Qoute:But they will not eat a minnow or a night crawler..ok...
Responce:They will eat other things problem is its to crowded to realy work any other baits well. Very limited room normaly. Have gotten them on single jig and minnow, rapalas(countdowns) worked slow and twister tail jigs.




Quote:Still snaggging in my book and treble hooks should be outlawed there..See how many bite with just single hooks. Real fisherman wouldn't be involved in the BS that goes on there....

Responce: Omg you are sounding just like the fly vs spin vs center pin arguement. Get over yourself you are nothing special and no better then anyone else.Realy who died and made you judge of who and who not is a real fisherman?Just cause you fell something is not right does not make it wrong.Just As BigTuna stated many are hooked so far inside the mouth you need to dig way down there mouths to get the hooks out. I would love to see that done snagging as you say. The main purpose of the vibee/sonar/cicada are these are agressive prespawn walleyes that attack the lure out of both food and aggrestion. In colder water the blade baits are always good lures( ice fisherman love them guess they are snaggers as well..lol).After they spawn(Walleyes) I will go to the jigs and rapalas for the walleyes as the water is warmer then and they will chase food down better then in the colder water.

Qoute:I've never SNAGGED a walleye trolling crawler harnesses or drifting jigs with meat in the lake, a couple of the prefered methods 11 months out of the year.

Responce:So the guys that do not own boats and the ones that only have small no moter boats are sol cause they can not possibly troll. Would be awfull tuff to snagg any fish in the open water of the lake were the fish will never consitrate in the numbers they do at the spillway. I can garuntee in 1 day at the maumee there more snagged Walleyes then in 2-3 years at the spillway. And more snagged Steelhead in a day on Walnut then in a year plus at the spillway.

The blade baits work year round for may species of fish jig verticale or cast out and realed in. Over the years they have mouth hooked (all points inside) Steelhead, rainbow trout, Brown trout, Walleyes, Musikes, Crappies, Yellow perch.

Just can not understand this BS elitist additude so many on this site have. People get over yourselfs. I can garuntee there is something you do that makes people turn there noses up at you or possibley say something to you. I know nobody likes to be harassed about how they do things so why are you doing exactily what you do not like done to you? Bing you have killed and had fish mounted I know many that would call you unsportmans like for doing that. So why act like them? He without any sin cast the first stone. Is no humans in this world without sin so stop casting stones at each other.

my personal best pymy wallyey was a 26 inch beauty caught on a 3/4 ounce gold/green cicada in 14 ft of water,, felt a tick on the line,, when i landed it , the cicada was in the fishes gullet,, dont think i snagged em, 

Well said Egg sac,I'm not on this post defend anyone that fishes the spillway,like I said before it's not for everyone,and everyone can fish anyway they want.I've fished that lake since the late 60's and blades bait where always used there,in the fall,late Nov.18fow off Snodgrass,I caught plenty of limits on silver buddies( blade bait)and sonars.Same place through the ice same bait,I never snagged any of them.In the early 70's,I'd stand on one of the corner of the spillway and throw bucktail jigs( yes hair jig) in later years twister tails,and get fish all day(though most where on the short side) at nite I'd sonar,back then very few people new about the SPILLWAY.I don't know anybody on this site,but a few people think there God and the only one's to every fish and it's there way or no way(there the greatest) There's more Steelies LIFTED,sight fishing,where a so called fishermen make repeated cast till the line,cross current get into the open mouth of the fish,them the so called fishermen set the hook and the hook ends up in the corner of the mouth,but the hook enters from the outside. And the Maumee and Sandusky river is a whole another story.Some people are jealous when somebody else gets fish,to all the shore fishermen that don't have a boat there are limited chances,wading and the spillway are one,fishing Findly creek behind the H.S. in May is another,if you want to drag bait,I'm not compaining,you should to using plugs not bait,give it a brake,the spillway things been going on longer than most of the guys on site have been alive,and thats not why eyes are down on the lake,do your home work the lakes been on the decline for quite a few years.This is my last post about this subject,I Will let the EXPERTS do the talking,go to Bings,your the man,( if you can't believe that a lot eyes are caught in the mouth you have a very narrow mind. Your calling me and others a liar,how do I know that you shot your buck legal,was it over bait,salt on posted land,out of season,Get the point. Nobody likes to be called a lair.

ORIGINAL: mak7464

 It sickens me to see a guy walking down the bank with a fish on his stringer that has eggs coming out of it...that is the future of our fishing right there.  (i support a jacks only law) the big females even taste a little strange.

 
   Well said Mak.  This is nearly my whole beef with the spillway.  More brood stock females are caught in a 2 or 3 week period on Pymy than the rest of the year combined.  Often times I'll release these fish in June or July, much less when they're full of eggs.  We all know that natural reproduction is very low on Pymatuning at less than 5%.  However, a female may contain tens of thousands of eggs.  So, even with low survival, many potential walleye are extinguished. 
   The other issue at hand is one of "fair chase".  I would compare fishing for walleye at the spillway in March and April to bowfishing for carp at the spillway in July.  Or maybe a better analogy would be the little fishing pools they have for kids at outdoor shows.
   Compare "fishing" at the spillway to fishing the causeway.  I have absolutely no fair chase problem with the causeway.  It's the same general type of fishing, but instead of shooting fish in a barrel, you are shooting fish in a small river...the same would apply to the Maumee.  In addition, creating a moral equivalency between the spillway and the Maumee is absurd...the Lake Erie system vs. Pymatuning...brilliant.
   However, my point of view is largely irrelevent.  The fact is, although I agree with the guys that don't like the spillway circus and all the ethical and biological problems that go along with it....it's legal for these guys to do what they do.  No matter how much we bellyache about it, these guys are acting within the law as long as the fish are NOT snagged.  HAVE AT IT, BOYS!
 

I've been up to the Pye for the last 14 years (missed last year) for wading eve & early am & boat fishing during the day.  I usually head up for about 4 days around first weekend in April.  Is the spillway "madness" over by then?  I've seen some fishing there at that time, but not to the intensity you guys are talking about - unless I am missing it since I don't really get into the first day of trout scenario for eyes - is it winding down by then?

I'm also curious about the Maumee.  Could anyone shed a bit more light on that, (I know...that is probably like the first day of trout) since I could jaunt over there for a day if you think that run would still be occuring at that time?   Any general locals I could check map distances to?

You are the biggest liner/lifter I have ever met and you are preaching pn the subject!?!?!?!?
Unreal...

Ironhed

OK, I'm sick of this discussion.  Can't we all just agree that everyone has their own oppinion of certain methods of fishing and just keep that oppinion to themselves.  I hate trout fishing, and I mean HATE with a passion, but you don't see me on here bashing everyone else.  Great, your views have been expressed, we all know who hates the spillway.  If anyone would like to continue the discussion, start a new thread.  Now why don't we get back to what this post was all about... 
 
Walleye's at Pymatuning.

ORIGINAL: Trap Jaw

OK, I'm sick of this discussion.  Can't we all just agree that everyone has their own oppinion of certain methods of fishing and just keep that oppinion to themselves.  I hate trout fishing, and I mean HATE with a passion, but you don't see me on here bashing everyone else.  Great, your views have been expressed, we all know who hates the spillway.  If anyone would like to continue the discussion, start a new thread.  Now why don't we get back to what this post was all about...  

Walleye's at Pymatuning.

 
 
anyone hear if they are catching any walleye at the spillway yet

Looks like another post that has tragically turned into a women's BS discussion.

How bout this...who gives a s**t how you catch your fish. If you have legitimate reports of catching fish w/ certain baits then fine.

If your snagging and lifting, we all know it's legal, it's a disgrace to the sport and what happens if you get caught. No need to start yelling at everyone and take the original topic 8 layers deep to a sissy/name calling argument.

Once again...we can't have a normal discussion. Haha honestly this whole forum is like a 3rd grade recess gone wild!!!!! Hilarous!

For those who actually shared information on the pymie topic, thanks.

I don't give a $hit how the ****hole's catch them!!!!!!!!
I want them to move on after they are done so i can get a jig in there.....
I want the fish cop's to tell the greedy bastards to go the F--k home!!!!

Anyone doing any good?  Wading?  Spillway?  Eyes anywhere?  

Sent off an email to the Fish Wardens about the Spillway action...Got an excellent reply..Acording to the bioligist it has basically no affect on the overall waleye population in the lake...That is good...
 
So I guess it is just up to each individual fisherman guided by his own law(morals and ethics) wether he wants to participate in that type of fishing or not...Not telling any one else how to live THEIR lives just telling you that I personally will not participate in this type of fishing...
 
Following is the letter from the PFBC...
 
 
Dear Gary,
Your comments on the walleye fishing at the Pymatuning Spillway have been forwarded to me for response.  Our office is responsible for management of the fisheries in Pymatuning Lake.
 
Let me start with some background.  The last several years our fry stockings were not as successful as they had been in the past.  However, they also weren’t complete failures either, so there hasn’t been the collapse of the walleye population as some are saying.  Beginning in 2008, both Pennsylvania and Ohio switched to stocking walleye fingerlings and our fall samples showed we had good survival and growth of these fish, so the 2008 year class should be OK.
 
Pymatuning Lake still contains probably the best walleye population in Pennsylvania, outside of Lake Erie.  We have been trapnetting Pymatuning Lake for the last two weeks and the population is truly impressive.  So far, over 1,000 walleye, with most of those legal fish.  Males are running 16 to 24 inches and females are running 22 – 28 inches.  Catch rates are similar to previous years.  The problem seems to be that anglers haven’t adjusted their tactics to catch these bigger fish.  Their catch has gone down, even though the number of legal fish is not much different than during the heyday 5 to 10 years ago.
 
Now to your specific comments.  As I stated above, the walleye population in Pymatuning is maintained through hatchery stockings.  Ohio’s analysis of the 2008 year class showed that 96% were stocked as fingerlings, 3.5% were stocked as fry and 3.5% were naturally spawned in the lake.   We don’t count on the resident walleye to maintain the population through natural reproduction.  The walleye in Pymatuning have ample opportunity to spawn.  What they produce isn’t sufficient to maintain a population desirable to anglers, so we stock and will continue to do so.
 
In addition, only a small percentage of the walleye in Pymatuning attempt to spawn in that area.   Our trapnets have captured spawning walleye on every rocky shoreline in the reservoir (of which there are miles).  Even if walleye spawn successfully in the Spillway area, I would expect little to come from it.  The Spillway is lousy habitat for egg survival, especially with the carp situation the way it is.  Any walleye that are spawned in the lake are probably not coming from the Spillway area.
 
Furthermore, Pymatuning is a very large reservoir covering more than 13,000 acres.  While anglers may be hammering them at the Spillway, as a percentage of the total walleye population in the lake, it’s probably no more than a drop in the bucket and the harvest at the Spillway will have a very small impact on overall walleye abundance in Pymatuning Lake. 
 
Yes, the scene at the Spillway is somewhat of a circus atmosphere and we definitely don’t want to encourage bad behavior.  However, we do like to see people catch fish and the regulations in place are sufficient to protect the fishery while still allowing people to utilize it.  The local Waterways Conservation Officer spends a great deal of time patrolling the Spillway (overtly and covertly) to make sure the fish are legally caught and all regulations are obeyed.    We sometimes see similar behavior during trout stockings, in the steelhead streams of Erie or anytime fish are highly concentrated.  These situations seem to draw people that behave like this.  It comes down to, we don’t want to take away everyone’s good time because of the greedy behavior of a few.  And like I said, the Fish and Boat Commission likes to see people go fishing and catch fish.
 
All this probably doesn’t make it seem any better to you but, hopefully, you can rest assured that the walleye in Pymatuning are not in any danger because of this situation.   Feel free to call or email me if you would like to discuss this further.  Good Luck fishing this year.
 
Tim Wilson
Fisheries Biologist
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
13240 Hartstown Rd.
Linesville, PA 16424
814-683-1036
tiwilson@state.pa.us

Thanks Bings! Now hopefully people won't keep asking where all the walleye are and simply change their techniques and actually catch them!!

ORIGINAL: Bogeyjoker

That's an excellent letter Bings.  That biologist should be commended on taking the time to provide a lengthy and detailed response when, I'm sure, he has many other things on his plate.

 
I wrote him back and told him that....Impressed me a little....

It's refreshing to hear something good said about the Fish Commission, with all the bad-mouthing they get. They have the impossible task of trying to please everybody. We have it made in PA., but most people don't see that.....