MIBowhunter
03-31-2004, 08:42 AM
Saginaw Bay walleye catches no fish story
DNR says anglers are reporting record figures
March 29, 2004
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAGINAW -- There's something fishy going on in the Saginaw Bay area, and it has state Department of Natural Resources officials and anglers elated.
DNR officials said they are witnessing a record catch of young walleye in the bay.
"We did a lot of rubbing our eyes," said Jim Baker, a fisheries unit supervisor, in the Saginaw News recently. "This is the first time we've seen substantial natural reproduction."
Officials netted an average of 41 young walleye during their September trawls of the bay, nearly five times more than the record set in 1998. Additionally, 72 percent of those fish hatched naturally, up from 20 percent in recent years.
Sport fishermen who fish along the Tittabawassee River welcomed the news.
"For the last year and a half, there's been nothing but doom and gloom about this river," said Rick Hayes, a Freeland Lion's Club member and organizer of the Freeland Walleye Festival. "This is one of the best success stories the Michigan fisheries have had."
But Baker said the fish won't grow in time for this year's festival, a Freeland fishing contest that leaves the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers awash with anglers during the last weekend of April.
Baker said while they may reach legal size by 2005, they probably won't be spawning in the river until 2007.
State officials also say the catch does not signal a total recovery in the walleye population.
"We're not declaring it recovered yet," said David G. Fielder, a fisheries research biologist. "But it's a huge step forward."
The state planted more than 1.8 million walleye in the Saginaw Bay last year, but officials say the recent population surge is linked to natural reproduction.
Samplers reported that only 28 percent of the fish carried oxytetracycline, a chemical marker that distinguishes them from wild fish.
Baker said the surge in natural reproduction is linked to a moderate spring and a cold winter that killed many of the forage fish, such as alewives, that feed on walleye eggs and hatchlings.
DNR says anglers are reporting record figures
March 29, 2004
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAGINAW -- There's something fishy going on in the Saginaw Bay area, and it has state Department of Natural Resources officials and anglers elated.
DNR officials said they are witnessing a record catch of young walleye in the bay.
"We did a lot of rubbing our eyes," said Jim Baker, a fisheries unit supervisor, in the Saginaw News recently. "This is the first time we've seen substantial natural reproduction."
Officials netted an average of 41 young walleye during their September trawls of the bay, nearly five times more than the record set in 1998. Additionally, 72 percent of those fish hatched naturally, up from 20 percent in recent years.
Sport fishermen who fish along the Tittabawassee River welcomed the news.
"For the last year and a half, there's been nothing but doom and gloom about this river," said Rick Hayes, a Freeland Lion's Club member and organizer of the Freeland Walleye Festival. "This is one of the best success stories the Michigan fisheries have had."
But Baker said the fish won't grow in time for this year's festival, a Freeland fishing contest that leaves the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers awash with anglers during the last weekend of April.
Baker said while they may reach legal size by 2005, they probably won't be spawning in the river until 2007.
State officials also say the catch does not signal a total recovery in the walleye population.
"We're not declaring it recovered yet," said David G. Fielder, a fisheries research biologist. "But it's a huge step forward."
The state planted more than 1.8 million walleye in the Saginaw Bay last year, but officials say the recent population surge is linked to natural reproduction.
Samplers reported that only 28 percent of the fish carried oxytetracycline, a chemical marker that distinguishes them from wild fish.
Baker said the surge in natural reproduction is linked to a moderate spring and a cold winter that killed many of the forage fish, such as alewives, that feed on walleye eggs and hatchlings.