# maumee bait & tackle



## godzilla (Mar 4, 2005)

Has anybody read the latest post on the maumee tackle web site under the "river update".


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## crappielooker (Apr 5, 2004)

good read.. 
kudos to gary for speaking his mind.. i have to agree with him also..


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## litlwolf23 (Feb 3, 2005)

I thought it was very well put myself. I deal with Gary all the time. Good guy!


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I assume you are talking about the flaming post about all of us incomeptent fishermen/snaggers? That same post showed up on another site al well. I read it and decided to respond back to him but our extremely alert mods snatched the thread right away. I could see that it was going to be a free for all against this guy and I was trying to be the first to get to him.

It is not that I disagree with everything in his post but I certainly don't like the way he is trying to get his message across. To a large degree he is preaching to the choir here. And it ws the person's very first post on this site. He was getting off to a roaring start.

Seeing the same post on here as there makes me wonder whether the perpetrator wrote it at both places or if someone copied it here from the other site?

By the way here is a link to the Maumee Tackle site.


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## josh617 (Jan 28, 2005)

Gary has the right to post anything he wants on his site, if what he says doesnt apply to you, then it shouldnt be a big deal. He trying to do his part to ensure a quality fishery, as well as his livelihood. One fact i do know is that most of lake eries walleye spawn on the open water reefs of erie and the fish in the maumee are coming from places like lake st clair and lake huron so the fish arent really taking away from lake eries stocks. Also ohio anglers rarely reach their quota of fish from erie each year.


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## Fishin' Coach (May 19, 2004)

I also send Gary alot of business every year, 
However....isn't it sort of hypocritical to say "release the large females" and then feature the pictures of those same large fish on your website? How many snaggers are drawn to the run buy the large females pictured on the same site?


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## mrm123 (Apr 13, 2004)

S-S-D-Y Same s#!% diffrent year.


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## die4irish (Jun 8, 2004)

If you fish legeally it should not bother you, but if the shoe fits wear it!!
some of his view points are valid. The smallie fishery on lake erie sucks compared to 5 years ago


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

josh617 said:


> Gary has the right to post anything he wants on his site, if what he says doesnt apply to you, then it shouldnt be a big deal.


 I absolutely agree. But the problem here was that this same rant was posted here on the OGF. Whether it was Gary or not I have no idea but it was just much too confrontational and I am sure the mods do not want to tolerate it...and do not have to on their site.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I can also say that I don't agree with several of the beefs that he has in that rant. He is painting way too much doom and gloom to the situation up there. Lake Erie is still considered one of the greatest walleye fishery DESPITE the efforts from all of the fishermen and snaggers to rid the world of them. The commercial fishermen have far more impact on the fishery than some snaggers who are taking their 3 fish limit. I am in no way condoning the keeping of snagged fish. But this has been going on for many years and up until recently they were able to legally keep more than 3 fish. And depite that the population continues to flourish. The largest reason for that is as was mentioned earlier. The large majority of the spawning walleye do not do so in the river systems but rather on the reefs.

As far as the smallmouth population situation goes, there again is a fishery that is far from being eliminated. Is it where it once was? Most would say no but here again the DNR has taken steps to address the situation. Having nobody keeping the fish during the spawn will serve as a deterrent to some of the fishermen, not all but perhaps enough to make a difference.

Then he goes off on the crappie population being raped. I personally know of several lakes in the state that are excellent crappie lakes and they are not protected by stringent catch limits in many cases. A healthy crappie population will yield large numbers of fish so large harvests is not always bad for the fishery.

So in short I guess my biggest problem with his rant is that the sky is not falling. Yes everyone is entitled to their own opinion just not always anywhere that they wish to express it.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

I remember reading an article a few years back that estimated only 5% of Erie walleyes spawn in the rivers.

You made alot of good points bkr so I have nothing to add.


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## fish4wall (Apr 14, 2004)

ive held my mouth long enough....
ive been fishing the run for years...some good some bad.
and the steps the dnr is taking are right on.....
im in westerville ohio just north of columbus and i make the drive up every year with a group of my buddies.
the one thing that the dnr is doing that i dont like is the bag limit...
we should go back to a 4 fish limit during the run.
but i would have to say the run is getting better and better every year that the dnr has put there thumb down.i know im talking out of both sides of my mouth but that how i am  
Gary has the right just like we all do to voice our options but i dont think its as bad as he said it is. like i said the run gets better and better every year and i think its because of the awareness of the dnr and the guys and gals fishing the run. now you do have the snagers and with the fine being $80 a fish its a matter of time before they will get "snagged" and lord help them when they get home. i know my wife would burn all my stuff and then as i watch it go up she would kill me.  
but i really think the snager are not as many as when i started going up...
i think johnny law has got a handle on it.plus if the laws not out that day the guys ive fished around are always looking for someone to slip and we all say something.
plus the walleye have hit alot better than they have...when i started going up there would be times when i would come home with no fish...now ive snaged a ton that day but they all went back in the river...but now with different baits(Carolina rigs) the fish take the bait in...so theres no reason to keep snaged fish.
just my 2$
thanks
fish4wall


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## nitro882 (Apr 13, 2004)

I for one am here to pat Gary & Janice Lowry on the back ! They have made allot of people stop and think... I'm proud to call them friends of mine ! People from all over call 
and ask for information and they give it to everyone,I fish lake erie allot more than most of the people on this board and I'll agree with gary the fishing is getting worse than what it was years ago. People catch 10/15 Bass and they think its the best....30/40 bass was the norm.when I started...How can we change this ? instead of bashing anyone,lets work together...I know Gary has made some changes to some of his tournaments.Walleye Tournament April 17th (run is over) Jacks Only!!!! As for the big walleyes on his board,Everyone has a right to fish/catch female walleyes.Just think about the guy who only takes the big walleye and leaves the jacks.
Nitro882


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

I dont think theres any doubt to the kind of stand up guy Gary is.Its just its not as bad as he made it seem.No one is bashing him just offering up there side of the issue.The clarity needs to be made between the smallie's and Eye's and not thrown into one subject.This thread has evolved nicely with honest and open critism and not turn into a flaming war.I applaud everyone for keeping a cool head.


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## nitro882 (Apr 13, 2004)

ostbuck98
I don't target walleyes and never will,However I fish lake erie and fishing in a whole is going down hill.If you talk to walleye fishermen over by the toledo water intake the walleyes ar all gone...Nets/charters I don't know?I was just talking to a fisherman the other day and he is done running 50/60 miles for some walleye.He's not putting his boat in this year.The same can be said for the Bass..Is it the tournaments/Nets/Charters...We all need to keep an eye on this or my kids wont be able to fish/enjoy lake erie.I've read stuff like (incomeptent fishermen/snaggers)That must have struck a nerve,cause that was malicious,the text it was used in was wrong.
people lets work together on this ?
nitro882


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## Alwsfishin (Apr 5, 2004)

The hell with snagging.........how about all the hundreds thousands probably millions of eggs that are disgarded every year.....as I've said in the past....these are not only fish that will be caught in years to come....they're forage for the fish trying to be your trophy....close the season during spawn for 5 years and see what happens.
Just my opinion......


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

It has been closed in other states before and study's showed it helped nothing.


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## josh617 (Jan 28, 2005)

lake erie as a fishery is entirely changing the fish are going to be located father away not because of lower numbers, it has to do with the increased light penetration that will cause the fish to move deeper(from the introduction of zebra mussels) as well water temp. and if fishing during the spawn hurts the numbers than how come everyone ice fishing are catching 30 "throw backers" everytime out. the weather conditions in the spring have more to do with a successful spawn than the amount of anglers. i m not saying that this happening is a good thing but we really cant do anything about it. except trying to stop zebra mussels to other lakes.


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## skohio (Mar 5, 2005)

Hi. I'm new here and I just stumbled on this site. I just had to register to also give some support to Gary. 

If you aren't one of the people that he is ranting about then let it go. He just wants what is best for all the fisherman in the long run. We all know people who would take 40 eye's a day if they could.


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## WLB (Apr 6, 2004)

The lake has always had it's ups and downs and it is
constantly changing.
I've fished the western basin for many years and last
year was my best smallie year ever as far as numbers.
There's still a bunch of walleye out there and we are
just waiting for the near record hatch to grow up.
The only difference I've seen in the last few years now 
that the big hatches of the 80's are fished down is
you have to know how to fish and you have to know
how to fish big water, you can't just follow the pack or
the charter boats anymore, you have to be able to find
your own.
bkr43050 said it all.
That's just my .02


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

> the weather conditions in the spring have more to do with a successful spawn than the amount of anglers


Anyone who would not agree with that statement knows nothing about walleye spawning habits and you can add smallmouth to that equation too...
I looked hard but can't find the study that said only about 10% of the walleye that spawn in the western basin spawn up the river the rest spawn on the reefs.
As for smallmouth I watched just this past year a smallmouth chase gobie after gobie away from the nest and it was non-stop... I felt a twinge in my heart for that smallie...
If you want to help Lake Erie as a fishery then contact your state senator,the ODNR and anyone else you can think of and have them, along with other states, have inspectors board freighters and have them make sure that their ballast water has been dumped before entering our water ways... 
Invasive species will doom the great lakes more then all others combined...

my couple Lincolns


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