By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks' application period for certain resident big-game hunts passed on June 14. With the draw on who will receive those permits coming up on June 24, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Manager Jason Wagner has one small tip for all applicants: make sure the credit card number with the application is correct, or that there's enough money in the bank to cover applicable fees.
"If it's a $100 tag, you want to make sure there's at least $100 in your bank account," he said. "What happened with a lot of non-residents, even though they had the preference points and they should have drawn, they didn't draw because they didn't have money in the account to draw that tag when that draw took place."
Wagner also provided a tip for those who enjoy fishing: stay up to date on regulations at your local lake. In 2023, the length limit for a saugeye - a hybrid walleye and sauger fish - at Veterans Lake in Great Bend was 15 inches. That was bumped to 21 inches for 2024. Wagner said biologists could be trying to protect saugeye numbers locally, or allow them to grow larger to control other species.
"They're trying to plan these regulations well in advance because they see a problem or an issue that could be up and coming down the line," he said. "They net fish every fall. They do a sampling throughout the summer, too, and try to determine what's the best strategy to manage individual lakes."
Saugeye have been stocked in reservoirs where walleye populations have proven difficult to maintain. Saugeye have physical characteristics similar to both parents but grow faster than either species and typically remain smaller than walleye.