Thames River Walleye’s….Anyone else having any Luck? 🤔

Tyler0420 said:
If you think they’ll extend the open season or get rid of the closed season all together by 2025 with one person sending them an email I think you guys have high hopes.
I know with 3 rods for carp It took years and year and years with high profile people trying to get it done.
Their not going to change anything with 1/2 emails being sent to them.
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Good to know @Tyler0420 about your input 👊 I guess I should be getting thousands of signatures from angler’s interested in this issue,to shorten this walleye sanctuary to one month from 2 month’s,if that would actually even help at all,or am I wasting my time.
 
Red Hering said:
Good to know @Tyler0420 about your input 👊 I guess I should be getting thousands of signatures from angler’s interested in this issue,to shorten this walleye sanctuary to one month from 2 month’s,if that would actually even help at all,or am I wasting my time.
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I have no clue how to go about it but the more people shouting about it the better. At least you started the process. Will be nice to hear what MNR says when they get back to you.
 
FrankTheTank said:
@Red Hering have you tried contacting the ofah to gelp on this matter i know recently tgey just helped with chaning my area to permit sunday gun hunting now it might help or create more awarnace
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Not yet @FrankTheTank but I am thinking about emailing someone there at the OFAH,that is involved with our Fishery. Or even go to one of the OFAH Zone J meetings,to express mine/our concern there,in this matter. 👍🙂
 
Red Hering said:
Not yet @FrankTheTank but I am thinking about emailing someone there at the OFAH,that is involved with our Fishery. Or even go to one of the OFAH Zone J meetings,to express mine/our concern there,in this matter. 👍🙂
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It defentaly wouldnt hurt the cause they might help them selfes or point you in the best direction they are the voice for us hunters and fishers they know who to talk to and the proper steps plus with there involvment in the ontario out of doors its a great way to get the word out there so more people can email or voice their opions
 
So let me get this straight. You want to shorten the walleye spawning sanctuary time from 2 months down to 1 month because...you want more opportunity to fish?

Really guys? Isn't the whole reason for the closed season to protect the fish for the future? I can see no way that shortening the sanctuary time will have a net positive impact on the fish population...but does pose the risk of a negative impact. 2 months = 16% of the year for them to be protected, is 84% of the unprotected time not enough?

What about the long point inner bay sanctuary? Isn't that one kinda long also? We have all kinds of fancy gear from boats, lures, sonar, side-view, underwater cameras etc which increases our chances of success exponentially but still that's not enough?

Sign me up for against.
 
I can only assume you have never fished the Detroit river? Its probably the largest spawning rivers in Ontairo for walleyes with thousands of anglers each year catching walleye with no slot size, 6 fish limit and no sanctuary. At the moment we currently can keep 4 walleye with only 1 larger the 46cm. This Mar 15th closure is a joke if you think they are trying to protect the walleye population.Maybe they should take a better look at the commerical fishing on lake Erie if there best interest is the walleye population. This closure is taking away opportunity from many anglers who do not own a boat and are limited to shore fishing. Im 100% on board for shorting this walleye ban on the thames river.
 
Mercury Rising said:
I can only assume you have never fished the Detroit river? Its probably the largest spawning rivers in Ontairo for walleyes with thousands of anglers each year catching walleye with no slot size, 6 fish limit and no sanctuary. At the moment we currently can keep 4 walleye with only 1 larger the 46cm. This Mar 15th closure is a joke if you think they are trying to protect the walleye population.Maybe they should take a better look at the commerical fishing on lake Erie if there best interest is the walleye population. This closure is taking away opportunity from many anglers who do not own a boat and are limited to shore fishing. Im 100% on board for shorting this walleye ban on the thames river.
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Well said @Mercury Rising my friend 👍 and as we have discussed just recently from the Thames River riverbank & in the past year’s,is that a 1 month closure,especially during the “prime” spawning period,should not have an effect on the walleye population,for as of now,there are millions of walleye’s to catch out on Lake Erie from mostly boat’s,if you can afford a boat! There is no way that I will tow my boat back & forth to the Detroit River,even though it’s excellent walleye fishing there,when the timing of the walleye’s migration is on. I would prefer to keep fishing locally off the Thames River riverbank,to save gasoline & time,to also keep a few walleye’s,( depending on your fishing license ),if you are lucky to catch them. Well,there are only 3 days left of the walleye season in Zone 16, east of the Keil Bridge in Chatham,before the walleye sanctuary starts on March 16,2024. Tight lines & Walleye’s ON!! 🎣🐟👍🙂
 
Mercury Rising said:
I can only assume you have never fished the Detroit river? Its probably the largest spawning rivers in Ontairo for walleyes with thousands of anglers each year catching walleye with no slot size, 6 fish limit and no sanctuary. At the moment we currently can keep 4 walleye with only 1 larger the 46cm. This Mar 15th closure is a joke if you think they are trying to protect the walleye population.Maybe they should take a better look at the commerical fishing on lake Erie if there best interest is the walleye population. This closure is taking away opportunity from many anglers who do not own a boat and are limited to shore fishing. Im 100% on board for shorting this walleye ban on the thames river.
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Comparing the resident walleye population of the upper Thames to the Detroit River that contains migratory southern Erie/Ohio fish is like comparing New York City to Kapuskasing.

That is why there is not a santuary season for any of those areas, there are millions of fish, so catching/netting spawners is no big deal. Upper Thames and Thames around Kent Bridge - Chatham are in the other category.

The commercial fishery of Erie is alive and doing well, almost everyone knows this. Can't compare the two.

Closure taking away opportunity from many anglers to fish who do not own a boat? Who cares? Who said life was fair?
 
If you think for 1 second the thames river has much of a resident walleye population your sadly mistaken. !00% of these walleyes are come from Lake St Clair with likley a mix of huron and erie fish. Go to the Thames river in the summer time and please report how many walleyes you caught. My point is there gone from the river and are returned to the lakes.
Im sure there are many people who care about the river closing.
 
Caseys Dream said:
Comparing the resident walleye population of the upper Thames to the Detroit River that contains migratory southern Erie/Ohio fish is like comparing New York City to Kapuskasing.

That is why there is not a santuary season for any of those areas, there are millions of fish, so catching/netting spawners is no big deal. Upper Thames and Thames around Kent Bridge - Chatham are in the other category.

The commercial fishery of Erie is alive and doing well, almost everyone knows this. Can't compare the two.

Closure taking away opportunity from many anglers to fish who do not own a boat? Who cares? Who said life was fair?
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Your totally wrong.the Thames is a migratory run my friend.
 
Caseys Dream said:
So let me get this straight. You want to shorten the walleye spawning sanctuary time from 2 months down to 1 month because...you want more opportunity to fish?

Really guys? Isn't the whole reason for the closed season to protect the fish for the future? I can see no way that shortening the sanctuary time will have a net positive impact on the fish population...but does pose the risk of a negative impact. 2 months = 16% of the year for them to be protected, is 84% of the unprotected time not enough?

What about the long point inner bay sanctuary? Isn't that one kinda long also? We have all kinds of fancy gear from boats, lures, sonar, side-view, underwater cameras etc which increases our chances of success exponentially but still that's not enough?

Sign me up for against.
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I'll say this again.with all do respect to everyone. I've been fishing the Thames for over40years.the spots I fished even when season was open all year at Delaware the native nets would catch way way more fish then an angler even if he caught his limit for say 3 weeks of prime run.ive fished away and on other side of river a bit down watch them with huge dip nets catch fish almost every dip.and they would fishy mostly at night all night.they would pull up pick up truck and load the nights catch all spring..It still makes me shake my head.so now rivers closed longer yet the netting has stayed the same.
 
While my wording may seem incorrect, I do not think I am totally wrong. I agree that the adult spawners are long range migratory fish from St Clair etc, they migrate up the Thames all the way to London to spawn every spring. These eggs turn into fish and from some studies I've read are likely hatched in the same area as their parents did and lived part of their "fry-stage" to juvenile lives in the upper Thames where by fall they move out. But they are in some way similar to salmon/trout where they will return each year, for why would a lake walleye swim all the way up the Thames if it had not some instinctual spawning need to do so back to their birth area? There are 99% of the fish classed as short spawners that spawn within 3 miles of where they were born in the lakes/reservoirs. This 1% is different.

So, it is these fish I'd be concerned with. Catch and remove the spawners and as a few years go by the whole thing collapses as there are not enough migratory fish left with a memory to make the migration.

Please educate me if this premise is wrong. (Not being sarcastic as I could be totally wrong here and leave it to greater minds to assist)
 
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Wet afternoon but the clarity of the water had improved from yesterday but that's gone now with the rain. Likely my last March walleyes. Best of luck to any who tough it out till it's closed.
 

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