Can anyone chime in ?

[wakina]

I guess I will have to check some of my older posts and see if I said the same thing awhile back. I hope the studies are true from the magazine. I will have to read that, then make a few phone calls to see if the story holds water. As for the people I have talked to over the last few months, it is all making the right sense. Lets all keep our fingers crossed thats its all true. Charter captains conference is in 6 weeks and I should have a good idea from the info given out on that day. I will try to pass on any viable info to put the rumors to rest.

Here is link to a thread from Jan 1, 2012 that has your observation as well as mine about the hatch for 2011. There were lots of YOY walleyes caught by perch fishermen this past fall, also the minnow netters had their problems with them while netting bait for the perch fishermen! Hopefully things are better than what showed up in the ODNR trawls this fall. Based upon my observations and reports from my friends it is hard for me to believe the walleye hatch was as poor as they claimed it to be.

http://community.walleye.com/showthread.php?t=3755

[half pole]

I agree. We caught little walleye I think every perch trip this fall. I do remember 1 day catching 13 little spikes in about a 3 hour perch trip. All I can say is hope for the best.

[wakina]

Here is a link that says what the state thinks, but it is only half complete just like it was in 2010 when they released it. Then had to revise the numbers up to an almost average hatch after completing the second half of the trawls!

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/enew...6/Default.aspx

[yrick82]

Lake Erie Western Basin: Until the spring of 2011, Erie's western basin hadn't seen a productive spawning season since 2003. Biologists know that strong year classes like the one in 2003 are rare. WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE IDEAL and the spring of 2011 appers to have produced another banner year class to bouy the fishery for years to come. That's great news for anglers who target walleyes at ports including Monroe, Luna Pier, and Toledo.

Lake Erie Central Basin: What's good for the Western basin of Lake Erie is also good for the Central basin. The huge 2011 year class also occured in many parts of the central basin. BIOLOGIST ESTIMATE IT COULD BE THE LARGEST IN LAKE ERIE HISTORY. Walleyes that spawn in the western basin travel through the central basin during spring and fall. These transient and resident fish make for easy pickings at popular ports including Port Clinton, Huron, and Lorain.


It would be nice if they wrer right. Not what I had heard previously though.

[wakina]

Lake Erie Western Basin: Until the spring of 2011, Erie's western basin hadn't seen a productive spawning season since 2003. Biologists know that strong year classes like the one in 2003 are rare. WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE IDEAL and the spring of 2011 appers to have produced another banner year class to bouy the fishery for years to come. That's great news for anglers who target walleyes at ports including Monroe, Luna Pier, and Toledo.

Lake Erie Central Basin: What's good for the Western basin of Lake Erie is also good for the Central basin. The huge 2011 year class also occured in many parts of the central basin. BIOLOGIST ESTIMATE IT COULD BE THE LARGEST IN LAKE ERIE HISTORY. Walleyes that spawn in the western basin travel through the central basin during spring and fall. These transient and resident fish make for easy pickings at popular ports including Port Clinton, Huron, and Lorain.

It would be nice if they wrer right. Not what I had heard previously though.

I personally believe the 2011 walleye hatch survial was and is better than what the test trawls indicate. But there is no way that I feel the 2011 hatch and survival rate was or is the "LARGEST IN LAKE ERIE HISTORY" Probably more like 2010 which turned out much better than the trawls indicated at first. I felt this way, long before this article became available. I don't believe the ODNR would be keeping this a secret if the hatch was that great!!!
check link!

http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/discuss/...ic,1337.0.html

[Fish Tales]

Just throwing this out there if this is true could the reported high hatch be related to the low number of people fishing in the spring of 2011 due to weather conditions?

Kevin