This summers issue marks the eighth anniversary  of Lake Erie Walleye Magazine. For those of you that recall the very first issue published in the summer of 1995, the magazine has progressed and evolved (hopefully, for the good) over the years. Our readership renewal rate of over 45% is one of the highest in the printing industry. We continue to receive emails and phone messages from folks that are just now finding out about the magazine and wondering why they haven’t seen it in the past. Lake Erie Walleye Magazine over the past several years has been a ‘best kept’ secret among many fishermen.

Why are we doing this? Simply, we would like to give more fishermen the opportunity to read and enjoy Lake Erie Walleye Magazine. We will continue to offer subscriptions for those wanting the convenience of having the magazine personally delivered (courtesy of the US Postal Service) to their homes and places of business and for those who want to continue enjoying reading the current and past issues via the special "ONLINE EDITION", available only for paid subscribers at www.walleye.com .

There are some more changes in store for the magazine. Starting with this issue we include two new sections; "Dockage for Lake Erie Fishermen" and "Lodging for Lake Erie Fishermen" . Previously, this information was readily available on our web site at walleye.com but we decided to list a limited number of Marinas and Lodgings in the print magazine. These listings will be limited to those folks that are "Fishermen Friendly" to the nth degree!

Finally, we welcome Rick Olson and Norb Wallock to Lake Erie Walleye Magazine. Rick and Norb, both proven walleye tournament fishing professionals will be sharing their knowledge of walleye fishing on ‘big water’ to our readership. Welcome aboard Rick and Norb!

This past spring fishing was fantastic at times, when the weather cooperated. Included in this great fishing was the record breaking performance of the Professional Walleye Trail contestants this past April on Erie’s western basin waters. The three hundred fishermen landed a total of 1,794 walleyes weighing approximately 7 tons. The winner, Pro Tommy Skarlis set a new record of 3 days, 15 walleyes and 138.28 pounds. Pro, Ted Takasaki broke the single day record of six fish, 50.40 pounds. There were 346 walleyes that exceeded 10 pounds. The previous record was 35 fish in excess of 10 pounds.

The tournament did generate some controversy with the large numbers of large female walleyes taken during the spawning season. The INTERNET chat sites and discussion boards were riddled with views on this from all sides. What do I think? The image of 1,794 fish and 7 tons of mostly large female walleyes taken out of Lake Erie during the spawning season is disturbing. However, from a biological perspective, the number of walleyes taken during this tournament in terms of its future impact on the Lake Erie walleye population was in fact minimal.

Could the tournament have been held later in the spring, after the spawn? Certainly. I’m sure good arguments could be made to host a tournament at many different times of the year. Here is an idea, that I’m sure is not original. Why not harvest the eggs from the females taken during large tournaments held during the spawn season and contribute them to Fish Hatcheries! Sure, there are logistical concerns here, but it could work.

Tight lines this summer!!