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Greers Ferry Lake walleye project another success |
 HEBER
SPRINGS - Over 250,000 walleye fingerlings were stocked into Greers
Ferry Lake late last month. The fingerlings were raised at the Arkansas
Game and Fish Commission's Greers Ferry nursery pond.The pond is located adjacent to the Mill Creek Recreation Area just above the Narrows area of the lake. An additional 60,000 fingerlings were distributed between the three main tributaries feeding the lake. These fingerlings are a result of eggs collected during the Greers Ferry Walleye Spawning Project conducted earlier in the spring. The walleye averaged two inches in length. “Stocking to supplement natural reproduction is needed maintain a viable walleye fishery,” according to Tom Bly, a fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. “Walleye are native to the Little Red River drainage and the original stocks of fish were stream spawning fish. When the lake was impounded, miles of riverine spawning habitat was lost. This coupled with high angler pressure and harvest requires us to stock walleye,” he said. Walleye are not a catch-and-release fish, Bly said. "They are excellent table fair and a very high percentage of those caught are harvested. In January 2001 a new regulation was implemented to shift the harvest toward the smaller, more numerous males and to protect the females," he explained. The 20-28 inch slot limit on the lake allows the harvest of four walleye per day with only one greater than 28-inches. Walleye from 20 up to 28 inches must be released immediately back to the water. Only a small percentage of the male walleye get big enough to be in the protected slot range. A female in the slot will be protected for several years. "This accomplishes two things, it allows them to spawn several years without fear of harvest and allows them to reach a trophy size,” Bly said.  A
28-inch walleye will weigh from 12 to 14 pounds normally. “Our intent
with the regulation was to allow anglers to keep some walleye for the
table while trying to increase the number of bigger fish in the
population. We are beginning to see good numbers of females in the slot.
We are working with Arkansas State University to conduct age and growth
research on the walleye. This information will give us a good handle on
how well these fish are growing,” Bly stated.Improvements seen in the walleye population have prompted AGFC district biologists to recommend that the daily limit for walleye be increased to six. The Commission will vote on proposed fishing regulations at their August meeting. If the regulation passes it will go into effect January 1, 2006. The nursery pond will be refilled using a portable diesel pump. Approximately 25,000 largemouth bass fingerlings will be stocked in the pond along with bluegill bream and fathead minnows for forage. The bass will be released into Greers Ferry sometime in October and should be about six inches in length. |
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