# 2017 Muskegon River Walleye Egg-Take Updates(W/Pics)



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2017

Contact: Plainwell Customer Service Center, 269-685-6851 or Elyse Walter, 517-284-5839

*Walleye egg collection efforts on Muskegon River to occur this month*

The Department of Natural Resources reminds Muskegon River anglers that Fisheries Division personnel will be taking walleye eggs below Croton Dam this spring. 

The DNR plans to collect approximately 50 million walleye eggs from the Muskegon River in 2017 that will result in 14 million fry for transfer to rearing ponds and direct fry plants throughout the Lower Peninsula. Walleye fry transferred to ponds will be raised to fingerling size (approximately 1.5 to 2.5 inches) and stocked in late spring or early summer in lakes and rivers throughout the state.

Lake Michigan walleye populations in the Lower Peninsula depend on the fingerlings produced from Muskegon River eggs, as do as many inland lakes in the Lower Peninsula. The size of the walleye spawning run in the Muskegon River is presently about 40,000 to 50,000 each year. DNR crews will strip milt (sperm) and eggs from approximately 600 adult fish, which will be returned to the river – except for 60 which will be sent to Michigan State University for fish health testing.

"This adult population consists of mostly stocked fish," said Ed Pearce, fisheries technician supervisor who coordinates the egg-take. "The Muskegon River has the largest run of walleye in the Lake Michigan watershed south of Green Bay."

The DNR plans to collect walleyes with an electro-fishing boat beginning as early as the week of March 20 and concluding by April 15. Five days of fish collections are planned during this period. The actual date those collections will begin depends on water temperatures and the presence of ripe fish. This schedule can change on a daily basis for many reasons, but it is anticipated most work will be completed from the last week of March through the second week of April. 

Sampling using electrofishing usually begins each day at Croton Dam at about 8:30 a.m. and proceeds downstream to the Pine Street Access Site. If more eggs are needed, additional collections may occur downstream to the Thornapple Street Access Site.

Egg collection and fertilizing is conducted at the Pine Street Public Access Site, about two miles downstream of Croton Dam. This process generally begins between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. The public is welcome to observe how the eggs are removed from the fish and fertilized before they are packed and shipped to Wolf Lake and Platte River State Fish Hatcheries. 

Anglers who wish to avoid the walleye collection activities should fish downstream of the areas of the river previously noted. The DNR asks anglers to exhibit caution when fishing near the electro-fishing boats. Wading anglers will be asked to exit the water when the boat approaches to ensure anglers safety during the electrofishing work. The DNR appreciates angler cooperation during this critical egg take operation.


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

I will be posting our daily shocking schedule as the egg-take moves closer. As of right now, we will be shocking between Croton and Pine Street Monday, March 20th. This is a yearly trout survey we do in conjunction with checking walleye females for ripeness. We will begin around 9am and most shocking should occur above Pine Street. I will post the date of the first egg-take after this survey is completed. As in years past, we will need to cover all areas of the river between Croton and Pine Street during egg-take days to reach our daily quota of ripe fish. Thank you for your cooperation.

Mike Wilson
MDNR Fisheries
Plainwell


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Thank you for you efforts Mike, Rich & crew!!!

Robert


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

We had good numbers of trout in our annual trout survey between Croton and Pine Street. Much better than the last couple years. About a 2 to 1 ratio of rainbows to browns. Most of the rainbows were 11 to 13 inches and most of the browns were 10 to 13 inches with the biggest being 18 inches. There are a decent number of steelhead in the river, but the walleyes were still scarce. We did have a couple ripe females and did notice some egg deposition, but with few fish and temps still appx 37 to 38, it looks like we are going to hold off on the egg-take until Monday, March 27th. If anything changes I will post an update. We will be doing other walleye surveys on the Grand this week.


----------



## JungleGeorge (Apr 18, 2013)

This male was ready to spawn milting when it was 8 degrees out Thursday . About 10nlbs my buddy says who is more of a walleye guy then me. Thought I was snagged on the bottom fishin for steelhead ! Back to the water he went....


----------



## redwings13 (Mar 4, 2010)

NICE FISH. GREAT PICTURE


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

*******First Egg-take is Tuesday, March, 28th*******
It looks like the day of our first egg-take is going to be *Tuesday, March, 28th *instead of Monday.


----------



## MPOW (Dec 27, 2016)

JungleGeorge said:


> View attachment 248972
> This male was ready to spawn milting when it was 8 degrees out Thursday . About 10nlbs my buddy says who is more of a walleye guy then me. Thought I was snagged on the bottom fishin for steelhead ! Back to the water he went....


very cool


----------



## Julez81 (Feb 6, 2009)

We saw some Walleye behavior yesterday that seemed odd. Perhaps you have seen it before and know what they were doing exactly. A 10 lb ish assumed hen was rolling at the surface and getting carried downstream surfacing every few seconds or so including right next to the boat where we could have tried to grab her, she was accompanied by 3 much smaller Walleye assumed males. What exactly was this behavior? Was it attempted spawning with the males so enthusiastic and competitive they collectively pushed her to the surface?


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

That is their act of spawning. A good link below describes it.

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cg....FishesWI.p0883&id=EcoNatRes.FishesWI&isize=M


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

*Just a reminder for those fishing or coming to watch. I'll give an update Tuesday evening.

******First Egg-take is Tuesday, March, 28th*******
It looks like the day of our first egg-take is going to be *Tuesday, March, 28th *instead of Monday.


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

We spawned 56 pair today and handled about about 400 males and females combined. We didn't bring the scale today, but probably had a couple that were 13 or 14 pounders. *Our next egg-take day will be Thursday, March 30th. *Our shocking is usually done between 8:30am to 2:30pm between Croton and Pine Street. Rarely do we shock below Pine Street. Most anglers know the routine, but if you want to have the least disruption to your fishing, it is best to fish below Pine Street on shocking days because we have make multiple shocking runs along both sides of the river throughout the day. As always, thanks for your cooperation. Below is a full tank of temporarily incapacitated walleye ready to be sorted and checked for ripeness.

Mike Wilson
MDNR Fisheries


----------



## steeliebrian24 (Feb 16, 2015)

See a fair amount of steelhead? Thanks for posting updates!!


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

steeliebrian24 said:


> See a fair amount of steelhead? Thanks for posting updates!!


A fair amount, but not real big numbers. Not a lot of fresh fish like the Grand and St Joe this week.


----------



## ready2fish (Apr 2, 2009)

Good read,thanks for the updates


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Good to see you again Mike! 

IDK if Rich will still get my email I sent today (_Auto-reply_) but if you see him, wish him Happy Trails for us please.




Here's a few pics from today - for now.... :mischeif:
























































Thank you for all your efforts!


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Mixing up the magic....


----------



## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

Very cool!


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

You folks try to stay dry & warm out there !


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

We spawned about 65 pairs today and handled about 400 today. Unfortunately there were a fair number 12lbers + that were not quite ready yet. *Our plan is to resume the egg-take next Tuesday, April 4th. *If that changes, I will post an update. We will be doing egg-takes at least 2 days next week.

Mike


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Nice job Mike & crew!
:fish2:
I hope you all stayed warm, even if not 100% dry....


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

sfw1960 said:


> Nice job Mike & crew!
> :fish2:
> I hope you all stayed warm, even if not 100% dry....


Neither!! We knew what kind of day we were in for when there were 5 cars in the ditch just north of Cedar Springs this morning.


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

I was wondering if I should have slapped the Tacoma into 4X4 on the way to GR this morning, but the temp was just this side of freezing, save for the "hydro-slush".

Well, I hope all of you got some nice hot chow & got those bones back up to temp.
I'm sure it was pretty brutal out there knowing I play in that kind of stuff late fall chasing these critters.

One more reason I usually say to *be safe! * 
Hopefully everyone made thru it alright...


----------



## steeliebrian24 (Feb 16, 2015)

wilsonm said:


> We spawned about 65 pairs today and handled about 400 today. Unfortunately there were a fair number 12lbers + that were not quite ready yet. *Our plan is to resume the egg-take next Tuesday, April 4th. *If that changes, I will post an update. We will be doing egg-takes at least 2 days next week.
> 
> Mike


Awesome Work! Thanks for the updates. How do the steelies look? Heading up there Monday for the week to try to catch a few. Thanks again!


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

We spawned 77 pair today. We saw quite a few spent females, but still had about 215 green females which were a mix of large to small fish. I think the largest weighed was 13.5 lbs. Steelhead numbers from Pine Street launch to Croton were a little better than last week, with a few more fresh fish showing up. Water temp was around 41.5. *We will be finishing up the egg-take Thursday, April 6th.*


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

They must know when the WX is brutal for humans...

My creaky old back usually sends a WX report _before _it arrives, and some of my best nights in "the fall" has the trees singing and the water bumpin' and I pay for it. 

Same conditions you folks had to tough out too - but it sounds like you got a pretty good haul today.
:fish2:


Nice work.
RAS


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

wilsonm said:


> We spawned 77 pair today. We saw quite a few spent females, but still had about 215 green females which were a mix of large to small fish. I think the largest weighed was 13.5 lbs. Steelhead numbers from Pine Street launch to Croton were a little better than last week, with a few more fresh fish showing up. Water temp was around 41.5. *We will be finishing up the egg-take Thursday, April 6th.*



*We will be finishing up the egg-take Thursday, April 6th.*


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

We finished up the egg-take today by spawning 68 pairs to meet our quota. The largest today was a 13.8 lb female who wasn't ready to spawn yet. In the next two to three weeks, walleye fry will be stocked into various rearing ponds to grow out to spring and fall fingerlings and some fry stocked directly into lakes and rivers. We did see a large increase in steelhead numbers today between Croton and Pine Street since Tuesday. Thanks to all that came out and watched and also for angler understanding and cooperation on the river. 

Mike Wilson
MDNR Fisheries Division
Plainwell


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Mike, thanks again for all you and the crew do for helping to make our state of Michigan such a great place to live and to fish!

I hope we can see you again next year.... 

Here's a shot of that big girl and some other pictures from today:


----------



## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

More West Michigan Gold:


----------



## wilsonm (Dec 28, 2010)

All returned to the river unharmed


----------



## slowpaya (Oct 23, 2011)

Mike , theres a good pic of you in the mi outdoor news working the muskegon


----------

