this years hatch

[penalty box]

do you think with all of this nice weather this spring we will have a good hatch? does anybody remember what the weather was like in 2003

[wakina]

The weather was pretty crappy in 2003! This year the spawn was spread out over several months so I am hoping that those early spawners offspring was afforded some extra time to hatch and grow some and become stronger before that cold spell came in and the high winds started. The river was low and had alot fewer fishermen than years past and that could play a factor as well. The fish caught in the river has very little affect on the spawn itself but the people wading around crushing those eggs do. So like everyone else I have my fingers crossed and am hoping for the best!!!

[whitecapper]

when the weather is calm and sunny in the spring, it usually results in a good hatch. This year was great for a good walleye hatch. Erie always seem to have a number of bad years followed by a good/great yr.. Hopefully this years hatch will result in great fishing in the future. Funny, I am more worried about the charters pounding em daily on the reefs as they try to spawn! I guess it depends on your perspective.

[wakina]

I agree with you on what you are saying, no big rain storms means no large amount of pollutans washing into the lake. Now we can hope the little guys can live into the fingerling stage and that is the hard part, but they grow fast and every day without a major storm is a blessing and adds to the chance for success.

Getting the eggs hatched is the easy part, getting the fry to the fingerling stage is the hard part. What I am trying to say is the survival of the fry is what determines success or failure. That is why the state quit stocking eyes in Erie.

Stated to me by an ODNR staff member:

"If the conditions are not conductive for wild fry to survive then those same conditions are not conductive for the survival of hatchery raised fry. Lake erie being such a large body of water is impacted by storms and runoff from a much larger and more diverse area with combinations of different pollutants than a smaller inland lake would be"