06-11-2004, 12:05 AM
Successful Spring Fish Spawn Now Has Fingerlings in State Waters
Northern pike eggs taken this spring are currently being distributed to state waters as fingerlings, with walleye scheduled to be dispersed beginning mid-June, according to Jerry Weigel, fisheries production and development section leader for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
Fisheries crews collected 16 million pike and 33 million walleye eggs during the spring spawning operation. "We had a very good spring, with good quality eggs," Weigel said. "Devils Lake was a major contributor with many of the eggs coming from there."
Crews were able to take eggs from Devils Lake for the first time in several years, Weigel said, and it was timely because crews were unable to take any pike eggs from Lake Ashtabula because of extremely high flows. "We have relied on Lake Ashtabula for many years," he added, "but we couldn't get at the fish this year. We tried, but the flow was just too high."
Devils Lake produced nearly half of the pike eggs at 7 million, and crews collected 5.7 million from Round Lake in Kidder County. The eggs were taken to Valley City and Garrison federal fish hatcheries, and after being hatched, were put into rearing ponds as fry before distribution as fingerlings to waters around the state.
Cold weather reduced fingerling size a little bit, Weigel mentioned, so pike are a little smaller than typically stocked. "Hopefully, the weather won't hurt walleye production," he said.
Of 33 million walleye eggs, Devils Lake produced 27 million. The remaining 6 million came from Lake Sakakawea. "We finished the walleye spawn relatively quick because of Devils Lake," Weigel said. "What usually takes about six weeks we were able to complete in only a couple weeks."
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Northern pike eggs taken this spring are currently being distributed to state waters as fingerlings, with walleye scheduled to be dispersed beginning mid-June, according to Jerry Weigel, fisheries production and development section leader for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
Fisheries crews collected 16 million pike and 33 million walleye eggs during the spring spawning operation. "We had a very good spring, with good quality eggs," Weigel said. "Devils Lake was a major contributor with many of the eggs coming from there."
Crews were able to take eggs from Devils Lake for the first time in several years, Weigel said, and it was timely because crews were unable to take any pike eggs from Lake Ashtabula because of extremely high flows. "We have relied on Lake Ashtabula for many years," he added, "but we couldn't get at the fish this year. We tried, but the flow was just too high."
Devils Lake produced nearly half of the pike eggs at 7 million, and crews collected 5.7 million from Round Lake in Kidder County. The eggs were taken to Valley City and Garrison federal fish hatcheries, and after being hatched, were put into rearing ponds as fry before distribution as fingerlings to waters around the state.
Cold weather reduced fingerling size a little bit, Weigel mentioned, so pike are a little smaller than typically stocked. "Hopefully, the weather won't hurt walleye production," he said.
Of 33 million walleye eggs, Devils Lake produced 27 million. The remaining 6 million came from Lake Sakakawea. "We finished the walleye spawn relatively quick because of Devils Lake," Weigel said. "What usually takes about six weeks we were able to complete in only a couple weeks."
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