2008 Walleye Stocking Nearly Completed

Ron Selden

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July 22, 2008 Annual Walleye Stocking Winding Down Across Region 6  

 

GLASGOW, Mont. – Fisheries crews have planted about 15.5 million walleye fry and some 2 million fingerlings in Fort Peck Reservoir this season.

According to FWP biologist Health Headley, those numbers represent an average year of walleye stocking.

  That’s fortunate, because a cold and stormy spring led to less-than-ideal conditions when walleye eggs were collected from the reservoir earlier this year. Instead of the typical take of 80 million eggs, only about 48 million eggs were gathered for incubation and rearing at the state-run Fort Peck Fish Hatchery.

  Natural reproduction of walleye is minimal in Fort Peck Reservoir because of a lack of preferred spawning habitat. As such, walleye populations must be supplemented through annual stocking.

  Matt Baxter, a fisheries technician at the hatchery, said other 2008 walleye plants in Region 6 included:  

·         Nelson Reservoir near Malta; 110,000 fingerlings

·         Lake Frances near Valier; 100,000 fingerlings  

·         Fresno Reservoir near Havre; 100,000 fingerlings

·         Cow Creek; 5,000 fingerlings

·         Box Elder Reservoir near Plentywood; 4,000 fingerlings

  Baxter said the last walleye stocking of the season will take place at Beaver Creek Reservoir south of Havre, where a batch of jumbo, 4-inch fingerlings will soon be released.