The walleye population on the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods is in grave danger if significant changes are not made soon. When harvest levels and fishing pressures from 2018 and 2019 return in 2022 and beyond under current regulations, the lake will continue to lose more critical biomass that is already 50 percent below what it needs to be to sustain pre-covid fishing pressure and harvest.
Please see the document below from the Ontario Ministry of Mines, Northern Development, Natural Resources and Forestry that provides “state of the Lake of the Woods walleye fishery” type information.
To be clear and blunt, this is a Canadian problem. It is not due to ice fishing or summer fishing in Minnesota waters. MN DNR has had an effective slot regulation in place for a long time and monitors their side every year to ensure the ongoing health of their walleye fishery. Current data is based on 2018 monitoring and is very alarming. The time to act is ASAP; before it can get much worse.
We need your help to support proposed changes to walleye regulations on Lake of the Woods so that the lake can begin to recover and return to a healthy state. The biggest change proposed would be the adoption of a protected slot size to ensure as many mature, spawning stock are retained in the system. The research and science has shown this to be vital to the long-term survival of the walleye fishery on Lake of the Woods. The proposed slot is none between 17″-27.5″ or 43cm-70cm.
Please feel free to email, call, text to discuss the rest of the proposed changes. Ontario Natural Resources has not provided an official document to list proposed changes, but as a member of the advisory council during the process of coming up with the proposals in 2021, I can relay all the details to any interested parties.
Resort Email: myliesplace@hotmail.com
HOW CAN YOU HELP??
Please sign up for a virtual public information session and show your support. Registration is completely free and you do not need to create an account. Just pick a session and enter your name and email address to confirm. You will be sent confirmation and reminders to join the virtual session. Tell your friends and family. If they like to fish walleyes on LOTW, this matters to them too.
The next sessions is set for evening of March 29, 2022 @ 6pm CST.
Sessions consist of about 45 mins worth of presentations about the current state of the fishery and the proposed changes. After a 5 minute break, there is an interactive question and answer session that you can participate in through another web browser window being opened and going to the slido.com platform with the provided event ID.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lake-of-the-woods-walleye-management-public-engagement-session-registration-266317652267?fbclid=IwAR0GLFRrGB_BEUuXtOu8EV52JxCqggUqiQGv80GYER2pex4SRwDQfYKHh9w
Just click “select a date” on the right hand side of the screen and you can register for free with an email address and password.
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