Winterkill Blues

GTZ · #1 03-06-2013, 11:10 PM

Got off work a little early today and figured I'd hit Lac Ste Anne for some Walleye. I like going to the west side (West Cove) as we had a cabin there growing up and i have had some success there over the years. Anyway I get out drill several holes and with every hole i drill i see tons of brown shrimp come up. Then i lower the camera and immediately notice the water is very murky...once the cam hits bottom and settles down i see dead minnows scattered along the bottom...then minnows start swimming up my hole. I move to deeper / clearer water and fished for 4 hours without seeing a fish! I ALWAYS at the very least tie into some hammerhandle pike but this outting nothing. Now im not a winterkill expert but it seems like winterkill to me or at least some serious oxygen depletion. Is this a normal occurance? Do the larger fish head for deep water and survive? Any input on this subject would be appreciated! I hope my favorite local lake isnt in trouble!!

EZM · #2 03-06-2013, 11:32 PM

This definitely sounds like a winter kill, however, it may not mean it will be a 100% winter kill which would be more common on a smaller lake.

Lac Ste Anne is relatively shallow and has quite a bit of weed growth, so there is a possibility of this happening.

As far as fish "going deeper for more oxygen" this is usually not the case as deeper water typically holds lower oxygen levels - that'd why the minnows go to the surface - in search of more dissolved oxygen.

HunterDave · #3 03-06-2013, 11:53 PM

People were catching walleye out of the lake last week. Maybe add the words Lac Ste Anne in the title of your thread and people that have recently fished there might chime in. There's at least one member on AO that's going there tomorrow.

AppleJax · #4 03-07-2013, 12:19 AM

I heard from a fellow forum member last weekend that he was seeing dead walleye in the lake.

Graffy91 · #5 03-07-2013, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleJax

I heard from a fellow forum member last weekend that he was seeing dead walleye in the lake.

If this is true, that will be very sad.

But would explain somewhat the last 3 times I've been as to why I haven't had anything from the west cove area.

But hey, if it happened to Isle, I guess it's quite possible for Ste. Anne too...

Geezle · #6 03-07-2013, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZM

This definitely sounds like a winter kill, however, it may not mean it will be a 100% winter kill which would be more common on a smaller lake.

Lac Ste Anne is relatively shallow and has quite a bit of weed growth, so there is a possibility of this happening.

As far as fish "going deeper for more oxygen" this is usually not the case as deeper water typically holds lower oxygen levels - that'd why the minnows go to the surface - in search of more dissolved oxygen.

I concur...

waterninja · #7 03-07-2013, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleJax

I heard from a fellow forum member last weekend that he was seeing dead walleye in the lake.

i also heard from a member of this forum that last week they were seeing dead wallies on the bottom of lac st anne. i hope it's just in some areas and not lake wide.

cube · #8 03-07-2013, 09:44 AM

The east basin holds significantly more oxygen than the west basin.

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/...82&page=Water#

Fig 6

retten · #9 03-07-2013, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graffy91

If this is true, that will be very sad.

But would explain somewhat the last 3 times I've been as to why I haven't had anything from the west cove area.

But hey, if it happened to Isle, I guess it's quite possible for Ste. Anne too...

It would truly be a shame, great lake for C & R with the kids for the past number of years, another problem is the fact the walleye are eating everything in this lake.

Our provincial fish police, have all but destroyed pigeon and a number of other lakes due to protecting the almighty walleye populations, there is no food left in these lakes which also aids in higher mortality rates in the winter months.

When was the last time anyone has caught a decent perch in pigeon or Ste Anne, six or seven years ago I would take my kids to Ste Anne and bring home four or five 12 to 13" perch for a feed, absolutely non existant now.

A shame.

GTZ · #10 03-07-2013, 10:30 AM

Well hopefully it's just a partial winterkilled...what a shame. The east side is more oxygenated but I have seen very murky water on parts of the east basin recently as we'll.

HuyFishin · #11 03-07-2013, 10:37 AM

I have a feeling nakamuns gonna have winterkill aswell, last sunday when i was there almost all the pike and perch we seen were very close to the surface,(is this becouse of lack of oxygen?) the pike were just grazing the bottom of my hole I coulda just grabbed him with my bare hands, i'm gonna go out to nakamun again this sunday to check it out, maybe test my luck

baptiste_moose · #12 03-07-2013, 10:48 AM

The bigger perch have been mid depth all year at nak. Only little ones at the bottom. 4 ft under the ice is where I've been catching

cube · #13 03-07-2013, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retten

It would truly be a shame, great lake for C & R with the kids for the past number of years, another problem is the fact the walleye are eating everything in this lake.

Our provincial fish police, have all but destroyed pigeon and a number of other lakes due to protecting the almighty walleye populations, there is no food left in these lakes which also aids in higher mortality rates in the winter months.

When was the last time anyone has caught a decent perch in pigeon or Ste Anne, six or seven years ago I would take my kids to Ste Anne and bring home four or five 12 to 13" perch for a feed, absolutely non existant now.

A shame.

According to Alberta ESRD netting data the last time Lac St. Anne had a perch population was back in 2002 by the next netting 2005 they were basically gone.

retten · #14 03-07-2013, 11:12 AM

Don't beleive everything you read, they can't manage a lake what makes you think they would know where to place a net, I was catching fish in 22 feet of water In
2005/06 I will bet the students doing the research wouldn't have a clue.

Jamie Black R/T · #15 03-07-2013, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retten

Don't beleive everything you read, they can't manage a lake what makes you think they would know where to place a net, I was catching fish in 22 feet of water In
2005/06 I will bet the students doing the research wouldn't have a clue.

x2

theres perch in ste anne...i dont have a problem posting that cause 95% of the guys fishing out there will never find them.

cube · #16 03-07-2013, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retten

Don't beleive everything you read, they can't manage a lake what makes you think they would know where to place a net, I was catching fish in 22 feet of water In
2005/06 I will bet the students doing the research wouldn't have a clue.

They follow the FWIN protocol. In that protocol multiple nets are set; certain numbers are set shallow and certain numbers are set deep.

It's based on George E. Morgan's work, 38 pages of where to set nets, the size of the nets, all depending on lake size depths etc etc.

You can find a copy at the link below.

I don't think it’s the fact that the biologists can't manage a lake (though sometimes I do have to wonder). I think that they are given few resources and the final decisions made are made by politicians for political reasons rather than biological.

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodcons...ent/226868.pdf

shanks · #17 03-07-2013, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retten

It would truly be a shame, great lake for C & R with the kids for the past number of years, another problem is the fact the walleye are eating everything in this lake.

Our provincial fish police, have all but destroyed pigeon and a number of other lakes due to protecting the almighty walleye populations, there is no food left in these lakes which also aids in higher mortality rates in the winter months.

When was the last time anyone has caught a decent perch in pigeon or Ste Anne, six or seven years ago I would take my kids to Ste Anne and bring home four or five 12 to 13" perch for a feed, absolutely non existant now.

A shame.

x 2....the walleye limits are F#$%^ed.

cube · #18 03-07-2013, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamie Black R/T

x2

theres perch in ste anne...i dont have a problem posting that cause 95% of the guys fishing out there will never find them.

By using the word "basically" I had not meant extinct but rather "relatively"

example Lac St. Anne index netting perch numbers

2001 409
2002 86
2005 1
2006 6
2008 5
2011 14

The drops are also true of pike (353 to 16) and to a lesser extent whitefish (whitefish dropped to ¼ the number, 438 to 98).

My belief is that if that kind of a population drop had happened for walleye there would have been an immediate closure to harvesting period. I’m sure you still can find perch in the lake but should we be harvesting any at this point?

Jamie Black R/T · #19 03-07-2013, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cube

By using the word "basically" I had not meant extinct but rather "relatively"

example Lac St. Anne index netting perch numbers

2001 409
2002 86
2005 1
2006 6
2008 5
2011 14

The drops are also true of pike (353 to 16) and to a lesser extent whitefish (whitefish dropped to ¼ the number, 438 to 98).

My belief is that if that kind of a population drop had happened for walleye there would have been an immediate closure to harvesting period. I’m sure you still can find perch in the lake but should we be harvesting any at this point?

all valid points.

my comment was more directed to Retten's comment.

Quote:

When was the last time anyone has caught a decent perch in pigeon or Ste Anne, six or seven years ago I would take my kids to Ste Anne and bring home four or five 12 to 13" perch for a feed, absolutely non existant now.

curtis_rak · #20 03-16-2013, 07:16 PM

Glad I found this thread...
Just wanted to share my Lac Ste Anne experiences as of late...

I went out to west cove about 4 weekends ago by myself for a half-day. I fished in 2 spots that, around Christmas time, were guaranteed for a couple walleye and a bunch of small pike action.... I got skunked.

I went back to West Cove last weekend and 2 of us fished about 3 different places and we never had a bite. My camera showed a few dead minnows on the bottom and we had a bunch of minnows swim up our holes. Never seen a single fish come by on the camera and the visibility was decent.

I really hope this isnt a winter kill, but something is definately going on. My first thought was that it was the couple of giant nets that are ALWAYS in west cove, but I suppose it could be even worss than that.

travrgtr · #21 03-18-2013, 10:51 AM

You know what sucks about this? Last summer we were fishing west cove area for walley. Went through 4 complete buckets of minnows. Couldnt keep them off. 3 of us hit over 75 and quit counting. Catch and release only! now they're dead.