Fiesty Calabogie Walleye

[reel_obsessions]

Hey everyone, new to FH and would like to to start off by saying how great of an online fishing community this is!

So I recently loaded up my small little 12 foot aluminum boat, and headed up for a day trip up to Calabogie Lake. I was able to spend alot of time ice fishing trout in the back lakes this winter just past the town.. But heard there was some fantastic walleye fishing on the main lake, so spent lots of time finding the good spot during the spring!




So the day started off with some great weather, and a stop off to the local Bait Shop Jims Bait and tackle for some minnows! Not long after I was heading accross the lake to what I found to be the most active spot!



The fish arnt far apart while jigging here, And its not unusual to boat them every few minutes!



All of these fish arnt very big, but to most would be the perfect eating size, But out here they need to be 19.7 inches to keep! So back in they go!



Fun Day, Great weather and looking forward to my next outing to this great location!













All in all it was a fun day out on the lake! 95% of fish under sized, but its great to get them back in anyways to let other fishermen enjoy the fun!

Hopefully getting back out on this beautiful destination this week!

Thanks everybody,

Paul

[Dore]

First off Welcome to FH dude ! Thats a great way to introduce for a new guy ! Keep up the good fishing !

Looking forward to reading more of your reports !

[reel_obsessions]

Thanks for the reply Dore!
I Will deffently be posting more albums to come, Have a bunch of pike outings to upload! And will deffently be posting my next walleye destination this week!

Happy Fishing

-Paul

[Yannick Loranger]

Welcome to the board. Great first post! A welcomed change from the recent demands for hotspots and hot bites. I'm sure you'll both like the site and be liked on the site.

[MTF]

Great report, and welccome to the site.

I have fished Calabogie many time in the past couple years, with the same results.
Last year alone I caught over 100 walleye with only one over 19.7" which was released (didn't know then I wouldn't catch another that size the rest of the year) all the rest were in the 15"-18" range.

..does anyone know why the walleye don't seem to be growing in this lake? year after year just the small ones

[reel_obsessions]

I was actually speaking to Ruth, Jims wife from jims bait and tackle, And they are not too sure why they arnt growing.. So the ministry is going in and they are doing some research behind it! Hopefully they come out with some positive results! I caught one 2 weeks ago that was over 19.7 inches ( also put back ).. But barely, and that was after over a hundred aswell! Hopefully soon they will know the cause, and until then I guess we will just have to keep enjoying pulling the little guys in and get them back in the water safetly as we can!

[bl8ant]

Wow it's great to see someone with as few posts as yourself contributing to the forum and not just taking from it.

Recently someone told me that the ministry was looking in to why the walleye in Black Donald lake weren't growing either. Must not be something as simple as to many predators and not enough prey to go around?

[eye-tracker]

It is a great fishery that the MNR have worked hard on returning to good numbers. I am sure the ministry already knows the answer and are trying to protect the juvenile walleye by setting the size limit they presently have. Sounds like the population was very low in that lake and they needed to protect small walleye to rebound the population. Most of the lakes in that area get lots of fishing pressure all summer and winter. I would think any fish over the slot of 19.7 inches goes home with the angler, that is a good reason why many are not caught above that size.

Once a large percentage of the smaller fish mature into the 20" range I would not be surprised the MNR go to the common limit of only one walleye over 18".

-sheldon

[fiiish]

Sounds like a fun time. Thanks for the report and welcome to F-H.

[bl8ant]

It is a great fishery that the MNR have worked hard on returning to good numbers. I am sure the ministry already knows the answer and are trying to protect the juvenile walleye by setting the size limit they presently have. Sounds like the population was very low in that lake and they needed to protect small walleye to rebound the population. Most of the lakes in that area get lots of fishing pressure all summer and winter. I would think any fish over the slot of 19.7 inches goes home with the angler, that is a good reason why many are not caught above that size.

Once a large percentage of the smaller fish mature into the 20" range I would not be surprised the MNR go to the common limit of only one walleye over 18".

-sheldon

Well that sure sounds like it makes sense Sheldon. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it disturbing that the reason you don't catch fish over the legal size is because they have been harvested immediately.

I have been fishing another lake with the same size limit and even though the fish are bigger, it's amazing how all of them seem to hover just under 19.7".

[eye-tracker]

I believe it is based on year classes and the MNR will do studies to see how much the walleye grow each year.

A good population of 12 to 18" walleye is a good thing for the future of the fishery.

-sheldon

[reel_obsessions]

Thanks for the great information Sheldon!
And its nice to know that the walleye population in that lake and surrounding ones will have great fishing years to come.. I am one thankful for the high slot size on these lakes.. And hoping that one day my children will have just as great as fishing up there, as I once did!

-Paul

[Mike P]

Great first report & some fine fishing.

[fatluke]

Way to make a first impression.

Nice report and pics.

[lapointeric]

I would think any fish over the slot of 19.7 inches goes home with the angler, that is a good reason why many are not caught above that size.

-sheldon

My thoughts as well.