Friday, July 30, 2010

Walleye

Scientific Name: Sander vitreus

Common Names: Walleye, Pickeral, Yellow Walleye, Yellow Pike/Pickeral

General Info

In our area, the Walleye is a top predator with sharp teeth and a streamlined body. In fact, Knee Lake and our daily fly-out lakes and rivers offer non-stop action for these remarkable fish. The Walleye is renowned as one of the best tasting of all the freshwater fish. The flesh is mild, white and flaky when cooked up, and tastes much like yellow perch. During a shore lunch at North Star Resort, you will get the opportunity to relax and enjoy a well-prepared feast of scrumptious Walleye fillets prepared specially for you by your guide.

In some parts of the Walleye's range, the fish is known as the Yellow Pike or Pickerel, although the use of these names should be discouraged since the fish is related neither to the Pikes nor to the Pickerels, both of which are members of the Esocidae family.

Description

The name 'Walleye', comes from the fact that their eyes, not unlike those of cats, reflect light. This is the result of a light-gathering layer in the eyes called the tapetum lucidum which allows them to see well in low-light conditions.

Walleyes are largely olive and gold in color (hence the French common name: doré -- golden). The dorsal side of a Walleye is olive, grading into a golden hue on the flanks. The olive/gold pattern is broken up by five darker saddles that extend to the upper sides. The color shades to white on the belly. The mouth of a Walleye is large and is armed with many sharp teeth. The first dorsal and anal fins are spinous as is the operculum. Walleyes are distinguished from their close cousin the sauger by the white coloration on the lower lobe of the tail.

Walleyes grow to about 75cm (30in) in length, and weigh up to about 7kg (15lb). The maximum recorded size for the fish is 107cm (42in) in length and 11.3kg (25lb) in weight. The growth rate depends partly on where in their range they occur, with southern populations often growing faster and larger. In general, females grow larger than males. Walleyes may live for decades; the maximum recorded age is 29 years. In heavily fished populations, however, few Walleye older than 5 or 6 years of age are encountered.

Sport Fishing

Walleyes are abundant, fun to catch, and can get quite large. We have many master angler fish each year at North Star Resort. It if for this reason that our tackle fishing is world-renowned.

The Walleye is often considered to have the best tasting flesh of any freshwater fish, and, consequently, is fished recreationally and commercially. Because of its nocturnal feeding habits, it is most easily caught at night using live minnows or lures that mimic small fishes. Most commercial fisheries for Walleye occur in the Canadian waters of the Great Lakes but there are other locations as well.

Because of Walleye's excellent eyes, many anglers look for Walleyes at night since this is when most major feeding patterns occur. Their eyes also allow them to see well in turbid waters (stained or rough, breaking waters) which gives them an advantage over their prey. Thus, Walleye anglers will commonly look for days and locations where there is a good "Walleye chop" (i.e. rough water).

Because Walleyes are popular with anglers, fishing for Walleyes is regulated by most natural resource agencies such as Manitoba Natural Resources. Management may include the use of quotas and length limits to ensure that populations are not over-exploited. At North Star Resort, we adhere strictly to conservation regulations and advocate catch and release fishing to ensure big fish for generations to come.

Reproduction

Adults migrate to tributary streams in late winter or early spring to lay eggs over gravel and rock, although there are open water reef or shoal spawning strains as well. Some populations are known to spawn on sand or on vegetation. A large female can lay up to 500,000 eggs and no care is given by the parents to the eggs or fry. The eggs are slightly adhesive and fall into spaces between rocks.

The incubation period for the embryos is temperature-dependent but generally lasts from 12 to 30 days. After absorbing the small amount of yolk, young Walleyes begin feeding on invertebrates. After 40 to 60 days, juvenile Walleyes become piscivorous. After this time, both juvenile and adult Walleyes eat fish almost exclusively, frequently yellow perch or ciscoes, moving onto bars and shoals at night to feed.

Habitat

They require fairly clean waters and are found most often in deep mesotrophic lakes and moderate- to low-gradient rivers. The Walleye is considered a "cool water" species. Walleye are very migratory, and will travel great distances to find the right conditions - temperature, food, and spawning grounds.

Feeding Habits

Not only do Walleyes have excellent eyesight, but they also make use of superb hearing, both from ears in its head and its remarkable radial line. A Walleye can sense a single minnow up to 20 feet (6m) away, and tell if it's acting normally, crippled, or sick. Smell also helps Walleye find and capture food.

The Walleye is also an opportunist and will eat voraciously during the warm summer months. As a young fish, it eats primarily insects but will switch to minnows and smaller fish as it gets bigger.

For more fish in our area, see Northern Pike, and Sea-run Brook Trout.

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