Walleye being studied in Tobin Lake. (Facebook/Saskatchewan Premier's Walleye Cup)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Fish Concerns

Anglers concerned with fish population in river around Nipawin

Aug 11, 2022 | 12:53 PM

It’s a mystery stumping many anglers: where are all the big fish in the North Saskatchewan river around Nipawin?

The Premier’s Cup was held this past weekend and while lots of walleye were caught, the size of nearly all of them was underwhelming.

Glen Boehme, who came in sixth during the tournament, told northeastNOW it was tough to see what the stretch of river he’s fished for years has turned into.

“It’s gotten to the point where it’s bad, I don’t even call it a fishery anymore.”

The confusing part is Tobin Lake continues to see strong numbers: population and size wise.

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So why aren’t they traveling to the river? Asking 10 different anglers, people will most likely get 10 different answers, however, one issue that many seem to share is a lack of bait fish.

In years past, one of the challenges of fishing in the area was trying to avoid suckers. Now, they’re as rare as big walleye in the river.

“You don’t even see them, or catch them, or mark them anymore which is very strange,” added Boehme.

Fellow angler, Tim Geni, believes there’s probably an environmental issue causing the low bait fish numbers. This could be anything from past oil spills to previous floods.

Another reason he thinks may be playing a part is the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People are getting out, enjoying the outdoors,” Geni said tying in the possibility of the area being overfished.

Bob Kirkpatrick has been fishing in the Nipawin area for decades. Back in 1994, he wrote an article for the Nipawin Journal where he expressed the need for measures to protect the fish population.

Nipawin Journal article from 1994. (Submitted image/Bob Kirkpatrick)

Whether the article played a part or not, the province soon after implemented several rules for the area which included reducing the possession limit, prohibiting barbed hooks, and introducing a protected measure that forced anglers to put fish immediately back into the water if they were a specific size. The protected size rule has changed over the years but currently, any fish between 55 cm and 86 cm must be returned immediately.

Kirkpatrick explained that these were good steps, but clearly, they didn’t fix the issue.

“We’re not seeing many fish that are over the 10-, 11-, 12-pound mark whereas 15 years ago there were 13-, 14-, 15-pound fish caught every year.”

Without knowing what’s causing the issue, it’s impossible to pinpoint one exact solution.

Some believe the area should be protected from all fishing for years, some want to see the province re-introduce different bait fish back into the area, while some think the already implemented rules need to be expanded.

One thing is for sure, anglers want the province to figure out what exactly is going on.

“It will really be nice to see the biologist go in, do some testing in Tobin Lake to see what the situation is like,” added Kirkpatrick.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment is aware of the concerns.

Mark Duffy, fisheries management specialist, noted Tobin Lake and the surrounding river were last accessed back in 2018.

“We had no concerns with the population and didn’t see the need for any management changes,” he said.

At this time, there’s no urgency to review the water as there have been very few issues raised by anglers over the years.

Right now, Duffy expects the area to be accessed again in roughly five to six years. However, those who do have concerns are asked to report them to the ministry.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow