Bank Fishing Walleyes

[powerdive]

TL, I respect your opinion. But being a late-arriving northerner (who else would come to bass country and target walleyes?), I don't have much of a sense of history here. All I know is what I see, and what I see is a world-class fishery. Could it be better if the original bloodlines were intact, as you suggest? I dunno, but I really can't imagine it.

Are you saying the native White River fish grew larger? Don't think I've seen any evidence on that one. Consider that the current world record and MO state record fish were caught in the 80s...

[Justin Spencer]

Just a guess, but the natives might reproduce better up the rivers, but genetically a river fish would benefit from keeping a slimmer body type so they might not get as heavy. Does anyone know about the walleye in Spring River in Arkansas, I know there are a bunch there, anyone know if it's the original strain or if they have ever been stocked and what kind of sizes they get?

[Wayne SW/MO]

There seems to be walleye in all the major streams that are heavily spring fed. I would imagine that there is still a lot of jack salmon dna in some of them where there isn't any stocking. The Pothole was a big producer before stocking and so is the Eleven Point. They have been a spring fish for the most part in Missouri and this new found interest is light in terms of numbers of fishermen. As I said the MDC will probably evolve with $ produced by the stockings.

Here' an old post by Al A that will probably be of interest to many of you.

[Justin Spencer]

Thanks for Al's link, it answers my questions.

[Tightline]

Powerdive, only time will tell.

The 21 lb state record caught in 88 would have been 14 to 16 years old well within the time frame for an old river jack.

I imagine there are pockets of the old walleye strain left somewhere in Bullshoals or Tablerock like Wayne mentioned.

Wayne thanks for posting that link I really enjoyed that article.

[Justin Spencer]

I don't know much about the spawning of walleye, but if what Al said was true the stockers are a lake spawning strain while the natives are river spawning. Every spring we see good numbers up Bryant creek and NFoW, although they stop at Dawt Mill, so these could be the native river spawners keeping this strain alive.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I don't know much about the spawning of walleye, but if what Al said was true the stockers are a lake spawning strain while the natives are river spawning. Every spring we see good numbers up Bryant creek and NFoW, although they stop at Dawt Mill, so these could be the native river spawners keeping this strain alive.

Missouri gets it's brood stock from the Pothole area of BS when they make their spring run, generally March, + or - a little. I would think that they would have some river genes if spawning in the river is their difference? They take a bunch of them, I've seen them return them twice and it's a big tank and it takes a while to unload it with a net.

I assume the reason they don't use a tube is because the tube is for stocking fry and some larger hatchery fish and that some of the walleye are too big to go through the tube. I've never talked to them.

[powerdive]

Thanks for the link to the Al Agnew article--really an interesting read and subsequent discussion.

Honestly, I don't really subscribe to the idea that there's a genetic imprint for lake spawning or river spawning. As I understand it, all walleyes are river fish by nature, they are hyper-sensitive to current, yet they are extremely adaptable. While many will return to the same areas to spawn each year (which may be interpreted by some as a preference for lake or stream spawning), quite a few will seek out new venues, especially when there's a significant change in conditions.

Down here, at the southern end of their range, we have a lengthy growing season, uncrowded walleye populations, and a proliferation of high-quality forage (shad). To my mind, that accounts for the greater number of very large walleyes in these here parts.

Note that the province record in Ontario is 22 pounds 4 oz. Did somebody take an Ozarks jack salmon up there and toss it into Lake Erie (the fish was caught barely in the Niagara River in late May)? I'm being facetious, but I'm pretty sure the northern strains have the same potential to grow world-class walleyes as the southern strains. And all the accounts make it pretty clear: a walleye is a walleye, wherever it swims. Again, just my opinion.

[Jeff Olson]

anybody have any stats or opinions on currant walleye numbers in bull shoals compared to 10-20 yrs ago ? just curious if it is getting better or worse, or staying about the same. thanks

[Wayne SW/MO]

No stats, but with the attention that they have been getting by both states I would think it has improved considerably. I'm not a biologist, but it seems to me that walleye tend to occupy a different strata then the sunfish family or the temperates which would eliminate some competition. Bull Shoals does seem to have all the necessary environment for walleyes. BS is deep, rocky, and has cold water, it allows a limited number of trout to survive the summer. It may be the best environment in the state, but TR might eventually rival it.

BS never got a lot of attention because of it's location and when they closed the dam on TR its 2nd place in the area was insured. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for locals, but information about the lake is scarce..