North Dakota Game and Fish stocking lakes across the state

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – The Sport and Fish Division fisheries employees have been busy stocking lakes all throughout the state.

The North Dakota Sport and Fish Division manages round 450 lakes statewide, which suggests the 2 federal hatcheries are busy elevating walleye fingerlings for stocking and future angler alternatives.

“We’re going to be plus or minus a couple of fish of 10 million. we’re going to be actually near an all-time file or, , a tremendous yr, let’s put it that manner,” mentioned NDGF fisheries supervisor Jerry Weigel.

Fisheries biologists resolve what lakes to inventory primarily based on netting surveys on district lakes across the state.

“We stocked just a bit bit over 170 lakes throughout the state. That’s down a bit of bit due to not having full potential out of Valley Metropolis with the zebra mussel difficulty and our making an attempt to restrict that to the three lakes which can be optimistic for zebra mussels,” mentioned Weigel.

Weigel mentioned round 2 million fingerlings have been stocked in Lake Sakakawea, 310,000 in Devils Lake, and 842,000 in Stump Lake.

“So the eggs are collected by our state of us taken to the federal hatchery at Riverdale or Valley Metropolis. They then rear the fish out in earthen ponds for 30 to 40 days and we find yourself with our one and 1 / 4 to inch and a half walleye fingerlings proper now. And the state, we come again in and truck the fish to all these 170 plus lakes,” mentioned Weigel.

The explanation for stocking walleye fingerlings is as a result of some lakes don’t have a variety of pure replica.

“So we’re capable of create walleye fisheries in areas that by no means would in any other case be. The opposite actually distinctive factor we’re discovering is, is in a variety of this prairie pothole middle a part of the state, these lakes are loopy productive, and so they’ll develop a walleye to a say, a pound in two years,” mentioned Weigel.

Weigel mentioned there have been a number of different fish species stocked statewide, like 450,000 salmon in Lake Sakakawea, rainbow trout in quite a lot of lakes and neighborhood fisheries. That is the primary time for the reason that hatcheries existence, not one lake was stocked with northern pike due to climate delays and hatchery area, however the pike populations are doing OK.

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