Patoka is being ruined with Walleye

[bassfish 24-7]

Over 17 Million Walleye fingerlings being put in. and guys are already catching walleyes over 15" were they normally catch bass.
another big F up by state in my eyes. WHY Monroe has walleye and it has hurt there bass population. Bill Embry says he sees Walleye teeth marks on bass at weigh ins all the time. They are just going to move in on all the bass structure and take over..
Please kill or keep all walleye you catch on patoka lake. A great bass fishery that the state is going to mess up.
Walleye? like there are walleye tournament in southern Indiana or something? What the hell.
Rant over.

What you guys think?

[bassfish 24-7]

Why dont' they just stock more bass or increase the size limit to help with shad population?

[JC25]

they occur naturally together in most watersheds and I would wager they occured naturally in that river before impoundment.


But I agree with you about keeping them tasty little critters... as they have no sport value to me... its like catching a wet paper bag

[Mike Daleo]

I thought there were always walleye in Patoka they just never made it for some reason. The old Ekerty "Y" store had pics posted on their walls of big walleye being caught over the years and it had never been a problem.

[catch5]

i agree i think the walleyes is a huge F'up. The bass population is so good on that lake right now that im sick at thought of anyhting changing. I have caught a few this year and they have definetly went home with me. The problem i believe is that the walleye in time will take over the good structure in the lake. They will dominate over the bass. So in turn with less prime structure and habitat for the bass, the population will eventually suffer.

Hopefully like Mike stated they will not do well in the lake and just will never explode like they are hoping. keep all you can in my eyes....

[quackrstackr]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by bassfish 24-7 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Please kill or keep all walleye you catch on patoka lake.

What you guys think?</td></tr></table>

I think that you had better hope the law never rolls up on you doing that and it's pretty poor that you would even ask anyone else to do that.

I wonder what your reaction would be if you saw a walleye fisherman keeping or killing every largemouth that they reeled in?

[Mike Daleo]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by catch5 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

Hopefully like Mike stated they will not do well in the lake and just will never explode like they are hoping. keep all you can in my eyes....</td></tr></table>

With the healthy LM and Stripe populations in that lake and the flatheads, I would think that millions of walleye fingerlings will be tasty treats. Change your bait pattern

[ljarrell4LSU]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Mike Daleo &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

With the healthy LM and Stripe populations in that lake and the flatheads, I would think that millions of walleye fingerlings will be tasty treats. Change your bait pattern </td></tr></table>

[Muddbugg]

Why is it that the state of Indiana and Ohio, insist on stocking for that matter spending our fishing liscence money on species that the minority of fishermen are pursuing!!! Walleye's, Muskie's, Trout , in warmwater fisheries dominated by largemouth bass and panfish anglers. I agree, take every walleye home and throw him to the grease!!!! When will we get some fish and wildlife people with some "street smarts" about whats going on with the fisheries??

The BIGGEST waste I've ever seen in at Stonelick Lake in Ohio. Stonelick is a small silt based lake, looks like a flat creek would look on the ohio river. Deepest water is prob 8ft with 6-10 inches on most of the flats, by this time of year the water is in the 80's. BUT, every year they stock thousands of pounds of RAINBOW TROUT!!!! What a Joke, the guys out on the lake paying for licencse boat tags etc, are fishing for bass and panfish, while half the ones trying to catch, snag of net the trout (actually saw this once while they dumped them off the back of the truck!!!!) DONT PROB EVEN HAVE A LISCENCE!!!!!!


Get real people, Besides Lake Erie, less than 10% of us in Indiana, Ohio (ex Lake Erie where 75% of Ohio's liscence money goes) and Kentucky fish for Walleyes, Muskies, Wipers or whatever else trash thier pumping into our lakes!

[billius]

I really doubt the walleye will have any major effect on the bass population at Patoka. As has been said, bass and walleye live in the same waters in many states. I don't think it will be an issue. When Patoka was first opened it was also stocked with northern pike. They never took. The first few years of fishing there when it first opened up, we used to catch tons of "hammer handle" pike and 12-13" bass, you never knew what you were going to get.

[Bigtim68]

I tend to disagree. The people at DNR tend to know more about ecology than fishermen only concerned with one species. Walleye and bass and other game fish co-exist together fine. A prime example is Green River Lake here in Ky (which is also a noted Musky fishery) and the spring time bassin has been better than it has been in years. Yes some bass get eat by the other fish, but bass also eat walleye offspring as well as any other fish it can fit inside its mouth. Try stocking just bass and you will see weights and size decrease from overpopulation since theres no check & balance.

BUT if you want some good fried fish, cant get much better that walleye.

[bassfish 24-7]

I think they co exist in some lakes but even at Monroe lake a lot of tournament anglers I have talked to have said many of the ledges and points that used to hold big largemouth no longer hold Bass but walleye. I think alot of Monroe locals will tell you that bass fising is not what it used to be since the walleyes have taken off in that lake.
But I hope your right and that the state knows what they are doing
BC the have done so well in Indiana. Bass? Bluegill? Crappie? Bucks? You don't here too many people say " lets travel to Indiana for _____________. Il, Ky, OH, MI, yeah I would much rather fish or hunt in those states for a trophy.

[uk2thdoc]

I think people just worry that the walleye may screw up an bass fishery that is quite good and they probably think why mess up a good thing. Patoka gets really pounded on but still manages to give up lots of quality bass so I definitely hope the DNR guys did their homework before they made the decision to introduce the walleye. It would be a shame if the walleye ultimately had a negative impact, but at this point I'd say its out of our hands if they are stocking millions into the lake. The main question at this point is if they will thrive or not. It doesn't seem like the stripers did all that well so we shall see.

Doc

[Lucky1]

You go up north (Michigan) and you get the same responses from the locals......

THE SMALLMOUTH ARE SCREWING UP THE WALLEYE FISHERY.....

These fish live together... as far as the stocking of walleye... would you rather the state not stock them and then have all these people take your precious bass home and fry them because there are not any walleye???

Everyone must face the fact that Indiana is not this great fishing state... and for what little amount of water we have and the pressure it gets the DNR takes care of the masses pretty good.

You take all the fishable inland water in Indiana and it is about 1/3 the size of KY Lake! Just food for thought.....

[Muddbugg]

I'm sure Walleye and Bass can co-exist with one another in a natural state. However, that is not the case when these fish are stocked into warmwater reservoirs and lakes, where they don't naturally exist/ and or their numbers have declined because the lake does not support their habitat preferences.

Again, to continue the rant from my previous post, I would like the money from licenses etc, go to what species the majority of anglers are pursuing. Or for that matter, (back to my Stonelick Lake ex) what makes common sense!

Who really looses in this whole deal is the poor old Ohio River The DNR seems to care less about the state of the bass fishery. We need an aggressive silt eradication program, habitat and spawning enhancements, and an aggressive stocking program. I'll argue with any biologist or DNR man..... As much forage base the river has, and as little of bass population there is, stock as many bucketmouths as we can buy into the big muddy!!!!

[jettdog68]

Walleyes wont hurt bass fishing at all!!! Period!

And what Muddbugg said also!!!!!

[Grumpy]

Get even eat them.

[StratosBrad]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by bassfish 24-7 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I think they co exist in some lakes but even at Monroe lake a lot of tournament anglers I have talked to have said many of the ledges and points that used to hold big largemouth no longer hold Bass but walleye. I think alot of Monroe locals will tell you that bass fising is not what it used to be since the walleyes have taken off in that lake.
But I hope your right and that the state knows what they are doing
BC the have done so well in Indiana. Bass? Bluegill? Crappie? Bucks? You don't here too many people say " lets travel to Indiana for _____________. Il, Ky, OH, MI, yeah I would much rather fish or hunt in those states for a trophy.</td></tr></table>

On one piece of offshore structure, I have caught smallies, greenies, and walleye. Sometimes on consecutive casts.

[hulapopr]

perhaps something else happened to cause the bass not to be there,
i have caught walleye smallmouth largemouth and catfish within an hour apart at greenriver lake on the same spot.things change,i have a couple spots where i used to catch good fish on nolin regularly,but havn't in a year or 2,i catch walleye sometimes off them,and did then,but i doubt the walleye have anything to do with it.

[Crappieman]

This past week was one of the best I've personally had for bass.....In the middle of the day the best ones I caught were in less than 2' of water......Black/red speck worm(Prowler).....Up in the end of Little Patoka 2 straight days and yesterday up above Kings bridge..I lost a hoss up near the mouth of youngs creek fishing all that trash..Guess I need to use more than 15lb line when worm fishing....Fished really slow and I mean really slow.....Probably around 15lbs limit everyday......I have had a camp in Wildridge for the past 12 years and I still haven't caught a walleye....Gonna take the kids and grandkids crappie fishing this weekend well away from the main lake.....