North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries personnel, along with staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fish hatcheries, recently stocked 8.3 million walleye fingerlings in 88 lakes and rivers across the state.
Jerry Weigel, fisheries production and development section leader for the Game and Fish Department, said while this year’s goal was to meet or exceed last year’s record stocking of 11.5 million walleye, challenges from flooding and cooler spring weather reduced hatchery output.
The Garrison Dam (7.7 million fingerlings) and Valley City (600,000) national fish hatcheries were both hampered by Mother Nature— Valley City with high flows and Garrison Dam with limited food production due to a cool spring and record releases.
Despite those challenges, Weigel said fish quality was good and stocking conditions were great, with lots of cool water and flooded vegetation at the stocking sites. “Given all the problems with the cool spring and flooding, production turned out remarkably well,” he said.
That was also the case with northern pike (2.3 million stocked in 59 waters), and early indications are that stocking efforts and natural reproduction have set the stage for another good year for both walleye and pike.
Fisheries personnel will know more this fall when crews check on survival rate of the stocked fish and determine the amount of natural reproduction.
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