This fall my favorite smallie stream had some large walleyes move into the area. After talking with other fisherman who had the same experience (non fly fisherman) we are questioning if this might hurt the smallie population in this small, shallow stream. I spoke with the DNR specialists and they say the smallie population shouldn't be hurt. They also encouraged me to harvest the walleyes but were very surprised when I told them that only walleyes 17 inches or bigger were being caught. Anyone out there gone through something like this?
I've had fisherman say it will hurt the smallie population and others say to enjoy the bonus of walleye on occasions.