Ohio River walleyes...are they stocked?

[TheCream]

I was just curious, is the DNR stocking walleyes in the Ohio? In several years of sauger trips on the Ohio, we had never caught any walleyes until this year. This year we have caught 8 or 9. Are they just making a "comeback," or have they been stocked? Thanks in advance!

[CritterGitter]

I would hedge a guess that what you caught was actually saugeye. It is a cross breed between a walleye and a sauger. They have been stocked in reservoirs on the Scioto and the Olentangy for years. I imagine there are a few other watersheds that will have a down stream flow into the Ohio that have also had Saugeye stocked for the past 15 to 20 years.

Kyle

[TheCream]

I would hedge a guess that what you caught was actually saugeye. It is a cross breed between a walleye and a sauger. They have been stocked in reservoirs on the Scioto and the Olentangy for years. I imagine there are a few other watersheds that will have a down stream flow into the Ohio that have also had Saugeye stocked for the past 15 to 20 years.

Kyle

Don't be too much money on that, these were walleyes for sure. I can tell the difference. ;)

[CritterGitter]

Oh, I'm not generally a betting man.

I believe it's been approximately 20 years since the ODNR last stocked any watershed that makes it's way to the Ohio river with Walleye. They stopped using walleye because they found survival rates to be poor. My uncle did catch a walleye in Alum Creek resevoir about 5 years ago. It was nearly 7 lbs.

Kyle

[205]

As far as stocking, I dont believe the DNR's have been stocking walleyes. But the Walleye populations in our pools Willow Island, Hannibal pools are doing quite well. A distinct characteristic of the walleye and Saugeye is a noticable black blotch at the back of the dorsal fin and you will notice the bottom of the tail is whitish. You wont find this on the sauger. If this helps. :)

[jscharrer]

We catch a significant amout of walleyes at the Cumberland Dam

[TheCream]

Thanks for the input, folks. I was just curious, especially since all the walleyes we have caught were between about 7-14" long. That would seem like a common size to catch had they been stocked.

Once you catch a walleye and compare it to a sauger or even a saugeye, the walleyes really stand out, at least to me. I love catching all of them. I think there may be no prettier fish in the Ohio River than a good 2lb dark-mottled sauger. :)

[Fish-n-Fool]

Cream - what pool(s) are you fishin?

I don't fish the dam areas for the eyes in the river, but I do stop and pluck them when I find the right area when out cattin. I stumbled onto a real good pattern while out cattin and practically every time I find a spot with the right elements I can catch a bunch of them. Summer before last me and my buddy pulled up so many we lost count (seriously) all in one spot - they really stack up under the right conditions.

PM me and I will share this pattern with you (maybe you already know this also) in exchange for a tid bit of information from you. I didn't go down as much last year as I can get up to Erie in just a little more time and I enjoy Erie more than the river. I also like to eat fish and choose not to eat fish from the Big O, but I can't bring myself to toss them back when up at Erie:D