Walleye thought

[J-Doc]

Why is it so bad?

[Guest]

Its gets fished harder than Beaver, its ugly & I hate it. Lol

Good enough reason for me

[J-Doc]

Dang. That's a ton of pressure. Beaver is already and over fished body of water.

[Notropis]

I have been told by AFGC that very little natural reproduction occurs in any of the White River lakes. It has to do with not enough miles of flowing water.

Actually there is some evidence that Beaver is getting significant natural reproduction. The last several years, fingerling walleye have been marked with a chemical, before they were stocked, that can be detected in their otoliths (free floating bone used to age fish) later in their life. Follow up studies have shown a significant number of yearling walleye (over 50%) without the chemical, indicating good numbers of lake spawned walleyes.

You may be confusing walleye spawning requirements with striped bass. The stripers do need a lot of flowing water for successful hatching of their eggs since their eggs are non-adhesive and need to stay suspended in the water for several days before hatching. Long stretches of flowing water keeps the eggs from settling to the bottom, where they don't survive.

Walleye eggs are adhesive and stick to the gravel in current where they adults spawn. The water flowing over the gravel keeps the eggs oxygenated and allows them to develop and hatch. No long stretches of current are needed for walleye eggs to hatch and most of the spawning takes place in the first mile or so of gravel shoals (where current is present) of the tributaries above the lakes.

[rps]

Actually there is some evidence that Beaver is getting significant natural reproduction. The last several years, fingerling walleye have been marked with a chemical, before they were stocked, that can be detected in their otoliths (free floating bone used to age fish) later in their life. Follow up studies have shown a significant number of yearling walleye (over 50%) without the chemical, indicating good numbers of lake spawned walleyes.

You may be confusing walleye spawning requirements with striped bass. The stripers do need a lot of flowing water for successful hatching of their eggs since their eggs are non-adhesive and need to stay suspended in the water for several days before hatching. Long stretches of flowing water keeps the eggs from settling to the bottom, where they don't survive.

Walleye eggs are adhesive and stick to the gravel in current where they adults spawn. The water flowing over the gravel keeps the eggs oxygenated and allows them to develop and hatch. No long stretches of current are needed for walleye eggs to hatch and most of the spawning takes place in the first mile or so of gravel shoals (where current is present) of the tributaries above the lakes.

I am very glad to hear that. Beaver has a much longer stretch of flowing water than Table Rock or Bull Shoals. I would suppose Norfolk benefits from the same factors. I wrote what I did as information I received from AGFC. I may rethink my keep/release policy.

[Tanderson15]

A couple of posts stated some may be keeping short eyes. I have been hear since 2007 and fish the twice a week and have never been checked let alone seeing a game warden. I have been checked many times on other lakes that I fished this much, both on the water and at the ramp. Are we short that many fish and game folks. Why have length and fish limits if nobody enforces it?

[Notropis]

I am very glad to hear that. Beaver has a much longer stretch of flowing water than Table Rock or Bull Shoals. I would suppose Norfolk benefits from the same factors. I wrote what I did as information I received from AGFC. I may rethink my keep/release policy.

Don't let my information keep you from harvesting legal walleye, it's your right as an angler. Just keep in mind the value of the larger walleye (6 lbs and up). Most of them are females and are very important to the spawn. Sure, keep one if it's the trophy of a lifetime for you or your fishing buddy but consider releasing them if they aren't.

Tanderson15 Good point! Regulations aren't successful if they aren't enforced. I believe the situation with the AGFC is just having two enforcement officers per county combined with multiple other responsibilities (hunting seasons, boat accidents, educational duties, etc.) that tend to overwhelm them. Because of that, they tend to do enforcement work on the lakes during high use times (weekends, mid-day etc.) to make the most impact during their limited available time. Fishermen tend to go out early and late, since that's the best time to fish and to avoid the crowd, so it makes sense that anglers don't see the enforcement officers as much as the pleasure craft folks do. Don't get me wrong, I believe the wildlife officers should spend more time on the lakes, especially in the spring when fishing activity is heaviest but I do understand their dilemma regarding manpower vs the amount of responsibilities they have.

I hope that everyone that reads these discussions realize, the most effective deterrent to poaching is a responsible angler with a cell-phone, especially the smart phones with cameras. AGFC poaching violation hotline 1-800-482-9262.

[Tanderson15]

Boy notropis you are a wealth of knowledge glad your here. Next a couple of us on this notice the 19" walleyes seem very thin. Is that from spawning and the stress of it? Hope it's not a bad class.

[Guest]

I caught 9 walleye under a dock stall in 30 minutes last month. Rocky branch area

There were gizzard shad larger than the walleye spawning in that pocket.

The walleyes were cookie cutter 10-12" fish with a pair of 16" cookie cutters.

That leads me to believe they're spawning annually & doing quite well.

Idk for certain, but the 2013 class was pretty substantial.

Also, I'm catching random crappie in the same area that are rather large. 12-15"

[Tanderson15]

Now that's good news. Hope those crappie aren't eating my walleyes.