LAKE WINNIPEG-UNLOCKING THE PUZZLE-PART ONE
EDITOR’S NOTE- WE ARE GOING TO PUBLISH A THREE PART SERIES ON THE RISE AND FALL OF FISH STOCKS IN LAKE WINNIPEG AND IT’S TRIBUTARIES. IN THE FIRST PART I RECOUNT MY OWN EXPERIENCES WITH THE BIG LAKE AND ITS TRIBUARTIES. IN THE SECOND PART WE EXAMINE FISH MOVEMENT THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM. IN THE THIRD PART WE WILL DISCUSS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.
THE EARLY DAYS
In the forty years I have been fishing Lake Winnipeg, during the 80’s and 90’s I rarely fished the open water on the main lake. The truth be told I tried a few times with no luck at all. I can remember one time going out on the west side north of Gimli during late May. The water was so muddy by wind action that a fish couldn’t bite your hook even if it wanted to. My activities were pretty much restricted to all the tributaries including the Red River and Pine Falls.
I did make a couple treks to Anama Bay but the road was so rough to get there I had to be desperate. My first time fishing the big lake was there in 1985. We fished the Dauphin River the first day then decided to head up the lake 27 miles to the Warpath River. That in itself was an adventure that I will never forget. While we caught some pike the walleye were no where to be found.
Some of the best walleye fishing was found below the dam at Grand Rapids. It is here the Saskatchewan River empties into Lake Winnipeg. To this day walleye can always be caught in the small stretch of river before it widens into the main lake. I have fished the Bloodvein with some success on a writing trip with Travel Manitoba.
One of the more interesting trips I had was a visit to the Wanipigow River. To launch our boat on the Hollow Water Reserve, we talked to the Chief who wished us luck. We were after trophy crappie and we did manage to catch one nice fish along with a few smaller ones. Just south of that lies the Manigotogan River that has a good spring run of walleye.
The first time I ice fished the big lake was over thirty years ago. I know we caught a few fish, but much of the time during the winter was spent on the Red River. We had figured out over the years that at certain times of the ice season fish related to different areas of the Red.
DECEMBER ON THE RED RIVER
Early ice, for example, saw us drilling holes north of the bridge to nowhere. We had found an avid ice fisherman that didn’t mind us accessing the river from his property. From there, it was a short walk onto the river to a couple of deep stretches of river that held suspended walleye. That’s right, the walleye would be suspended 10 feet over 20 during late November until Christmas. After that, it was a search and seek mission, travelling by vehicle most years up and down the river searching. There was one year, around 2006, that the stretch on the north side of the Selkirk golf course was absolutely stacked with walleye, most in the two to three pound range but some big fish as well.
THE CHANGEOVER
As the years went on, we wanted to explore Lake Winnipeg in the winter. It really started changing around 2008 when the Red started slowing down and more ambitious anglers were pushing out on the big lake. Wondering how I remember all of this? An extensive archive of stories and photos certainly helps. I have been writing a column in the Winnipeg Free Press since 1992 and new material is needed all the time. It certainly motivated me to get out as much as I could.
In 2008, friend Jim Price and I headed out from Chalet Beach Road at first ice, walking out with all our equipment stuffed in sleigh. We only walked out a quarter of a mile, but we caught fish. That opened the floodgates for many more trips, the Red River all but forgotten.
MOVING UP THE LAKE!
Later that same year I got an invite from a friend to come up to Riverton to join him for a day on the ice in late March. To this day, it was the best ice fishing I have ever had. Between five anglers we must have landed close to 300 walleyes, including one fish that weighed in at 13 pounds! Lee Nolden, the grandfather of ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg was along that day as well as Murray Olfason.
Murray had been reading in my Free Press column the success anglers had been having in the south basin closer to Winnipeg that year. He figured it must be just as good near Hecla Island. As it turned out, it was spectacular.
THE NEW FRONTIER!
Lake Winnipeg was the new frontier and it’s fame spread far and wide through social media. Pictures of monster greenback walleye flood the either and anglers from across North America flocked to this walleye mecca.
From about 2009 to 2017 the fishing on the big lake was spectacular. Honestly, most days we went out and just started drilling holes, catching fish on pretty much every spot we tried. Then something changed. Our catches were not as consistent anymore and we had to move around a lot until we found a good school of fish. Then in 2018 and 2019 the catch rated dropped off dramatically.
CATCH RATES PLUMMET!
This was substantiated by survey conducted by Wildlife and Fisheries that is outlined in an article by Dr. Brian Parker. You can read it all at https://www.hookedmagazine.ca/the-impact-of-ice-fishing-on-lake-winnipeg/
According to the survey done in 2018 and 2019, anglers success ratio had dropped substantially from earlier surveys. There were some other reasons for that, including tough conditions to get around on the ice. But it has been a worrying trend for a few years now. This was reflected in creel surveys conducted by the Fisheries Branch. As a result, changes had to be made reverse the trend and allow for sustainability of the resource. This included have been made in angler walleye limits and retention size on the lake and a mesh size increase for commercial fisherman.
The current government is committed to a stricter management of this valuable resource and things are starting to look up. Commercial licenses are being retired as well through a provincial buy out program.
SUSTAINABILITY THE KEY
Carly Deacon, the Managing Director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, says the MWF is eager to continue to work together with the Lake Winnipeg Working Group and the Fisheries Branch for a management plan for all. The MWF has been the lead in several changes in regulations towards that end. Manitoba Fisheries is currently in the process of doing a updated status report on the big lake. The department is also involved with stakeholder meeting with the various commerical fishing groups, Almost all see the value of Eco Certification on all the commerical fisheries in the province.
These studies supply a much-needed baseline for implementation of sustainable fisheries, something that has been lacking in the past. Many of the indigenous commercial fishers have embraced the change, with Waterhen becoming the first Eco Certified commercial walleye and pike fishery in this part of the world. Cedar Lake commercial fisheries are currently in the process of putting together their certification papers. You can read all about that progress by clicking this link ttps://www.hookedmagazine.ca/working-together-to-manage-manitoba-fisheries/
One of the keys to managing any fishery is understanding fish movement. In order to provide that data in 2016, Fisheries and Oceans Canada in partnership with the Universities of Manitoba, Nebraska–Lincoln, and Lakehead as well as the Province of Manitoba began the Lake Winnipeg Basin Fish Movement Project. The project involves a network of underwater acoustic receivers in the Lake Winnipeg basin, allowing researchers to track movement, behavior, and interactions of tagged fish. Beside the walleye they include bigmouth buffalo, burbot, channel catfish, Common Carp, Freshwater Drum, Lake Sturgeon, and Lake Whitefish.
CRUCIAL DATA FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
The work that Doug and his team are doing, provides crucial information to managers to make informed and scientific evidence-based decisions around species protection, habitat restoration, and instream flow needs. This is incredibly fascinating information and we highlight the research in Part Two of our story on Lake Winnipeg.