different kind of walleye?

[sublux]

Here in the northeast we are told that walleyes near clear cool highly oxygenated water to survive,....yet when I went to school in Davenport Iowa, I used to watch them catch walleyes on the city levee in water that looked like strong coffee with cream added,...do you think their are different species/subspecies of walleye that need/don't need certain requirements.....that,. are SO different? ( I remember thinking that Pickeral were northern fish,...but I went bass fishing in the famous Ochochobee and caught 3 of them and no bass!) I "guess" it WAS a bit rare because two old fishermen were in a small boat and one said to the other,..what the ##### was THAT he caught!,...the other said its one of them pickrals,..(like it wasn't all that common to see them,)...leave it to me to catch three of em,....and no bass on that day,..anyway after paying what I did to rent a small boat and motor there,..I don't think I'll be back in a while!

[TIDEYE]

Walleyes can live in a wide range of water clearity and O2 level. They do require more O2 than some fish and less than others. I catch many in both gin clear water and very dirty water and everything inbetween. As long as there is enough O2 and fairly cool water and baitfish they can thrive. You will find that they tend to be a little tougher to catch in the clear water, at least during daylight hours.

Jim

[St Croix Boy]

I read somewhere, I think on this board, that river walleye and lake walleye are different. I believe the topic dealt with planting river fish in a lake, and the river fish would not (or could not) breed.
Where is Stizostedion Vitreum Man when you need him ????

[Stizostedion vitreum man]

He's out catching walleyes!

[Boatnut]

Supposedly the Cumberland River in Kentucky was chock full of the "river strain" of walleyes. When they impounded it and made Lake Cumberland, the river strain of 'eyes would not reproduce so they stock it with a strain that , I believe comes from the great lakes.
Mike(boatnut)

[EAGLE EYES]

The camparison of Walleyes from different bodys of water is very simply understood by using this reference: 1) Take any species of dog that is known to be an outside dog or inside dog. 2) Note what happens to an outside dog when you bring em' inside the house. 3) Note what happens to an inside dog that gets let outside. I think you will notice that, either way, the dogs do not care to be in an enviroment they are not used to. They will either get into mischief or not act like themselves or create mess. Now, Imagine a River Walleye is an outside dog, and a Lake Walleye is and inside dog. ;-) EE

[cisco]

Remember, too, that sublux was basing observations on Iowa walleyes. Iowa...

[EAGLE EYES]

:-)

[Mille Lacs Guy]

From what I understand there are different strands of Walleyes. A friend of mine is a fisheries biologist. He said there are Mississippi Strain Walleyes, Great Lakes Strain, and I think Red River Strain. In Minnesota almost all lakes have Mississippi Stain Walleyes as I understand it. I don't know any other specifics but I think this inforamtion is accurate.

Mille Lacs Guy

[Minnesota]

At the mouth of the Winnipeg River in the fall you can catch what the locals call "green backs". They look different than a regular walleye in that they are green. I think that most species of fish can look slightly different from lake to lake or river to river. They are the same species of fish, just from a different environment. For example, on the St Louis River in Minnesota a couple years back we got 2 6 pound walleyes back to back. One was much darker on the back and much yellower on the side. The other was much whiter. We figured that since the River is iron stained that the darker one must have been native to the river(or maybe he had been in the river spawning longer).

Thats my feeling on it.

[sublux]

Mebbe this is why in a great looking impoundment here (Quabbin res) with its cool clear water with a lot of gravel, rocks etc,..its share of deep waters,..capable of some nice bass/perch (yellow and white) populations,..but mostly noted for Lake trout, rainbows and Salmon,and smelt...that several introductions of Walleye fry seem to have totally failed.

[Stizostedion vitreum man]

Adding to the conversation,

There seems to be some confusion as to what constitutes a variation in the walleye population. First of all the walleye belongs to the perch family -- Family Percidae - it belongs to the genus Stizostedion. There are three reconized species of this genus on the North American continent: Stizostedion candanese ( the sauger), Stizostedion vitreum vitreum (the walleye), and Stizostedion vitreum glaucum (the blue walleye), this does not include hybrids such as the saugeye.

Variaions of habitat have a great influence upon not only the color of the walleye, but also their actions/reactions. The so called "river wallleye" usually will seem to be a much stronger fish because of its habitat, often times contending with the strong flow of water.

Walleyes spawn, usually in rocky, gravel, type conditions. Some will move up a river to spawn, when such conditions prevail, others will spawn on rocky shoreline, and others wll spawn on other stucture in the lake that presents itself. Some walleyes will remain as "residents" of a certain area, while other will migrate, following baitfish. This does not, however, make them a different species. The term "strain" has to do more with their geographical location and their reponse to their environment rather than being a different fish or variation of that fish.

In response to the stocking of walley in nonwalleye lakes. Many people feel that the solution to overharvesting, is to just stock more walleyes in a given body of water. The truth of the matter is, if you stock walleye in a lake that does not have natural reproduction habitats, the walleye fry (if not the fingerlings) will just end up as tasty morsels for the rough fish population. Stocking of walleyes,if done wisely, is a good practice,however,it does not always enhance the walleye populations in areas where walleyes are not indigenous.

S.v.m

[Sublux]

Thank you all for these great posts! Lots of good information...interesting about habitat,..saugar are common in the very south of Lake Champlain here,..but when I asked some of the old fishermen of the northern part of the lake,..some who have fished for 40+ years,....they never heard of them (possibly if one were caught they thought it was a small Walleye?) but that uncommon that they were not aware of them,....why do they stay south in that big water?

[jps]

Where do you live in the northeast? Have a son living in northern Mass. Has been to Lake Winnipesaukee in N.H. What kind of fishing in this lake?

[Sublux]

I live in Northampton,..about 45 min north of Springfield in Western Ma,...I love Winni (I think you guys use that term for a lake near you which confused me for a while) Anyway great small mouth bass fishing,..kind of a dangerous lake IMO,..mainly cause you can have deep water a a few feet away have a rock 2 feet under the water (in open water) ,..some people get confused with the marker systems,..and a number of fatalities every year from this but mainly from rec boat collisions,...its near enough to Boston (money) to have a lot of very hi powered boats with (IMO again)drivers that are nuts,..also lot of jet skis in recent years,...I don't go there much anymore,...not in summer season,.BIG lake,..pretty,...BTW,...the BEST bait there are hellgamites,...(er,..do you have them in your part of the country?) they seem to out fish by far any hardwhare I could ever find and beat crayfish by a mile! They have salmon and lakers but I believe the small mouth is the strong point there..I duuno about walleyes,..I never caught one there but I wasn't fishing for them at that time...

[jps]

>I live in Northampton,..about 45 min
>north of Springfield in Western
>Ma,...I love Winni (I think
>you guys use that term
>for a lake near you
>which confused me for a
>while) Anyway great small mouth
>bass fishing,..kind of a dangerous
>lake IMO,..mainly cause you can
>have deep water a a
>few feet away have a
>rock 2 feet under the
>water (in open water) ,..some
>people get confused with the
>marker systems,..and a number of
>fatalities every year from this
>but mainly from rec boat
>collisions,...its near enough to Boston
>(money) to have a lot
>of very hi powered boats
>with (IMO again)drivers that are
>nuts,..also lot of jet skis
>in recent years,...I don't go
>there much anymore,...not in summer
>season,.BIG lake,..pretty,...BTW,...the BEST bait there
>are hellgamites,...(er,..do you have them
>in your part of the
>country?) they seem to out
>fish by far any hardwhare
>I could ever find and
>beat crayfish by a mile!
>They have salmon and lakers
>but I believe the
>small mouth is the strong
>point there..I duuno about walleyes,..I
>never caught one there but
>I wasn't fishing for them
>at that time...
Thanks for info. I live in NW Ia. Have been out your way a few times. Any other fishing in that area? Son lives in Dunstable,Mass.

[sublux]

We have some great fishing,...but for several reasons fishermen are becoming scarse,..I think perhaps the shock of a fishing Lic to hit what? I don't remember,..I think about 35 bucks for a resident,..not a bad deal I guess but jumped up to cause sticker shock for many fisherman that don't get out much anyway and it makes them stay home,..good trout areas around here,..often an fish for hours and not see anyone on the water,..a shame that I don't see kids trying,..seems like a dieing sport here,..have some lakes,..not a whole lot of walleye water,...seems like they don't get a lot of interest as because of other factors they have slowly declined and lost the base of interest,...(should be a leston to the rest of you and your area...remember the story about how if you put a frog into hot water he jumps out of the pan,.....but if you put him in the water and slowly add heat he boils to death because he can't percieve the change!) I went to school for a while in Davenport,..I loved the people in Iowa,..didn't care much for the weather and the flat land there!
Er Dunstable I believe is on Eastern Ma isn't It? (gee i'm embarrassed not to know this,..esp if its in western/northern Ma)Ummmmm