Walleye News
Final Rules Regarding No Wake Zones Surrounding Commercial Marinas
With the possibility of future no wake areas being requested for other established or new marinas for the commission to consider individually the commission adopted one statewide rule regarding establishing no wake zones surrounding commercial marinas. Marinas have high boat traffic and have many boats docked so these areas regardless of location are susceptible to accidents and boat damage due to wakes. Currently over half of the commercial marinas have a no wake restriction and this proposal will make the rules consistent throughout the state. The statewide rule eliminates the need for individual marina restrictions to be listed in separate rules.
Click here for the full PDF article from FWP
Bailey's Reservoir Land Request
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) are proposing to acquire approximately 55
acres of range land, plus 47 surface acres of reservoir at Bailey Reservoir, located
25 miles west of Havre, MT. In addition, FWP is seeking approval to accept ownership
of an adjoining 5-acre parcel, which the Great Falls Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited of
Montana is proposing to purchase, with the option to donate the parcel to FWP. The
sole purpose of these acquisitions is to establish a Fishing Access Site (FAS) on Bailey
Reservoir. FWP is also proposing to develop initial improvements if this property is
acquired. If approved, the acquisition would take place during the summer of 2012;
and improvements would take place in 2013.
The comment period will be open from April 3, 2012 to May 4, 2012. There will be a
public meeting on April 17, 2012 (Tues.) at 6:30 pm, at the Duck Inn in Havre. You can
access the Environmental Assessment (EA) on the FWP website at http://fwp.mt.gov/news/publicNotice/.
Please submit any comments that you have by 5:00 P.M., May 4, 2012 to the address listed above,
Attn: Bailey Reservoir acquisition. You can also email comments to jelletson@mt.gov.
Hardcopies of EA are available if requested by calling (406) 228-3700.
FWP News for May 4th
• JUNE 1 LICENSE APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHES
• SPRING TURKEY HUNTING SEASON
• SOME BLACK BEAR HUNTING TO CLOSE IN MAY
• MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS COMMISSION TO MEET MAY 10
IN HELENA
• PUBLIC COMMENT IS SOUGHT ON RULES TO MANAGE EURASIAN
WATERMILFOIL CONTAMINATION ON MONTANA WATERS
• STATEWIDE BOATING SAFETY EVENTS MAY 19
• APPLICATIONS FOR WINTER ICE-FISHING CONTESTS DUE JULY 1
• LIVING WITH WILDLIFE MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE
FWP OUTDOORS EXTRA
HOW THE DEER, ELK AND ANTELOPE DRAWING ODDS WORK
By Diane Tipton, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Statewide
Information Officer
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BOAT HAS BEEN?
By Diane Tipton, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Statewide
Information Officer
Click here for full News Release
Fishing Info
Lakes
and Ramps Info
Fishing
Links
Aquatic
Nuisance
Fishing Report - May 15th 2012
Canyon Ferry: Rainbow trout continue to cruise the
shoreline on the north end of the reservoir. Shoreline
anglers are doing fair near the Outhouse, Shannon,
Chinamen’s and Kim’s Marina using worms and/or
marshmallows and fly fishing anglers are catching fish
using nymphs, San Juan worms and wooly buggers. Boat
anglers are having success around Cemetery Island trolling
cranks (perch, green and silver colors). Walleye anglers
are having continued success on the south end of the
reservoir trolling worm harnesses and cranks in 10 to 18
feet of water. Jigging for walleye is also working well
pitching in shallow and vertically jigging bay points.
Adam Strainer, FWP, Helena
Hauser: Rainbow fishing is good below Canyon Ferry Dam.
Boat anglers are drifting jigs and worms while shore
anglers are casting out worms, Powerbait or marshmallows.
Rainbows are also being caught throughout the reservoir
while trolling cowbells tipped with a worm. A few walleye
are being caught in Lake Helena while trolling crankbaits
or bottom bouncers with leeches. Troy Humphrey, FWP,
Helena
Holter: Rainbow fishing continues to be good especially in
the lower reservoir from the Oxbow to Holter Dam. Trolling
cowbells tipped with a worm or crankbaits in orange or
perch colors seems to be the best bet. Shore anglers are
catching rainbows around Log Gulch and Gates of the
Mountains on worms. Walleye fishing is slow. Troy
Humphrey, FWP, Helena
Spawning
Canyon Ferry and Fort Peck 2011 Spawning report
Th 2012 spawning season has begun on Canyon Ferry and Fort Peck. Read below about netting results from FWP.
FORT PECK
FWP - Heath Headley
May 3rd
Well, another walleye spawning season has come and gone in the upper
Big Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir. The walleye that were once
cruising the shallow areas in an attempt to spawn have moved
elsewhere to begin their normal routine. Trap net catches of walleye
have dramatically decreased over the last couple of days and it
doesn’t appear that this will change. Water surface temperatures
have dropped to the low 50’s after a cold front pushed through the
area. Prior to this, we were seeing water surface temperatures in
the upper 50’s along with a few more ripe female walleye.
Although we’ve collected a few more ripe female walleye, there
hasn’t been a strong push in numbers. One can definitely tell that
the spawn is coming to an end with the limited number of green
female walleyes that are collected. We have also collected a few
female walleye that were spent (released their eggs). The slow,
steady numbers of ripe female walleye along with a few ripe females
from the holding pens have allowed us to hold small egg-takes on a
daily basis and given us over 10 million more eggs since the last
update. This brings the grand total to 47 million eggs for the 2012
season which was approximately half of what we were attempting to
collect.
The good news is we are beginning to see really good hatching
success on the walleye eggs collected this year which will
compensate for the fewer eggs collected. The improved hatching
success can be attributed to good egg quality as a result of
excellent fish condition (LOTS of yellow perch and cisco to eat).
Also, the rearing ponds at the Fort Peck and Miles City fish
hatcheries have all been stocked with fry for fingerling production
and almost 10 million fry have been released in Fort Peck Reservoir
with more to follow.
On behalf of the reservoir and hatchery staff, I would like to thank
all the volunteers who assisted in this year’s effort and look
forward to seeing you again next year. Best of luck fishing in 2012!
Below is a photo of Ivan Roe with a green female walleye.
April 22nd
The walleye spawning operation continues to move along in the Big
Dry Arm of Fort Peck Reservoir. Nothing fast and furious just a few
walleyes here and there. However, we did collect a few more female
walleye today in some of our trap nets as water temperatures have
started to warm. As of today, we finally started to see water
surface temperatures surpass the 50 degree mark.
The ripe females collected in our trap nets along with some that
ripen up in our holding pens have given us enough fish to hold small
egg-takes nearly every day. It’s really good to see improved numbers
of ripe female walleye along with green females that won’t take long
to ripen up. The number of eggs collected has been averaging between
2 and 3 million eggs. As a result, we are sitting at around 37
million total eggs.
Attached is a photo of John Kelley with a green female walleye.
April 13th
The walleye spawning activity has gradually picked up since the last
update. Water surface temperatures have progressively warmed up to
49 degrees today in the upper stretch of the Big Dry Arm. We are
seeing decent numbers of walleye but no big concentrations. Some of
the better trap nets are collecting a dozen walleye (males and
females combined). We are starting to see a few more ripe female
walleyes but there are plenty of green females being collected.
The ripe female walleyes collected have given us smaller egg-takes
nearly every day. We actually held our largest walleye spawn for
2012 yesterday (April 12th) which yielded 5 million eggs from 24
females. In addition, we held another egg-take today that will give
us about 2.5 million more eggs to the total. This will put us in the
neighborhood of 18 million total eggs.
Below is a picture of Ryan Lott collecting eggs from a ripe female
walleye.
April 8, 2012
Things have literally cooled down since the last spawning update. A
cold front passed through the area on Friday and dropped water
surface temperatures in the far upper stretch of the Big Dry Arm
from 50 degrees to 40 degrees. The area near Nelson Creek is still
hovering around 47 degrees. As a result, we found fewer female
walleye in our trap nets. The good news is we did have a enough
female walleyes ripen up in the holding pens for a small egg take.
This small egg take gave us around 3 million more eggs which should
give us 6.8 million walleye eggs total.
We are still seeing fair numbers of green female northern pike along
with a few ripe females. These ripe females have allowed us to have
two more northern pike egg-takes since the last update. This should
put us in the neighborhood of 1.5 million eggs total. It looks like
we will need to collect another 500,000 to meet the statewide egg
request.
Below are couple of photos of a 13.7 pound green female walleye with
Grant and Greg Sundseth.
April 4th
The 2012 spawning operation is officially underway on Fort Peck
Reservoir. It’s hard to believe we had over a 100 inches of snow and
12+ inches of ice at this time last year. Because of these
conditions, we weren’t able to start trap netting until April 19th.
In contrast, we checked our first trap nets this year on March 27th.
Despite this early ice off, it’s still early in the game based on
the spawning condition of fish and relatively cool water
temperatures.
Water surface temperatures have been gradually warming to upper 40’s
throughout our trap net locations in the upper Big Dry Arm. We are
collecting good numbers of northern pike but a majority of the
females are green (not releasing eggs) so we know we are a bit
early. We did have a few ripe females to hold two small northern
pike egg-takes that yielded 1.2 million eggs. Another million eggs
will be needed to reach the northern pike egg-take goal of 2
million.
We are seeing decent numbers of male walleye along with a few
females that are still really green. However, we did have a small
number of ripe females that allowed us to hold our first walleye
egg-take of the year. This first spawn yielded 1.8 million eggs.
Last year, we didn’t hold our first walleye egg-take until April
25th which was the latest walleye egg-take on record. That means we
are three weeks earlier than last year and on the boards for the
2012 season. Let’s hope the weather cooperates a bit more this
season and doesn’t throw to much of a wrench into the spawn.
Below is a photo of Bob Lipscomb and Bill Viste with two green
female walleyes.
CANYON FERRY
Canyon
Ferry Reservoir Spring Netting Update – 5/1/2012
Well, spring walleye trapping on Canyon Ferry has
officially come and gone for the 2012 season. Inclement
weather pushed the traps to shore late last week and the
current weather pattern has slowed spawning activity down
significantly. So, the traps were pulled mid-day on April
30th. FWP crews finished the trapping season with over 420
newly tagged fish, 45% of which were greater than 15 inches
in length, and we started seeing more females, in the 16 to
20 inch range, toward the end of April.
Thanks to each and every one of the volunteers who came out
with us this year, your interest and ‘fishy’ enthusiasm is
why we do what we do. If any of you are interested in
joining us for a day in the field or just want to share a
fishing story, please give me a call at the number below.
Take care and we’ll see you on the water throughout the
2012 summer.
Photo: Volunteers Carl Bangerter and Bob Oldenburg each
with smaller female captured during the 2012 walleye
spawning survey on Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Canyon Ferry Reservoir Spring Netting Results as of
4/20/2012
The walleye spawn on Canyon Ferry had been picking up
nicely over the past week, but a cool and windy day
yesterday likely caused a slow end to the week. As of
today, FWP crews have captured 415 total walleye and
approximately 45% of the catch continues to be greater than
15-inches. Ripe male walleye’s from 13 to 17-inches are
dominating the catch, but that trend is typical for Canyon
Ferry each spring. We’ve still only seen a handful of
females thus far, but water temperatures remain slightly
below the optimum range (48-52ºF) for spawning. A warm
weather pattern is in the forecast, so look for things to
possibly heat up again next week.
This year is playing out just like past years on Canyon
Ferry as far as the spawn is concerned. The males typically
show up early and remain near the spawning grounds until
the larger females arrive. Males are actively pursuing
females for as long as 45-60 days each spring, but females
typically wait for optimal spawning conditions, move into
the spawning grounds, spawn and leave. Sometime females are
only on-site for hours or a couple days.
Photo caption: Volunteer Ryan Arntson shows off a nice
17-inch male walleye from the 2012 Canyon Ferry Reservoir
spawning survey.
Canyon Ferry Reservoir Spring Netting Results as of
4/13/2012
Spring walleye spawning work is officially underway on the
south end of Canyon Ferry. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
crews were able to set traps on April 2nd (almost two weeks
earlier than in 2011) and we saw our first walleye in our
nets on April 9th. Water temperatures have been on the rise
throughout this past week to around 50°F by mid afternoon.
However, a stormy weekend is in the forecast for April 14th
& 15th, so expect to see water temperatures decrease. To
date we have handled 152 walleye. Some smaller, immature
females and one large female (29.1-inches, 10.25-pounds)
have been sampled, but the catch has been predominantly
ripe males thus far, which is typically the pattern. One
interesting thing to note thus far is that 68 (45%) of the
walleye sampled so far were greater than or equal to
15-inches in length. Stay posted for continued coverage of
the 2012 walleye spawning survey on Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Photo: Volunteer Jeff Wahl with a nice 10.25-pound female
walleye from the south end of Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Fort Peck Hatchery
Several years ago
warm water anglers from across the state of Montana banned together to
promote the building of a Warm Water Multi-Species Fish Hatchery at Fort Peck
and thanks to the hard work and persistence of these anglers the Fort Peck
Multi-Species Fish Hatchery was built.
This hatchery has been and continues to be supported by sportsman’s groups,
individuals and businesses all across Montana but it seems every year and
every legislative session we have to confront Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks
(MFWP) on the funding of the hatchery. This upcoming year will be no
different but comes with some very different ideas on how to further fund the
hatchery.
In the fall of 2007 MFWP asked legislators, individuals and sportsman’s
groups from across the state to come together with MFWP to come up with and
decide on funding proposals that would fund the Fort Peck Hatchery for all
time. Three group meetings were held and proposals and needs were discussed
and the proposals were narrowed down. MFWP decided on two proposals both of
which would lift the restrictions on the species raised in the hatchery and
in turn MFWP would start raising trout in the hatchery. In order for this to
take place the current laws applying to the Fort Peck Hatchery would have to
be changed by the legislature.
It is Walleyes Unlimited of Montana’s opinion that 8.5 Cold Water Hatcheries
in Montana is enough and that the warm water anglers of Montana are entitled
to at least one hatchery solely dedicated to raising warm water species and
therefore we do not agree with MFWP’s proposals. The Fort Peck Hatchery by
law can be funded by two sources the Warm Water Stamp and any type of Federal
Funds available. Walleyes Unlimited will be asking the 2009 legislature to
pass a bill forcing MFWP to give the Fort Peck Hatchery its fair share of
Wallop/Bureaux federal funds to cover the additional funding needed for
operation and maintenance.
The Fort Peck Hatchery is one of the most state of the art hatcheries on the
Missouri River and WUM hopes that the following facts list will help to
inform the people of Montana about the history and the current workings of
the Fort Peck Hatchery and why it needs to stay a strictly Warm Water Multi
Species Hatchery.
Release numbers from the first year of production at the Fort Peck Multi-Species Fish Hatchery.
27,050,000 walleye fry stocked out this spring
Fort Peck Lake 2,947,228 walleye fingerlings
Nelson Reservoir 201,197 walleye fingerlings
Fresno Reservoir 199,569 walleye fingerlings
Lake Frances 101,270 walleye fingerlings
Box Elder Reservoir 49,887 walleye fingerlings
Little Warm Res. 10,836 walleye fingerlings
Dry Fork Reservoir 5,225 walleye fingerlings
Cow Creek Reservoir 7,805 walleye fingerlings
Beaver Creek Res. 10,449 walleye fingerlings
Wadsworth Reservoir 5,476 walleye fingerlings
Total fingerlings stocked numbered 3,538,942. These fish averaged 758/lb and were 1.6" long. Average pond survival was 71.8%, well above the expected 50% mark.
Bear Paw Reservoir 5,112 advanced fingerlings
Beaver Creek Res. 6,350 advanced fingerlings
Nelson Dredge Trout Pond 500 advanced fingerlings
Box Elder Reservoir 1,000 advanced fingerlings
Nelson Reservoir 8,993 advanced fingerlings
Total advanced fingerlings stocked numbered 21,955. These fish averaged 100/lb and were 3.5" long. Average pond survival was 93.3%, again well above the 50% mark.
Chinook releases for 2006 are as follows:
175,217 released into Fort Peck Lake as 3” fish
4,988 released into Fort Peck Lake as 7” fish
