Photo by Ron Sinfelt

At this instant, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is evaluating its walleye stocking program to determine the status of young marble-eyes -- stocked either as fingerlings or fry.

Are they surviving and growing at the rate they should?

According to Bob Lorantas, a PFBC fisheries biologist, the agency has initiated a review of its walleye-stocking program -- which, he said, will ultimately lead to greater evaluation of survival and returns to anglers.

Currently, the main study area is at Pymatuning Reservoir, a 17,088-acre impoundment in Crawford County in the Northwest Region. As it stands, Pymatuning Reservoir is stocked with fry-sized walleyes. The little fish are just three days old when they are put into their new surroundings. In 2003, Pymatuning Reservoir was planted with over 17 million fry. In 2004, 21.4 million were added to the lake, and in 2005, 13 million fry were stocked in Pymatuning.

Biologists want to know if fry-stocking is the best approach for Pymatuning, and possibly other waters -- or if walleyes of a different size should be stocked. In fact, the agency also plans to learn the extent of predation on young walleyes by black crappies.

“The (evaluation) process began with advanced walleye fry stocked into Pymatuning Lake in 2006,” Lorantas said. “The evaluation represents a first step in (total) survival evaluation.”

Pymatuning is well-known as a walleye hotspot. But of late, anglers have been complaining that the lake’s walleye population is not up to its old standards.

“Here we are operating on the hypothesis that when black crappie populations become naturally abundant at Pymatuning Lake, predation upon walleye fry may limit survival of three-day fry,” Lorantas said.

“Stocking advanced fry represents a method to make walleyes less vulnerable to the black crappie predation.”

Lorantas noted that Leroy Young, head of the Ohio Division of Fisheries Management, began the stocking review.

“He wishes to enlist a process of continued evaluation and improvement to the walleye program in Pennsylvania,” Lorantas said.

Knowing how the stocked walleyes are faring is definitely an important consideration, since the agency currently stocks over 100 waters across the Commonwealth. Of that number, about 20 are rivers or creeks, and the remainder includes lakes or ponds. In a typical year, the state stocks over 70 million walleye fry and 70,000 walleye fingerlings.

“Most studies show that warmwater and coldwater species grow faster in the wild as opposed to in a culture setting,” Lorantas said. “Stocking juveniles into natural, albeit altered habitats leads to the greatest gains in growth. As would be expected, fish stocked as juveniles must endure the rigors of life in the wild, including predation, and not all will survive.

“The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has evaluated survival of a variety of sizes (life stages) stocked at a variety of times, at a variety of density levels, in a variety of water bodies and uses data from these evaluations to guide rearing and stocking procedures such that survival and resulting population levels are maximized.”

Lorantas said that as of this writing, the state’s fall fingerling collections from Pymatuning had not been processed to gauge survival of the advanced fry versus three-day fry, but the project is ongoing.