Stocking Walleye Fry
By Staff | May 18, 2021
Last Wednesday, May 6, the Iowa DNR could be spotted stocking Five Island Lake with hundreds of thousands of tiny walleye fry as part of their annual stocking run. Walleye fry from the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery were poured into the lower west side of the lake in an effort to maintain the walleye population. Even though there are high stock numbers involved, it is estimated that a fraction of a percent will survive.
Because walleye don’t generally reproduce naturally in their degraded habitat, they are sustained through stocking. According to the Iowa DNR, walleye fry have been stocked extensively in Iowa for at least five decades, with the newly hatched walleye poured directly into lakes and rivers across the state. Their survival is variable from year to year mostly due to environmental conditions and other factors like water temperature, timing, etc. The fry stocking will be followed up with the stocking of fall fingerlings which ar
Five Island Lake Assoc.
By Staff | Apr 13, 2021
Common carp and big mouth buffalo. Unless you live on a lake or fish regularly these are not species that most people are even aware exist. But to those that know, these fish are not welcome in waters that provide recreational activities, lake living and a connection to a pleasing natural resource. Both fish can be a nuisance, become over abundant and adversely affect water clarity and health.
Lake protective organizations throughout Iowa work with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and their eight fish hatcheries around the state to manage invasive fish species. According to Mike Hawkins, Fisheries Biologist at the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery, (who contributed to this column) the common carp is a non-native invasive fish that was introduced in the United States in the late 1800’s. European immigrants valued the common carp and wanted it introduced to US waters. Persistence finally gained approval from the federal governm