This post is a review of data recorded from measuring every single walleye and sauger caught in my boat on Lake Wisconsin over the past two years. Recording all this data and transferring it over to a creel survey form is a very time consuming task. It is (at least I believe it is) probably the most important thing that I can do to protect the walleye & sauger fishery of Lake Wisconsin. Most of the information has been copied out of an informational letter that I send to all clients at the end of the year via email.
As many of you who have fished with me already know, I’ve been recording the length of all walleyes and/or saugers that we catch, regardless of how big or small. Many of my clients helped me do this by taking the time to measure every single walleye & sauger prior to releasing them back into the lake. (some were kept for consumption) This is not being done for my benefit. It is being done because I chose to participate in a study being done by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Management biologist and supervisor, Tim Larson.
The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of the slot limit that was enacted back in May of 2003. Yes, I know that many of us already have concluded that this is a no-brainer, but hard facts are needed in order to preserve the slot limit past its sunset clause date (2014) which will be here before we know it. And that’s the reason I will continue to take the time to participate. In the long run, it is hoped that this study will prove the slot limit is benefiting the lake’s walleyes and saugers. It does require a great deal of time to complete the creel survey forms but it is time well spent and may very well be the determining factor in whether or not the powers that be decide to allow the current slot limit to remain in effect for many, many years to come.
For the year 2008, we did approximately 50 walleye/sauger fishing trips and 25 more crappie/bluegill trips. All the trips recorded were on the waters between the Wisconsin Dells dam on the up river end and the Prairie du Sac dam on the lower end of the system.
By far though, most of the data recorded comes directly from Lake Wisconsin itself.
In the year 2008, a total of 510 walleyes & saugers made it over the side of the boat and onto the measuring stick for an average of around 10.2 fish per outing. It’s important to remember that this is an average only. Some days were great and others were not nearly as good. That compares to 627 total walleyes & saugers in the year 2007 and an average of 12.5 fish per outing.
Here is a breakdown on the size of those 510 walleyes/saugers in the year 2008.
42% of the catch was less than 15” long. (The minimum legal size limit)
43% of the catch was 15-20” long. (The keeper size slot limit)
14% of the catch was 20-28” long. (All fish in this range must be released)
Less than 1% of the catch was over 28” long. (Four walleyes over 28” long this year)
Here is a comparison breakdown from the 627 walleyes/saugers caught in 2007.
57% of the catch was less than 15” long. (The minimum legal size limit)
34% of the catch was 15-20” long. (The keeper size slot limit)
9% of the catch was 20-28” long. (All fish in this range must be released)
0% the catch was over 28” long. (No walleyes over 28” in the year 2007)
For those of you who prefer to look at real numbers rather than percentages, here are some actual numbers for both years.
————————————— 2007————2008
Walleyes/saugers under 15” long———359————-215
Walleyes/saugers between 15-20”——–213————-220
Walleyes/saugers between 20-28”———55————–71
Walleyes over 28” long——————–0—————4
A quick look at the numbers above shows that of the 627 walleyes & saugers caught in 2007 vs the 510 caught in 2008, virtually all of those extra walleyes & saugers caught in 2007 were made up from fish under 15” long.
One other very interesting side note that I would like to point out which basics statistics fail to show is the overall quality of the saugers we catch from Lake Wisconsin. Looking back three years or so, we considered it a good year if we caught a dozen of them over 20” long.
In the year 2007, we caught approximately 36 saugers over 20” long. Seven of those 36 were at least 22” long or better.
For the year 2008, we caught no less than 19 saugers that were over 22” long with the biggest one going 23-1/4” long. (Congratulations to Jeff Jones on that fine catch)
And although I could dig through my records and find out exactly how many were over 20” long, it hardly seems worth it. The new standard in my book for a truly big sauger in the future has been moved up to nothing less than 22 inches.
To the best of my knowledge, there are only two other places in the upper mid-west that have the potential to produce numbers of saugers in that size range. The Mississippi river and the Illinois River are the only other places where you can fish and expect to have a chance at a sauger that big. That says a great deal about the quality of the fishery here on Lake Wisconsin. If anyone knows of another fishery in the upper mid-west with the potential to produce saugers in this size range, please feel free to let me know.
Crappie fisherman often play second fiddle to walleye/sauger fisherman and the crappie fishing on Lake Wisconsin can get overlooked along the way. In this case, that would be a shame because the crappie fishing here on Lake Wisconsin in the year 2008 was simply awesome.
This year, I took time to keep some records on the numbers of crappies that were caught from my boat as well. And although we were not nearly as diligent in our record keeping when it came to crappies, we were able to come to a few conclusions.
An exact number was not possible but the count did show that no less than 604 crappies made it into the boat over the course of approximately 25 crappie fishing trips. That averages out to more than 24 crappies per trip. Numerous more were caught on walleye fishing trips that were not recorded.
The average size of our crappies this year ran from 10-12” which is down from the past couple of years. But when it comes to eaten size crappies that is an excellent size range to choose from.
Feel free to let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know about them as well.
Below are pictures of the top eight fish caught out of Lake Wisconsin from my boat in 2008.
1st picture – Les Herman, 28″ walleye. (released)
2nd picture – Brett Larsen, 29″ walleye. (released)
3rd picture – Andrew Allen, 29″ walleye.
4th picture – Doug Musser, 28-3/4″ walleye.
5th picture – Dewey Schultz, 27-1/2″ walleye. (released)
6th picture – Steve Fausnaugh, 27″ walleye. (released)
7th picture – Nancy Ballweg, 26-1/2″ walleye. (released)
8th picture – Joel Ballweg, 25-1/4″ saugeye. (released)
I’ll bet that we’ll at least being doing some serious jigging! 
. Now i will have to hear about it all over again. lol… Everytime a fish came in the boat Joel had that little notebook in hand messuring the fish. Good work. Love the slot and hope to be in ur boat soon with a chance to quiet Jeff up a little.