Pike River Hatchery

[Cliff Wagenbach]

10% of all of the fry hatched are returned to Vermilion each year.

The DNR claims that the percentage returned to the lake has a much better survival rate then if all of the eggs were allowed to hatch from a natural spawn. ????

Cliff

[CigarGuy]

That sounds good, but you sound sceptical!

[trolloni]

Thanks for the info Cliff.Did they say how many eggs are in a quart? i thought they said it was around 160,000 - 200,000 ?, i still question why dont they all go back in Vermillion?Who decides how to use theese fry? Who pays for the dnr to do this? They also have been telling us for years that they are doing the spawn better than the lake can on its own,who says? ,where did the fish come from before the the hatchery then?Lotsa questions that still go on unanswered after all this time to!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Hard to really say if a natural hatch or an assisted hatch has a better survival rate. I would bet that some years one or the other are better. Survival all depends on how warm the water gets in the spring and how long the water stays warm.

Forgot to ask them how many eggs were in a quart!

I believe that I read that there are about 10,000 eggs in a 10# walleye though!

The old timers say that there was a lot better fishing in the "old days" but there were also a lot less fishermen catching them back then too!

I believe that the lake is just as healthy as it was when I started fishing it and that was back in 1957!

I have seen a lot worse years then we have right now.

Cliff

[Sota2Florida]

I believe Minnesota has a few hatcheries around the state that provide fry and fingerling to each region. Vermilion is a big lake and not all walleye spawn in the pike river or East basin. A lot of natural reproduction has to take place each year if you consider the amount of walleyes in the lake. (even in these "bad?" years) The 10% number sounds logical to me when you consider all the weather variables etc.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/minnaqua/fisheries_management_tour/pike_river.html

[gunner55]

We have a place near the Cutfoot hatchery & it's reported that they return roughly 50% of what they get to the lake.I've also heard that the fish that go there to spawn are the least succesful of any on the lake.I know of another in the Pine River/Brainerd area also.

[Kyhl]

This week's Outdoor News has an article on the milking and hatcheries. I skimmed it, going from memory, they have eight locations where they harvest eggs and nine hatcheries around the state.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The walleyes that spawn in the Pike River are reported to be only around 8% of the walleyes that spawn in Vermilion.

Cliff