FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 30, 2004
CONTACT: Jim Riis, 223-7700

PIERRE, S.D. -- Game, Fish and Parks officials are reminding anglers that walleye minimum size limits on Lakes Sharpe, Francis Case and the Missouri River below Fort Randall Dam downstream to the South Dakota/Nebraska border end June 30, and will not become effective again until Sept. 1. Additionally, anglers need to remember that the regulation of one walleye of 18 inches or longer is still in effect on these waters during July and August.

Missouri River Fisheries Administrator Jim Riis said one reason the size limits are removed during July and August on lakes Sharpe and Francis Case is to allow some harvest of smaller walleyes.

"Removing the minimum length limit during July and August allows anglers to harvest a few walleye on each fishing trip, during a time when fishing pressure and walleye catches are generally not high enough to substantially reduce the abundance of walleye in a lake," Riis said. "Walleye longer than the minimum length limit are most common in angler catches during the spring and fall, and most anglers have the potential to harvest a few fish on each fishing trip during these periods of the year." Riis added that during most years, few walleye longer than15-inches are caught during July and August on Lakes Sharpe and Francis Case, meaning if the minimum length limit were not removed, anglers would rarely have the opportunity to keep walleye on a fishing trip.

"While maintaining the quality of a fishery is important, it is also important that people have an opportunity to harvest fish during a day of fishing," Riis explained.

People often ask why the minimum length limit is not also removed for June.

"Fishing pressure and walleye catch and harvest usually peak during late-May and June on Lakes Sharpe and Francis Case," Riis said. "If the minimum length limit were not in place during these months, anglers would have the ability to quickly harvest more walleye than these lakes could sustain on an annual basis. The minimum length limit acts as a safeguard on the walleye population during a time of the year when harvest can be excessive."

The daily walleye limit on these reservoirs is three with a possession limit of eight.Anglers targeting Lake Oahe will not find any changes after June, because every fish from their six-fish limit can be shorter than 15 inches. However, an angler may only

have four fish 15-inches-or-longer, and of those four, no more than one may be 20 inches or longer. The six-walleye daily limit is only applicable to Lake Oahe. The possession limit on Lake Oahe is 18, taken in accordance with the daily limit.

-30-