In this episode of the Montana Outdoor Podcast, you will learn all about Montana's Walleye fishery! Maybe we should have called this podcast "Walleye 101" or if we wanted to get a little cheeky, "Mommy Where Do Walleye Come From". But seriously this week we had Fisheries Biologist Heath Headley from FWP Region 6 in Glasgow, Montana on the show and we were able to learn all about Walleye in Fort Peck Reservoir and how Walleye are reared at the Hatcheries in Fort Peck and Miles City and placed into lakes all around Montana. The conversation with Heath went even deeper than that, however. Downrigger Dale and The Captain asked Heath all kinds of questions, like:
How do you collect Walleye eggs for the hatcheries during the spawning season when the lake is still covered with ice like it is this year?
How do they usually collect Walleye eggs and how many do they usually collect? (Spoiler Alert! You are not going to believe that number!!! WOW!!)
If they can’t collect many eggs this year due to the ice cover will the walleye populations around Montana be, ok?
Do big Walleye produce offspring that will also become big Walleye?
Does a Walleye return to the same spawning grounds it went to during the last spawning season?
Wait a minute! How far did you say that tagged Walleye traveled!?
Can interested people actually participate in the Walleye egg collection effort?
And those are just a few of the questions that were answered in this fascinating podcast.
So, give it a listen now! After you listen, if you still have questions about Walleye in Montana you can email FWP Fisheries Biologist Heath Headley by clicking here. To learn more about the Fish Hatchery in Fort Peck click here. To learn more about the Fish Hatchery in Miles City click here. To get fish stocking plans and data in Montana or to learn about other fish hatcheries in Montana click here. Questions or comments about this podcast? Email host Downrigger Dale by clicking here.
Remember to tune in to our live radio show, The Montana Outdoor Radio Show, every Saturday morning from 6:00AM to 8:00AM. The show airs on 30 radio stations all across the State of Montana. You can get a list of our affiliated radio stations on our website. You can also listen to recordings of past shows, get fishing and and hunting information and much more at that website or on our Facebook page. You can also watch our radio show there as well.