MASON COUNTY
WALLEYE ASSOCIATION
PO BOX 118 •
LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN 49431
| Previous Years |
|
202,000 Walleyes
Harvested from
Pond |
| BY BRIAN MULHERIN, LUDINGTON DAILY NEWS, June 3, 2015 |
 Ben
Molitor, a DNR
summer helper,
Joe Mickevich,
Department of
Natural
Resources
fisheries
technician, and
Jody Johnston, a
hatchery
technician,
empty a fyke net
while harvesting
walleye from the
Mason County
Walleye Pond
Tuesday. The
first day the
DNR collected
more the 202,000
walleye. The
group will be
back today to
continue the
harvest.
|
| It has not been a spring of warm, sunny skies, but on Tuesday the Mason County Walleye Association got to enjoy a perfect day and a promising harvest as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources netted more than 202,000 walleyes out of its pond. |
| Walleyes typically need lots of days like Tuesday for good growth, but at almost an inch and a half long and with more netting planned for today, it looked like this spring’s clouds would carry a silver, err, gold, lining for area walleye anglers. |
| About 167,000 of the fish were put in Hamlin Lake on Tuesday and the remainder of the pond was expected to be used to stock Big Star Lake in Lake County, Portage Lake and/or Bear Lake in Manistee County and possibly Rose Lake in Osceola County. |
| Michigan Department of Natural Resources Supervisor Joe Mickevich, who recently took that position from Scott Heintzelman who is now a biologist supervisor, said things were going well. |
| “These guys have been doing a great job managing things,” Mickevich said. “It’s the nicest pond in the state.” |
|
The MCWA does
not own the
fish. The group
simply takes
delivery of tiny
just-hatched
walleyes and
raises them for
5-6 weeks in the
MCWA pond. The
decisions about
where the fish
will be stocked
are left to the
DNR. |
| GREAT HARVEST |
 Ben
Molitor, a DNR
summer helper,
Joe Mickevich,
Department of
Natural
Resources
Fisheries
Technician
Supervisor, pour
a net full of
walleye into a
bucket to be
weighed Tuesday |
 Department
of Natural
Resources
Fisheries
Technician Eric
Askam works with
Carter Cole on
the number of
walleye being
taken from the
Mason County
Walleye Pond
Tuesday.
|
| The fisheries crew knew things would go well when the first three of their 13 Fyke nets brought in 47,000 walleyes. |
| “We’re seeing a lot of fish, DNR Fisheries Technician Eric Askam said. “The (Mason County Walleye Association) guys did a great job again.” |
|
The DNR’s timing
was also very
good, as the
fish were just
starting to show
signs of
cannibalism,
some thing
expected if the
young fish sit
in the rearing
pond too long. |
| DIRTY WORK |
 More
than 202,500
walleye were
collected at the
Mason County
Walleye Pond
Tuesday.
|
| Several times a summer, the Mason County Walleye Association members will visit the Ludington wastewater treatment plant and net out tiny aquatic organisms called daphia or waterfleas. The daphnia are placed in a small food pond adjacent to the main rearing pond. Once the rearing pond is drained, then the food pond is drained into the dry basin. The daphnia go into kind of a cocoon and wait for more water, which comes in the spring when the ponds are refilled. |
| There was some concern this year with the weather because it wasn't consistently warm like the walleyes prefer, but it was apparently warm enough. Another reason for concern seemed to be the lack of daphnia during surveys of the pond while the young fish were growing, but Koles said it appears there was just enough for the fish to grow on. He noted that the MCWA directors had filled and drained the food pond (into the main pond) multiple times during the spring, giving the walleyes more food. |
|
"I'm real
surprised,"
Koles said of
the numbers of
fish. "So far,
so good. It's
going to be
another good
year." |
| PAYING THE BILLS |
| The MCWA pond is staffed entirely by volunteers. The budget for the group is about $5,000 a year, with most of that going to electrical bills. Other expenses include grounds keeping on the pond, which is necessary because any overhanging brush can provide places for dragonflies to lay eggs. Dragonfly larvae are predatory and reduce the harvest. |
| The funds come primarily from earmarked donations to the Community Foundation for Mason County, but also from a dinner that takes place at the Ludington Boat Club each summer. This year's event is June 20. Tickets are available from Ludington Truck Tops or any MCWA director. |
|
BRIAN MULHERIN,
DAILY NEWS STAFF
WRITER |
| “Making Mason County A Fisherman’s Paradise” |