any kind of outcome from this heinous offense soon.
Gotta ask yourself everytime your putting your boat back on the trailer and only caught 1 keeper and threw back a bunch of dinks. Just a thought!!!!!!
Slammer!!!!!!!
P.S. Can you troll with nets behind a boat. Bet they could cover more area faster and more efficiently. Just a thought!