Walleyes For Tomorrow Local Chapter

by Tom Kramer, Headwaters Basin Chapter WFT

Walleyes For Tomorrow (WFT) is a nonprofit organization that does habitat projects and stocking throughout the state of Wisconsin and is currently using portable fish hatcheries on a variety of lakes. Headwaters Basin Chapter of Walleyes for Tomorrow had two portable fish hatcheries out this spring. One was placed on the Manitowish Waters Chain and the other on the Minocqua Chain. The Manitowish Chain collected just over one million eggs and five million were collected on the Minocqua Chain. When the eggs hatch and turn into fry they will be released back into the lakes The fry on the Manitowish Chain will be put into Alder Lake to enhance natural reproduction on that lake. When the fry are released, we will estimate how many fry survived in the hatchery and let you know approximately how many were released. One of the pictures is squeezing the eggs out of a female and clipping a fin on a fish to get the DNA from the male and female to see if any of the young-of-year walleye are from fish raised in the hatchery. The DNR biologists will electro-shock the lake in the fall to capture young-of-year fish. I would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped to make this year a success.

Due to the poor ice conditions this winter, fish habitat sticks were not put in on the Manitowish Chain. We plan to install some this coming winter if ice conditions allow.