No Walleye egg collection at Wasi Falls for 2018

The LNSA (Lake Nipissing Stakeholders Association) has now apparently announced that due to low water levels and ice cover this spring....the collection of 2 million walleye eggs at Wasi Falls will not take place this season...but presumably will go again next year (if conditions allow).

well I guess we have our first detriment to the late thaw.

So Grumpa does that mean there will be 2 million fry that will mot be released into Nipissing this year

Controversial topic always, but stocking barely affects the walleye population anyway. We'd need like 20 million bucks to properly stock this lake. Nipissing is a walleye factory. If we want to repopulate walleye, just let them do their thing. That's what we're doing now and it's working great.

I nonetheless encourage this stocking effort for various reasons; it's educational, interesting, allows collection of data, and provides a blueprint that can be scaled up if we somehow were to secure additional funding.

Plus, I cringe at the fact that stocked walleye are more likely to end up in a commercial net than in an angler's boat.

I'm not even going to start the conversation regarding the 'need or effectiveness' of a stocking operation again this year. Far too controversial for many.
The whole process gets negatively slammed each season....in-spite of the long term generational history of walleye in the lake. It's simpler to just say...to have any significant impact, on a lake the size of Nipissing...a stocking program would have to be ramped up a hundred times it's current size. The current effort has been just a small scale volunteer operation up to this point. Consequently, it's just best to ignore the broader stocking discussions altogether....and initiate conversation on subjects that draw more positive reaction.
As background, the LNSA were harvesting the 2 million eggs each spring for all but one of the past 30+ years. The eggs are fertilized, cleaned, hardened and eventually incubated on the south shore....then released as fry later.
Part of the issue with curtailment of the egg collection, this year, has to do with the time available to complete the operation. With ice lingering, water levels low and just now starting to rise since the past weekend...it was going to be a later collection this year. As I mentioned, it's strictly a volunteer program (with oversight from the OMNRF)....many of the organizers and main participants are camp/lodge owners and operators....and with a possible delayed collection this season...it was going to push the collection timetable up against the season opener...and camp operators are extremely busy this time of year.
The egg collection program requires much planning, organization...and it's a time consuming labour intensive operation.
So given the water conditions and the small amount of time remaining, apparently it was decided to cancel the collection for this season.
But, I will take this opportunity to thank the LNSA and all the volunteers involved for their current and past efforts regarding the annual Wasi Falls walleye egg collection. Your hard work and time dedicated are much appreciated by many.

Well said as always Grumpa. It’s a respect for the lake and the efforts of the people who, live breathe and die for the Lake that will keep The Nip as a fishing destination for many decades to come....

X 2

X3. Very well said ....

Hello Folks,

The Walleye were spawning last night on the shoreline in our bay last night. The water is up about a foot the last two days.