(Orleans)– Annual gillnetting operations on the Iowa Great Lakes are in the very early stages of getting underway. Kim Hawkins, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, tells KUOO news they’ve started the operations for northern pike…
“We set some fyke nets in the slough areas for northern pike. We pick those up usually fairly early in the season before we start our walleyes and muskies. We’ll be checking those daily and hopefully get to spawn those fish by the end of the week.”
She says it could be another week or so before the main operations begin for walleye and muskies…
“That water temperature really has to get up to about 45 degrees for walleyes to start thinking that they should start spawning, so we’ll keep an eye on the temperature and the end of the week. Our average start dates are around April 6th through 8th. We’ve been starting around the 10th or 11th now that ice has been out normal times during the last couple years, so we’ll probably be looking early to mid next week to start that process.”
Hawkins says that process typically takes about a week to complete…
“We have to catch about 700 female walleyes this year and then the males to go with, of course. Lately our population has been so great in these lakes around us and we’ve also been getting eggs from our satellite stations from Storm Lake and Clear Lake. That netting only takes about three or four nights but then we’ll be spawning fish for up to about 10 to 12 days.”
Hawkins notes the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery will be open additional hours for visitors once the main operations start.
