comerants

so i was driving around the lake today lookin for fish and the only thing i seen was comerants ( the low flyin black " ducks" ) and i got to thinkin about wat we have been talkin about with the low number of walleyes that people are catching. could there be some connection between the two? with the western basin being so shallow could it be easier for the birds to eat more of the small fish while they are on the reefs? just something to think about.

Fishon205 I recently wrote to the ODNR on the regards to the low walleye count and the recent conditions in terms of this years horrible spawn and the relationship in which that will have on the future of fishing in the area and this is the response that I got.

Mr. Miller,

Generally, the declining walleye population over the past few years is
associated with a couple of things. First, the very large 2003
year-class is aging, and moving through the fishery, and second, we have
had moderate to poor hatches since the large 2003 hatch ('07 and '10
were considered average). In general, however, the walleye population
is still in the 20 million fish range, which is considered a
"maintenance" level. The larger than normal walleye mortality event
that occurred this year was unusual, and probably associated with the
horrible spring weather that we had. We tested several fish for
evidence of viral and bacterial infections that may have been the cause
of the die-off, and samples came back negative, so we believe that the
fish were in a highly stressed state due to the combination of spawning,
and weather, that that opened the door to secondary infections such as
Aeromonas.

I did follow the link you provided below and I see that a whole host of
potential issues have been brought up by the posters. Rather than
address each point with the info that we have, please feel free to call
me at the number below and we can discuss (it would probably take me a
few hours to address all of them in writing....).

Regarding additional spring fishing restrictions, we have been working
extensively in both the tributaries and on the reefs exploring factors
affecting hatch strength over the past decade. As it stands now, we
have no direct evidence that spring fishing is causing the poor hatches,
it appears that it is primarily weather driven. However, we'll continue
to develop science to explore these issues and take whatever management
steps are necessary to ensure that we provide the proper types of
regulations to enhance walleye production.

Thanks for your comments and please give me a call.

Regards,

We are over by Stoney Point and the Newport/Monroe area and the bird numbers seem the same as always. We havn't noticed an increase in their numbers on our end.

i'm not sure if this is true but one of my fishing buddies told me that they eat a lot of small fish tons of them including walleyes. They dive down under the water and catch fish