A reduction in the number of walleyes stocked by DNR officials at Sylvan Lake in recent years has had little effect on the high quality of walleye fishing.
The 669-acre impoundment in Noble County remains one of the hottest walleye fishing spots in northern Indiana. According to DNR estimates, anglers caught 3,100 walleyes there last summer. Early catches this year are on track to match that figure.
Fishermen took home 550 legal-size walleyes (14 inches or larger) last year. The number was 40 fish shy of the harvest in 2007.
The DNR has stocked walleyes at Sylvan Lake each year since 2001. More than 100,000 walleye fingerlings were released through 2008 and 50,000 have been stocked since 2008.
The fish are purchased from a commercial hatchery in Wisconsin and measure 6-8 inches long when stocked. Because they are larger than walleyes typically stocked in Indiana lakes, their survival has been much better.
“Our initial goal was to flood the lake with walleyes,” said Jed Pearson, DNR biologist. “After that, we felt we could back off.”
Despite the 50 percent reduction in stocking rate, walleye numbers remain high.
Last fall, Pearson and his crew captured 60 walleyes per hour during sampling with an electrofishing boat. The catch rate was one of the highest in the state.
Walleyes that are no longer stocked in Sylvan Lake have been transferred to Clear Lake in Steuben County and Lake Maxinkuckee in Marshall County.
According to Pearson, anglers fished 39,000 total hours last year at Sylvan Lake, including 4,000 hours for walleyes. Anglers who specifically targeted walleyes caught them at the rate of one walleye per three hours of fishing.
The average harvested walleye measured 16 inches long but several longer than 22 inches were taken.
When anglers were asked to rate walleye fishing at Sylvan Lake, two-thirds described it as “good.”
Pearson said walleyes can be found throughout the lake, but seem concentrated in areas along the dam, near Boy Scout Island, and in Pit Basin. Anglers also routinely catch walleyes in the spillway below the dam.
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