walleye rant

[kygorski]

Where is the money going to come from?This isn't being sarcastic, the states are strapped for money now.Even a walleye stamp wouldn't help.When I lived up north, a small lake was stocked with walleye, there was a small chance they would reproduce, these fish were bought by sportsmen who cared, of course at that time employment was very high, money wasn't a problem, the drive lasted two years, and it worked. Then the catch and eat guys came.

[birdstrike]

I think SSKY was referring to stocking one fish over another. May be no real cost increase in that. If it was shown that the Southern Walleye could successfully reproduce in the Cumberland, at least as well as the Erie fish, I say he's right. It should be the fish to stock. If it's just a put and take thing, why bother. I would rather see numbers of good fish that a few trophies.

[MASBASS]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-31-06 AT 04:47PM (EST)[/font][p]I am not positive about this, it was what I was told by a member of the DNR fisheries dept one and a half years ago. There are two strains of walleye they can purchase to stock in the lakes. The use to stock one strain then several years ago they switched to the other strain because of the cost difference. The second strain did not do well so now we have less keeper size fish. He told me that they had secured the money to start stocking the better strain this past stocking season. I was told once that the cost difference was 2:1 One of the strains was the Erie strain do not remember the other. Wizard can you help on this I know you have spoken to them several times about this. The reason they switched was a large cost difference I do know that.

[JoeB]

It had nothing to do with cost, it had to do with viability of the fish.

[SSKY]

No offense Joe B but I don't think the viabilty of the native fish to this river drainage was the issue. The walleyes in the lake 20 years after impoundment that were caught would dispute that notion, and the spawning ideal would be compared to the stripers,they don't. As to if native walleye could spawn in the lake,there are still sauger in the lake as of today and the state record sauger was caught in 1983 at the lower end of the lake and you can catch them as of today, and the strain from here is still claimed to be in the drainage of the lake. I know it is a money issue, but in the long run I cannot see how it is not better to stock the native strain fish that evolved here and adapted to the conditions that are here.

[JoeB]

SSKY, I know this is a hot button issue with you and I'm not trying to start an argument, but the conditions that the native walleye adapted to no longer exist. They adapted to a river environment that no longer exists and did extremely poorly after the lake was impounded. Yes, Sauger exist in the lake, and there are some big ones. In the early 80s, I caught one at the mouth of Harmon that weighed 7 lbs. But, existing and flourishing are different things. I don't think anybody would describe the Cland sauger fishery today as good. It can only be described as remnant. I would hate to think that I had to catch one on any given day. However, before impoundment, I'm sure the sauger fishery was quite good. Like the native walleye, they didn't adapt well to the lake environment. Today though, I think the debate is moot. The erie walleye is here and even if native fish were restocked, they would surely hybridize with the erie fish. Given the erie strain's lake environment adaptability, I would expect their genetic make up would completely over shadow that of the native fish after a few generations. As you know, there is still a population of native fish in the Rockcastle, and natives were stocked in Woods Ck lake a few years ago on an experimental basis. Woods Ck has no erie strain fish to compete with them so we'll see in a few years if they grow to the giant proportions that our grandfathers caught from the Cumberland River. I hope they do.

[JoeB]

PS I still maintain that money was never the issue in deciding to stock the erie walleye. Walleye (any strain) are very inexpensive to raise as long as there is an egg source.

[SSKY]

Joe B I agree with your opinion and I also see that the striper population flourishes without stocking. It is amazing to watch them swim up from La. up the river and jump the dam then rest in our lake. Again just joking, no offense. Question for you, the erie strain makes its way all the way up the southfork up to the shoals in the winter all the way to Tenn. If the fish can hybridize I see no way that the same scenario could not have happened in the Rockcastle river.If not then there would be a easy egg pool to get and then stock only those in the lake as stocking seems to be necessary anyway. I understand the genetic dilution but I thought an F1 hybrid bass in texas with florida strain and local fish was a good thing?

[JoeB]

The difference is that without stocking, stripers would be completely gone from Cland in a few years, walleye would not as they do spawn successfully and the stockings are supplimental. What would a walleye hybrid do?? I don't know. Maybe a good thing, but I don't know. The geneticists say that the rockcastle fish is an isolated population and that the strain is pure. I'll have to take their word for it. However, I would describe that egg source as anything but "easy".

[SSKY]

thanks for your input Joe B. I really would like this discussion to continue and be civil even if I can't keep my smartO comments to myself. The stripers, there are a plenty, What does it cost each year to get them to stock? and what is their "source"?

[JoeB]

I am not sure, but I think I recall that the striper eggs come from South Carolina. I wouldn't swear to that in court though. I can't give you a dollar amount on what the hatchery costs are, but it's not a huge amount of money. Striper stockings this coming year will be bumped up to 7 fish per acre, and it has nothing to do with cost, but increased pressure on the fishery. Walleye will remain at 4 or 5 fish per acre, plus natural reproduction.

[SSKY]

With the walleye that are collected on the lake, How many does it take to get eggs to support the hatchery? And, What is the cost to bring them to the point of stocking? And how would that compare to the price of stocking stripers? Just curious?