MCWA - 320,000 walleyes stocked in pond

[Hamilton Reef]

Yes, I know this is a muskie forum, but this Mason County Walleye Association is special. The MCWA was our major supporter to help get our muskie program started in Hamlin Lake. MCWA is the model for a walleye organization helping the DNR just as the MMA is the model for a muskie organization helping the DNR. Together the MCWA & MAA are the model of walleye & muskie fishers working together on Hamlin Lake. Thank you to both MCWA & MAA.

320,000 walleyes stocked in pond
Next stop, regional lakes

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news. ... y_id=31176

5-2-2006 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348

PERE MARQUETTE TWP. — With some sun, fair temperatures and a little luck, almost 150,000 walleyes will be finding their way into area lakes later this summer.

How many are actually planted depends upon how many of the 320,000 fry stocked in the Mason County Walleye Association’s pond survive for the next six weeks or so.

The Department of Natural Resources delivered the fish to the pond on Monday.

Fisheries Technician Eric Askam opened six foam coolers, placed the large plastic bags full of fry into the pond to acclimate the fish to the water temperature, then released the 320,000 half-inch-long fish into the shallow pond.

After 42 days of feeding on the zooplankton in the pond, the walleyes will be harvested by fyke nets and planted in lakes around the region.

Among the planned plantings in Mason County are 134,000 for Hamlin Lake and 7,500 for Hackert Lake.

But plantings don’t always happen as planned.

Last year, while the Mason County Walleye Association pond produced about 233,000 walleyes, many of which went to Portage Lake, Houghton Lake and Big Star Lake. Hackert Lake received about 350 fall fingerlings up to six inches long. The fish had been left in the MCWA pond to grow after the initial DNR harvest.

But the DNR’s other ponds didn’t produce well, meaning there are other lakes with severe stocking needs.

“We’ve got walleye lakes all over the unit that didn’t get stocked last year,” said Mark Tonello, a DNR fisheries biologist. “We’ve got to see what we wind up with. We’ve got a bunch of lakes from last year that didn’t get hit. I’m hoping, but it all depends on what we get.”

Tonello said without the Mason County pond, last year would have been a total disaster for walleye stocking in northwest Michigan.

“That Mason County pond has been pretty darn consistent,” Tonello said. “We’ve been relying heavily on it. Those guys do a really good job for us. Thank goodness that we have that pond because we needed it last year.”

Tonello said the main reason the Mason County pond does well are its depth, its plankton production, which is aided by 1,500 pounds of soymeal placed in the pond by MCWA directors each April.

The Mason County Walleye Association is supported by earmarked donations to the Community Foundation for Mason County and a biennial banquet, which is scheduled for late October this year. For more information about the MCWA, contact Carter Koles at 843-2183. For more information about the Community Foundation for Mason County, or to make an earmarked donation, contact Mike Oakes at 845-0326.