Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 6, 2001
For more information: Clark Moen, 947-4657

FISH EGG COLLECTIONS COMPLETED

PIERRE – State Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) officials say Blue Dog Lake State Fish Hatchery in Waubay has recently completed another great year of collecting and hatching northern pike, walleye, and saugeye eggs.

"With the late spring and stable weather conditions during the egg collection, higher than average hatch percentages were recorded this year," said Blue Dog Hatchery Biologist Clark Moen. "Biologists collected more than 12 million northern pike eggs this spring. From these eggs, more than 7 million fry (newly hatched fish) were stocked, giving a hatch percentage of almost 60 percent. Typically the hatching success is 40 percent. The northern pike fry were stocked in 12 lakes located throughout central and eastern South Dakota."

Due to the low numbers of mature walleyes in Lake Oahe, an alternate spawning location was utilized this year.

"Over 73 million walleye eggs were harvested from a small 400-acre lake in north-east South Dakota," Moen noted. "The hatchery stocked 45 million walleye fry, giving a hatch percentage of 61 percent. Hatching success is usually about 50 percent."

The walleye fry were stocked into 29 of the state’s public fishing waters. Hatchery ponds were stocked with two million fry. Moen said after a month, two-inch long fingerlings will be removed from these ponds and stocked into additional public waters. Approximately four million fry were stocked into nine natural rearing ponds. Next October, some of these fry will be removed as 4-to 6-inch fish from these ponds and restocked into public waters.

Also, 900,000 saugeye (a hybrid or cross between walleye and sauger) eggs were collected. More than 680,000 saugeye fry were hatched and stocked with a hatching success rate of more than 75 percent. The hatchery kept 80,000 fry to grow and release as fingerlings, and 100,000 fry went to the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery near Yankton to be grown into fingerlings.

Additional information and guided tours of the Blue Dog Hatchery are available by contacting the hatchery at (605) 947-4657.

-30-