PIKE RIVER—Staff at the Pike River Hatchery were hoping that the wet and cold weather that settled in mid-week wasn’t going to slow down the walleye run, which finally began in earnest under sunshine and mild temperatures on Monday.
The annual walleye spawning run was just ramping up last Friday as water temperatures remained in the low 40s, or a few degrees cooler than needed to push the run into high gear. By Sunday, the water temperature briefly reached the low 50s, which was enough to spark the kind of activity that helps fisheries staff get the work done quickly.
Hatchery staff were working to gather this year’s goal of 430 quarts of walleye eggs. While that’s considerably lower than a few years ago, hatchery manager Brent Flatten said planned stocking numbers within the Rainy River basin, which includes the entire Tower work area, will be on par with previous years.
This year’s lower goal reflects the decision by DNR fisheries officials to use more egg sources from southern Minnesota to stock lakes in that region, he said.
“It’s a question of genetics,” said Flatten, noting that the DNR has determined that the so-called “Lower Mississippi strain” of walleye, found in southern Minnesota, is better suited to the conditions in lakes in the region and tend to have better survival.
In the past, fry hatched from the Pike River and Cut Foot Sioux hatcheries were often used for walleye stocking in southern Minnesota in addition to lakes in northern Minnesota.
While the total egg harvest goal is lower this year at Pike River, the DNR will be increasing the number of fry stocked in Vermilion from five million last year to 7.5 million this year.
Other lakes in the Tower and International Falls work areas with planned walleye fry stocking amounts include:
Tower area
(base stocking)
Joseph- 112,000
Nickel- 25,000
Nigh- 80,000
Pauline- 50,000
Triangle- 400,000
Wolf- 75,000
Mashkenode- 64,000
Parent- 143,000
Big- 750,000
Astrid- 60,000
Nels- 44,000
Whisper- 20,000
Maude- 50,000
Stuart- 177,000
Slim- 87,000
Johnson- 212,000
Trout- 1,613,000
Purvis- 25,000
(surplus stocking)
Burntside- 1,478,000
Cedar- 156,000
International Falls area
(base stocking)
Ban- 194,500
Seretha- 37,000
Vermilion River- 535,000
(contingency stocking)
Moose- 929,000
Bartlett- 292,000