![]() He began taking folks fishing just when things got really good. Mel Fenger has been a charter captain on the lake’s Western Basin for more than three decades and has seen the ups-and-downs in walleye populations. Long-time charter captains have seen it all Those fish are termed young-of-year, and they’re the ones counted annually when they get scooped up in the scientific sampling. What fisheries managers are really counting and calculating through trawls is the number of walleye that survived the spring and summer and made it to the lake. That’s because the number of walleye that hatch could never be counted, since they’re too tiny to be counted. While the term “hatch” is applied regularly to trawl survey results, it may not be exactly accurate, Hartman said. The one trend that has caught biologists’ attention is that colder winters, especially those with significant ice coverage in the Western Basin, seem to help the hatch. In 20, the trawl netted virtually no new walleye. While anglers in general weren’t necessarily happy, they knew it was for the best.ĭuring some years the hatch has been virtually non-existent. And they cut the limit even further during the spring spawning period, to just four fish per day. ![]() It was then Ohio Division of Wildlife managers decided to cut the daily limit, per angler, to six fish. James Proffitt reels in a walleye, Lake Erie’s most popular game fish, Photo via James Proffitt “Things were looking pretty bleak at the time.” “It was definitely reflective of the population,” Hartman said. But biologists then realized the given walleye population couldn’t support such creel limits. Prior to 2001, the limit had been 10 fish per angler per day, all year long. Those levels, he said, have only been tweaked minimally in recent decades. The only control fisheries managers have over walleye populations, Hartman said, is harvest limits. No one has much control over zooplankton or walleye in Lake Erie’s roughly 10,000 square miles. Can wildlife managers influence the walleye population? “But they need food and need it where they are right away.” If the zooplankton aren’t there, the tiny fish are doomed. Right after they hatch from the sacs,” Hartman said. “They need zooplankton (microscopic organisms) to eat and to survive. ![]() After just a little more than a week when they are self-feeding, still inside tiny yolk sacs, they bust out. Once eggs are fertilized and larval walleye develop on their spawning beds they’ve only a short window to make it or die, Hartman explained. Walleye tend to return to the sites where they were hatched to spawn. But the majority of Lake Erie walleye actually end up spawning on shallow reefs and nearshore waters in the lake proper, where males follow quickly behind egg-spreading females, eager to spread their love, too. Gravelly, sandy or rocky bottoms are ideal sites for females to broadcast eggs – up to 400,000. Little girls get in on the Maumee River walleye fun, Photo by James Proffitt They often spawn in shallower waters, such as bays and rivers like the Sandusky and Maumee. Walleye spawn when water temperatures rise above 40 degrees, usually in late March or early April. But word on the street – or rather, on the water – is that when combined, the numbers will definitely surpass the 2003 record. The combined figures will likely be finalized in late February or early March. While the Ohio Division of Wildlife has released its survey results, officials with their northern counterparts haven’t yet publicly released their trawl surveys. But the 2018 hatch? The bar graph could be enough to make any angler (or fisheries biologist) swoon. The next year’s 2016 hatch was mediocre, but then 2017’s walleye hatch was pretty good. And while the 2015 hatch was huge, it didn’t approach 2003 numbers. Thousands of anglers migrate to the Maumee and Sandusky rivers for the annual spawn, Photo by James Proffittįor better than a decade, the 2003 walleye hatch has been the legendary hallmark. Collection 4 – Lesson Plans from Our Monthly PBS Program.Collection 3 – Virtual Field Trips in the Great Lakes.Collection 2 – Threats to the Great Lakes.Collection 1 – An Exploration of the Great Lakes.Beneath the Surface: The Line 5 Pipeline in the Great Lakes.Poisonous Ponds: Tackling Toxic Coal Ash.Politics, Policy, Environmental Justice.The Catch: News about the Lakes You Love.Ask the Great Lakes Now Team Your PFAS Question.Ask Your Question About the Great Lakes.
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