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[#0000FF]There is an article on the DWR website about the walleye spawning program. [url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/wildlife-news/1833-spring-work-produces-more-walleye-for-willard-bay.html"]LINK TO ARTICLE
[/url]This is an interesting read. Points out that in addition to the sterile walleye fry being put into Red Fleet, there will also be fertile ones restocked into Willard, Deer Creek, Yuba and other Utah Waters.
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Great read Pat and its interesting that some will be stocked in Big Sandwash and Cutler reservoirs, in addition to what you already mentioned. I've never fished Big Sandwash but those farther North, will be happy to read about more eyes in Cutler.
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Thanks for the update on the DWR's walleye program. It is good to see them putting a lot of effort into cool and warm water species around the state. The wiper program has been a real success with more waters holding the hard fighting fish.[  ]
Big Sandwash Reservoir will be a perfect fit for walleye since it already has trout, bass, and perch. I wonder if they will have to stock sterile fish there or if they will be fertile fish.
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I would absolutely love to see them plant walleyes in cutler. Hopefully they would survive the channel cats preying on them.
I usually catch the odd one or two every year, so who knows, there may already be a lot more in there than I realized.
Mike
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[quote gofish435]Thanks for the update on the DWR's walleye program. It is good to see them putting a lot of effort into cool and warm water species around the state. The wiper program has been a real success with more waters holding the hard fighting fish.[ ]
Big Sandwash Reservoir will be a perfect fit for walleye since it already has trout, bass, and perch. I wonder if they will have to stock sterile fish there or if they will be fertile fish.[/quote]
[#0000FF] I think the article mentioned they would be the non-sterile walleyes. The main reason they plant only sterile ones in Red Fleet is to prevent fertile ones from migrating downstream into the Green. But there are already lots of them in there...so ???[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Walleyes are like icebergs. Only a fraction of the total amount ever shows. If you do catch the occasional walleye you can bet there are a lot more that you never see.
A good example is good old Utah Lake. It is full of walleyes but few of them are caught on purpose. The main exception is when they come in to spawn in the early spring. And then there are probably more caught by snagging than legally. The rest of the year they have so much to eat, and eat so infrequently, and often at night, that the average angler is never able to put anything suitable in front of them at the right time and place. More walleyes die of natural causes than are ever caught by fishermen...at least in Utah Lake.
I suspect that Cutler and the Bear River might also harbor a good population of well-fed walleyes that don't need to rely on angler feedings. Sometimes just blind luck to drag something in front of them that gets them to respond. But I have never been too vain to admit I'm lucky...or too proud to accept walleye charity.
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Anybody know the biggest walleye caught at Willard during the electroshocking process?
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[#0000FF]I will direct an inquiry to Chris Penne, to see if they have records.
I heard of one "unofficial" fat female "dorsal diner" caught at the inlet that was 28 inches. And there have been several credible reports of 25 inchers.
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[quote SBennett]Anybody know the biggest walleye caught at Willard during the electroshocking process?[/quote]
[#0000FF]Got this back from Chris Penne...plus the attached pic of some of the walleye fry.
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I think the largest walleye netted this year would have been about 26 inches. Many of the females we netted appeared to be about between 20 and 22". Those are just my personal observations as we did not collect any measurements this year since we were just trying to get the process of netting, collection, and spawning down. Given that we now have a much better idea of what we are up against, I plan on using the next spawning effort as an opportunity to collect some additional data on our walleye population. In particular, next year I plan on collecting data on the average length and age of spawning males and females. This will give us even better info regarding age and growth of walleye in Willard as well as some information about how old spawning fish are and which year classes are contributing the most to reproduction. All information which should be useful in the future.
Yes, I've got a few updates and fresh news: I believe the second batch of 100% triploid walleye went into Red Fleet last week. This was a smaller batch of around 200,000 fry. Willard also received its first stocking of diploid (fertile) fry this week. I believe the number of fry stocked in Willard was around 610,000. I requested 500,000 fry for Willard this year, so we already met our needs for Willard which is good. You may recall from my reports that the 500,000 stocked last year was enough to produce a pretty good year class of fish, so hopefully we'll see similar results again this year. See attached for a pic of the Willard fry during their chemical marking bath. The marking process and stocking went very well, with fish looking healthy the whole time. The fry stocked were five days post hatch. There is a smaller batch of around 200,000 diploid fry that may be available soon, and if all goes well, my plan is to mark and stock those fish too. Those fish will put us well over the number I requested for Willard, but I would like to see what happens with the extra fish for a few reasons: 1) the more fish we mark and stock, the better data we may get for the current marking study and, 2) right now our wiper numbers way up, and I think ultimately we would like to see the walleye and wiper numbers about equal, so I'm going try to use those extra fish to get the walleye numbers up and let our wiper numbers come down a bit by stocking fewer wipers this year. Balancing our numbers may be a difficult task as sometimes mother nature has something different in mind, but hopefully our effort is one that most anglers will appreciate. There's obviously going to be some people that want more walleye than wiper or the other way around, but we're faced with the difficult task of balancing the desires of a diverse group of anglers, so we're going to try and make most people happy.
Chris
[inline "WALLEYE FRY.jpg"]
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Pat, thank you for getting this information out to us.
Since Deer Creek is my love/hate lake when it comes to putting walleye in my boat, I am tickled pink with the news of a walleye stocking program there.
If I ever run in to Chris Penne and other DWR folks that help make this happen, I'm gonna give them a big hug.
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[#0000ff]Welcome.
I love knowing the details too, so I get my enjoys from reading it. And happy to be able to be a conduit from the source to the consumers.
Thanks to a nudge from DWR biologist Chris Crockett, of the Springville office, I have started a treatise on your fave pond...Deer Creek. Here's a PDF file of the intro section...with links to the Deer Creek brochure and some maps.
Will be detailing all the species, fishing areas, tackle and techniques, etc. Keeps me off the streets and out of trouble. But I'd druther be fishin'.
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DC is actually my 6th or 7th favorite Utah water to fish. I do love DC for a quickie though, especially on one of those nice summer nights during the work week when the wind drops right off.
I'll buy you a steak dinner if you can get DC to prohibit water sports again like they did in the 'good old days'.
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[#0000FF]I would buy myself a steak dinner...or better...if I was able to pull that off. I have always loved Deer Creek but I NEVER fish it until it cools enough in the fall to get rid of the power squadron.
Unbelievable. I have launched my tube before daybreak...just to have a little peace and quiet...only to have jet skis or water skiers using me as a racing pylon...doing donuts around me. I know a fellow tooner who was actually run over by a ski boat watching behind them and not in front.
By the way, you might want to go back and look at that attachment again. I added a page that I left off the first time. A lot more to come later.
I think I know at least one of your other favorite ponds. The "hungry" one?
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Yes, that one ranks in my top four.
Please weigh in on my 'Rainy day....' post.
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Sounds good, glad to hear of the stocking of walleye fry in willard.
One can only help but wonder how many make it to the 20-22" point with all the wipers in willard.
With all the weedy brush along the shorelines and the water level slowly coming up, there might be a substantial survival of the fry.
Pineview is only about 3-4 feet from full and all rivers coming into Pineview are flowing well. Should be even more water released into Willard soon when Pineview is full.
With a full or close to full Willard, there will be so much brush underwater it will make for good habitat for fish, as well as great structure/snags for fishermen,, [  ]
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[#0000FF]Good reasons for optimism about the immediate future for Willard.
On my trip last Wednesday I was pleasantly surprised to note the water level up about a foot in the two weeks since my previous visit earlier in the month. The lake is already higher than it got at any point last year...with lots of runoff still to come.
Not only will the increase in flooded cover provide more shelter for the baby walleyes. It will also help the crappies bring off a better spawn...and better survival for the fry.
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no fish in cutler stumpy mess don't waste your time
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