2008 Special Walleye Licence
Last Update/Review: March 19, 2008
Following a highly successful two-year pilot program and positive support from anglers and stakeholders, the Special Walleye Licence has been approved as a permanent management tool for Alberta’s fisheries.
In the 2008 fishing season, Special Walleye Licences will again be available for Wolf Lake (near Bonnyville), Pigeon Lake and Newell Lake. Over 10,400 licences, representing over 28,400 walleye tags will be made available for the 2008 angling season on these three lakes (See Information Bulletin).
For more details and more information please see 2008 Special Walleye Licence Draws Pamphlet and Frequently Asked Questions.
For the 2008 fishing season, the Special Walleye Licence will again be available for Wolf Lake (near Bonnyville), Pigeon Lake and Newell Lake. The licence is available through a draw system similar to the hunting draws process, and tags issued with each licence must be affixed to walleye the angler chooses to keep. The Special Walleye Licence was developed as a fisheries management tool that enables the Department to carefully manage the number and sizes of walleye being harvested.This innovative licence allows anglers to harvest walleye from specified lakes with developing or recovering walleye populations.
Number of Licences (and associated tags) available for 2008:
| Lakes with Special Walleye Licence in 2008 | Class A Draw Code 60 Large (>50 cm) |
Class B Draw Code 61 Medium (43-50cm) |
Class C Draw Code 62 Small (<43 cm) |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pigeon Lake: | ||||
Number of Licences Available |
1035 | 1411 | 4683 | 7129 |
Number of Tags Available |
2070 | 4233 | 14049 | 20352 |
| Lake Newell: | ||||
Number of Licences Available |
1747 | 618 | 0 | 2365 |
Number of Tags Available |
3494 | 1854 | 0 | 5348 |
| Wolf Lake: | ||||
Number of Licences Available |
75 | 0 | 855 | 930 |
Number of Tags Available |
150 | 0 | 2565 | 2715 |
| TOTAL: | ||||
Number of Licences Available |
2857 | 2029 | 5538 | 10424 |
Number of Tags Available |
5714 | 6087 | 16614 | 28415 |
Highlights of the 2008 Special Walleye Licence:
- Draw Application Period is Thursday, March 20 to Thursday, April 10, 2008
- Draw applications can be purchased at licence issuers or on the draw line at 1-900-451-3729 ($3.25 for first minute and $1.15 for each additional minute)
- Undersubscribed Licences will be available for reservation on a first-come, first-served basis from May 2 (08:15a.m.) to May 26 (Midnight) and again from September 3 (08:15a.m.) to December 19 (Midnight) by calling 1-900-451-3729 ($1.25/minute)
- Walleye Harvest Seasons have been extended to allow use of the Special Walleye Licence tags for the open angling season on the three lakes:
- Pigeon Lake – May 16, 2008 to March 31, 2009
- Wolf Lake – June 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009
- Lake Newell – May 8, 2008 to March 15, 2009
- Only Alberta Residents can apply for and hold a Special Walleye Licence
- The cost of the Special Walleye Licence is $10.50 (GST not included)
- The number of walleye tags issued per licence is 2 large, 3 medium or 3 small fish.
- The 2008 Special Walleye Licence Draws Pamphlet is available at most licence vendors
Additional details of the Special Walleye Licence:
- An angler can apply for a licence for each of the three size classes of walleye.
- The applicant can specify up to three water body preferences on each licence draw application (within each draw, state 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for the lakes from the three choices in the pilot program).
- Tags will be drawn in order of larger to smaller fish size category licences.
- Once successfully drawn, the angler's name will be removed from successive draws.
- Normal licence restrictions apply regarding licence combinations and eligibility. For example, if you were already drawn in one of the Special Walleye Licence draws, you cannot obtain another licence through the undersubscribed process. An angler may hold only one Special Fish Harvest Licence for walleye per year.
- The lake, species, size limit, bag limit, and/or open season will be printed on the Special Walleye Licence tag.
- For information about tagging your walleye, please see the tagging instructions poster.
Need Help?
Call the information line (toll free) at 1-877-289-0999 (9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday to Friday)
