Willard Report Status and New Info

[TubeDude]

I got a followup email from Chris:

As an update,  I heard the final number on the walleye and it was 11,000 fingerlings that went in.  It may change on the stocking report, but our person stocking them said they looked like they were slightly over 3" long.

Good to know Pat, much better than what an inch or less fry would be and their survival odds are likely better at that size too. Seems like they use to tell us that the survival rate for fry was around 1%, does that sound about right to you or is it less than 1%?

I think the 1% number was for the "sac fry" plantings of wipers.  Those are just out of the egg and the natural mortality rate is much higher than for the 2-3 inchers they plant later.

Newly hatched walleyes grow rapidly and those recent plantings will probably survive well.  With higher water levels there is more flooded vegetation for them to use both for feeding and shelter.  Definitely a better addition to the lake than anything that might have ever come out of the "snagging channel".  All we can hope is that a goodly number of them survive the hungry mouths in Willard until the new crop of shad fills the food void.