Walleye Egg Collection Completed
Walleye egg collection efforts for this year’s production of walleyes for stocking in Nebraska waters wrapped up on April 14, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Bailee Sanford and Her Walleye Catch
LINCOLN, Neb.-(FishNLand.com)- Walleye egg collection efforts for this year’s production of walleyes for stocking in Nebraska waters wrapped up on April 14, according to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Supplying all the eggs collected this year were Merritt and Sherman reservoirs, as well as Lake McConaughy.
Merritt Reservoir contributed 448 quarts of walleye eggs, while Sherman produced 85 and Lake McConaughy 63. A total of 596 quarts of eggs were collected. Walleye eggs were collected from several reservoirs in order to collect the maximum amount of eggs with the least effort.
Commission Fisheries Division staff netted seven nights at Merritt, five nights at Sherman and one night at Lake McConaughy. Netting efforts at McConaughy were very successful, with 144 females netted during the one night, of which 60 were ready to release eggs. The following morning, Nebraska Fish Hatchery staff collected the eggs from the ripe females, which resulted in 63 quarts of eggs.
Commission staff appreciates the cooperation and support shown by anglers. The collection of walleye eggs from Nebraska reservoirs is important to the statewide management of walleyes. Many reservoirs in Nebraska have limited or no natural recruitment of walleyes, so stocking is an important management tool for maintaining fishable populations. This year’s walleye stocking requests for Nebraska waters total 28,174,000 fry and 2,126,345 fingerlings.
Walleye eggs take 10 to 14 days to hatch. Fry are stocked shortly after hatching and those stockings already have started and will be completed over the next couple of weeks. Fingerling walleyes are raised in hatchery ponds for approximately 40 days until stocking, which will occur in late May through early June.
Filed under: Conservation News, Fish and Game, Fishing Media by FishNLand
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LINCOLN, Neb. –(FishNLand.com)- Any adult interested in becoming a youth fishing instructor may attend a training workshop June 23 at the Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium near Gretna, according to Andrea Faas, outdoor education specialist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
