Walleye being held by individual in rain coatThe Department of Natural Resources and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, with assistance from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, have begun a tag-and-recapture study on the walleye population in Walloon Lake in Charlevoix and Emmet counties.The study is divided into two portions: a spring mark-and-recapture survey targeted at walleye and northern pike and a summer lake-wide netting survey looking at the entire fish community of this popular northern Michigan inland lake.
Two different fish capture methods are being used during the springtime portion of the assessment. Trap nets are fished throughout each day, and during the night, electrofishing is being conducted by multiple boat crews. Anglers and residents will likely see trap nets marked with floats throughout the near-shore areas of the lake and are advised to be cautious when boating around these nets. Electrofishing boats out at night are identifiable by the extensive lighting systems on the boats used to identify fish in the dark. The survey began the week of March 28.
The mark-and-recapture study will consist of clipping a specific fin on each walleye to determine movement and seasonal distribution of the species in Walloon Lake. This fin-clip is used to gather age information from each fish, as well as mark the fish so it is identifiable later in the survey when recapture runs are made. The primary objective for this phase of the survey is to collect and mark as many adult walleye as possible in order to estimate their abundance in the lake.
For more information on walleye in Michigan, visit www.michigan.gov/fishing.
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