A Ten Pound Walleye?

Have you ever wondered how many ten pound walleyes there were out there? I can tell you there are not many. The journey from egg to ten pound trophy is a long and hazardous one and very few fish make it to that goal.

In the spring, female walleyes move into areas that have a good gravel bottom and current to lay their eggs. A healthy female will lay about ½ million eggs. One problem that sometimes happens is that the female lays her eggs in high water conditions and by the time they are ready to hatch, they are on dry ground. If the eggs are in a place where they will be underwater, they take between 12 and 30 days to hatch depending on water temperature.

On the average, about 90% of those eggs that hatch will not survive to adulthood. The baby fish that do make it to adult will have a perilous life. Some will be eaten by bigger fish, some caught by fishermen and some just will be injured and die. Less than 1% will live long enough to become a 10# fish. It takes a combination of good genetics, luck and a good habitat to get a fish that big, and that combination is rare.

So next time you go out and happen to catch a big fish, walleye or any species, remember that you’re holding a very special critter. If you want to have a trophy to remember your fishing trip, by all means take it and have it mounted. But if you’re just going to chop it up and eat it, think about letting it go. That fish had all the right stuff going for it and it didn’t get to trophy size easily. Let it pass its luck and genetics onto the next generation and take some little ones home for eating. It’s a cool thing to watch that beautiful fish swim away, knowing that it will live on and make many more fish for you to catch in the future.

post by: Dan Bomkamp
 
http://www.ruralpropertypro.com/