1. KY: There’s a “southern strain” of walleye?
Pretty common to hear of northern- vs southern-strain fish when talking about largemouth bass, but first I’d ever heard that talk in the walleye world was this interesting write-up in the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Don’t look a whole lot different, but those river fish sure are built:
> “In 1995 KDFWR fishery personnel discovered a surviving population of the original native walleye strain in the Rockcastle River, a 54.8-mile whitewater tributary to the Cumberland River. Brood fish taken from the Rockcastle River were used to start a program to restore the native walleye throughout its former range in KY. Stocking began in 2002.
> “Today, the target production for native walleye at the Minor Clark Fish Hatchery is 90K fingerlings (2.5′ fish). They are stocked in June into 4 rivers and 2 lakes.”
2. MI: Commercial fishermen not happy…
…about several new reg changes potentially coming down the pipe. Some folks are worried “this could be the kind of thing that wipes out people.” Quick summary of the 3 different bills being considered in the MI house of reps:
> “It would add new layers of regulation, including reporting the GPS locations of their nets to the DNR and increasing some fees. …would also bar commercial fishing operations from ever harvesting lake perch, walleye or trout. Currently, those species are only available to recreational anglers and charter fisherman. But the bills would permanently restrict commercial operations from ever fishing them in the future.”
3. New twist swing on the classic ball-head jig.
An ICAST new product release (coming 1/1/21) that’s called the Kalin’s Sling Blade Jig. Adds a “hard tail-shipping action” to your plastics, without having to actually move your bait:
> …patented free-swinging pendulum hook technology. …cut-out swing path allows the hook to freely swing back and forth on a single axis giving the bait maximum movement without moving your bait up and down in the water column. …adds a hard tail-whipping action that no fish has ever witnessed.
For you visual learners:
How cool is that?
4. OH DNR awards $400K+ in grants for Lake Erie projects.
> “This year’s projects include installing an ADA-compliant observation deck, boardwalk and educational panels, 5 connected stormwater/wetlands planters, creek habitat restoration, waterfront planning and a pedestrian bridge that will provide people with better access to Lake Erie and its shoreline.”
5. Berkley FluoroShield wins ICAST’s “best fishing line.”
A fluorocarbon-infused copolymer that’s supposed to be the best of both worlds:
> “The line’s refractive index is like that of fluorocarbon, which makes it less visible to fish. But it’s also similar to monofilament in that it has a near-neutral buoyancy…fishes great and is super manageable….”
7. WV working to grow larger bluegills.
> “There’s this misconception that you can’t over-harvest bluegill, but we are seeing that overfishing can drastically alter the size of fish available to anglers.”
No doubt.
8. MI: Lake Macatawa boat ramp closed.
Thx to record high-water levels putting the piers underwater.
