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| Data is in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Walleye Hatch is SECOND BEST on record ONLY TO THE '96 YEAR CLASS!!!!!!!
As I expected the HIGH WATER (in conjunction with flow) at the right time is critical to the survival of our young! The cold temperature appears to have been the best part of the equation.
I will be reviewing over the hunting season and can elaborate more after I load the data into my spreadsheets!
Sauger data is still being analized at the lab.
Good Luck
Tyee |
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Location: Berlin | That is good to hear. I can't help but wonder if Chuck Norris had something to do with this. |
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | It's gonna be a looooooong Winter! LOL! |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | Chuck Norris fishes the illinois. He just looks at the water and they procreate. |
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Location: Appleton wi | Tyee thats great news. We are truelly blessed with the great fisherie we have here! Thanks for sharing |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Tyee, This is great news! It's great to hear that the walleye hatch is SECOND BEST , ONLY TO THE '96 YEAR CLASS.
Did the report talk about the perch or shad population? I was rereading an old In-Fish magazine where they talked about an occurrence like this. They mention the survival rates of those YOY (young of the year) walleye. The article stated that there is a distinct coralation between the survival of the walleye and the prey they need to eat. With these many mouths to feed, canabalism will occur unless there are enough prey fish around to eat.
If there is not enough bait fish, the YOY will be eaten by mom and dad. Too much bait fish and we will still have a hard time catching those fish because they have too many options. I guess my point is just because there was a great hatch, we may not see the great results we expect right away because of other variables. It's still GREAT news however. Hey, you're non-union aren't you? That makes you .......... just kidding, it's nice to see more fishing related threads on a fishing web site. 
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| Dennis, I run my own business, I learned long ago that debating the pros and cons of unions is something "above my pay grade" and not worth my time. I just called my bud Chuck to get in there and clean up Detroit as that measly 25billion is in such hot debate while the 700 billion for the finance industry got swept under the rug in November. Really shows the intelligence level of our vocal people here in the good ole US.
Now for a bit more tasteful discussion, there are lots of species that make up the forage in Winnebago and all of them hatch at different times of the year so if one species has a bad year often this food source is saved by another species.
(yoy) is young of year and are primarily 3-5" in length. Numbers below are Trawling assesments that take place over 3 months one week each month. The lake is broken into 6 quadrants and multiple drags are done in each quadrant at the exact same location year after year. Every fish is counted, and an average per trawl is obtained. That is the number listed below. This is a true stastical analysis that is used in conjunction with other data gathered in the spring and Fall to manage the population of the Winnebago system.
YOY: 2008 vs. 2007
Drum 52.8-109.8 Drum population is half of last year although not the favored meal for Walleye anyway they seem to be very cyclical, one year it's great the next its terrible. It's been that way for the past 10 years or so.
White Bass 50.2 vs 10.9 in '07 lots of whities only 5 other years were better in the last 22 years on record
Walleye 17.6 vs 0.5 in '07 This is second best to '96 when there were 23.7 and in 2001 there were 11.13. an average year is 2.0.
Yellow Perch 2.2 compared to 5.6. the past 4 years it was closer to 5.0 although prior to 2000 it was less than 1.0
Black Crappie .5 vs 3.5 (not a great year for them.)
Trout Perch 341 vs 405 This is the main food source for our Walleye and it is the 5 best hatch recorded in the past 22 years. The high was 2006 at 568.
Emerald Shiner 1.0 vs 16.9 last year was extremely huge and the largest ever recorded. the average for the shiner is less than 1 and 16 was a phenomena that is difficult to explain.
Gizzard Shad: 2.9 vs 5.6 another bad year for them as '05 and '06 were 12.5 and 60.9 respectively.
Bluegill .04 vs .13 really not bad as there were many many years that none were caught and last year at .13 was the high over the past 22 years.
Overall its VERY exciting for the long term future both forage and this bumper hatch of Walleyes, I think the ballance is looks good and there will be plenty of fish for us to catch in the next few years. I would expect that our best years will be 2010-2012 where we should be catching some nice numbers of 26-28" fish from '01 and lots of 14-15"ers of '08
I do however find disturbing that the numbers of yearling not (yoy) and adult fish caught are declining at a steady pace over the past 7 years, similar to the previous years of 97 to 01 but at a much higher rate. This could be from a number of things which would all be speculation but great debatable information. Predation, exploitation, violation....onand on....But great discussion for the argument of quality vs, quantity......Possibly a slot or lower limits, something I've long said is not needed on the system but as I get older my desires change and often I find myself contemplating what I once thought I never would. The debate then would turn to which is better for the state???? Now thats a much better political argument than tv shows or unions!
Good Luck
Tyee
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Location: Rhinelander | Looks like Winnebago is going to be strong in the future...what a walleye factory! |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Tyee, Thanks for passing the info. Unfortunately I am not as optimistic as you are about having enough food for all of those hungry mouths. Data is funny, it is all in the interpretation. I see declining food sources in all categories except for the trout perch. I sure hope that the 5 record years for trout perch are enough to offset the reduction in all other food sources. Looks like the walleye will have more direct competition with more white bass. That should make the bait shops happy.
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| Tyee,
good information. what source are you using to get this data. DNR? I would like to look at the information further if possible.
Mark |
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| Dennis, Keep your chin up, the data changes yearly and if this winters forecast is any indication of what is to come we could have another bang up year this spring. The fact that whites and trout perch are extremely high means there will be plenty of food for last years hatch. I believe that walleyes stage and feed on flies, as well as their young and continue to feed until they head to the lakes and bago to feed on trout perch in May. The differeing times at which all these species hatch means there should be a plentiful banquet for all.
Mark, yes the data is compiled by the DNR although it's not electronic and I compile it into a spreadsheet of my own that includes data from their spawing areas including water levels, flow rates, clarity and temperature information. If you have specific questions I can try and answer them. The DNR will release more info in spring once they have concluded all the Fall assesments.
Good Luck
Tyee |
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| Tyee,
I would love to discuss further. My email is [email protected]. |
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Winnebago System Report 11/08