Iowa DNR spokesman Peter Hildreth says the annual walleye collection was successful.
“The goal is to collect enough fish to hatch 154.8 million walleye fry that will supply Iowa lakes and fish hatcheries,” Hildreth says. He says the eggs are removed from the walleyes and the fish are returned to the lake where they were caught to make room for the next night’s catch. “Our broodstock lakes have excellent wildlife populations and the timings have been perfect the staff have all the wildlife they need to fill the jars to get 1,738 quarts of eggs,” he says.
Hildreth says they worked on several different lakes. “Spent five nights at Storm Lake, four nights at Rathbun, two and a half nights on Spirit Lake, and two nights on Clear Lake. And in those short nights of efforts, like I said they collected all the wildlife they need to meet our goals,” Hildreth says. The fish will be stocked into Iowa’s lakes after growing to the proper size at the fish hatcheries.