The hatchery knocked out another 4.5 million fry which were released into the lake in the spring of 2015. The crews had perfect weather with winds creating “upwellings” or better known as “chum lines” which the fry were released into giving them the nearby food they need to start their survival process. For more info on the Walleye Wagon go to the Walleye Wagon page on this website.

Jars 1-4 showed the eye up stage for a several days before hatching on the weekend of April 25th just as forecasted on the “help list calendar”.

Some of the fry have had “helmet head” as knick-named by the WDNR fisheries for fry that are reaching the proper temperature units for hatching but slowed by cold weather changes, they tend to be sort of “stalling” the process. Some of the fry get the egg shell stuck on their heads which can lead to their death. At a regular hatchery the WDNR may increase the water temperatures slightly to promote the hatch but at our portable hatchery we can’t add warm water then expect them to transition to the cold lake. Fortunately this weeks weather forecast is very favorable and mother nature will help the process naturally. As expected our jars to started to pop like popcorn, just as we forecasted, perfect timing to get the eggs through the hatching process.

If you want to witness this outstanding process, mark this timing down for next year in 2016 and stop in at the Walleye wagon before the hatch starts to verify forecasted hatch dates.

If you want to see the release process it will be 3 days after the hatching so for example in 2015 it was by May 3-5th. If you don’t know where we are located at W279 N2865 Rocky Point Road or call Tom at 414-333-9603 for directions.

To see the latest article about the Pewaukee Chapter’s Walleye Wagon efforts in 2015 see the “In the News page” or see the T.V. interview – CBS 58 Story on Walleyes or Tomorrow – Pewaukee Lake Chapters “Walleye Wagon” efforts: http://www.cbs58.com/story/29018501/volunteer-group-helping-pewaukee-lake-walleye-population-bounce-back

or in the Wisconsin Game Warden Magazine go to:

http://www.wigamewarden.com/magazine.html

Nets have been cranking out fish….and we have a full hatchery, thanks to a lot of hard work by a high quality group of people who care about the fisheries and the overall health of Pewaukee Lake!!!

Nets were acquired from the WDNR to assure we had enough and we had them in time. The early net crew didn’t waste any time getting a “test net” out to check the status of the walleye spawn. Keith Landers volunteered his boat and pursued to lead the group charge as ripe females were appearing as early as April 6th, 2015?!!!

While lots of “chatter” was flying about between members and other folks about being the only lake in Wisconsin having ripe fish, the crew didn’t slow down for a second besides a storm slamming through…

As the weekend approached the crews were in process of filling the 3rd Jar of eggs.

With Sunday April 12th being a big day ….

Then a slow taper leading to a struggle of one jar a day till April 16th being the last “net day”.

A full hatchery with an estimate of 7,060,000 eggs. This count will go down due to natural processes such as lack of fertilization, or other health related issues. Below is a typical net of Pewaukee fish.

Here is a tank of nice spawning Pewaukee Walleyes waiting to be milked…

Then there’s the milking action and fertilizing that was done by several of the crew this year – Frank Yurchich, Scott Czechan, Jim Schmitz, Keith Landers and myself…My favorite part is fertilizing…

Here is what the hatchery to Jars look like to date, we need to run and get some tanks ready for a hatch so more pictures to follow…

Eggs are getting close to “eye-up” as of April 20th, 2015

Stop in at the hatchery and check out this process….the Last week of April we need all hands on deck as the hatch will be underway!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!