Walleye Survey

Type: Nontidal
Region: Western
Location: Potomac River

Fisheries conducted an annual assessment of the Potomac walleye population on March 21 in the vicinity of Dam 4 in Washington County. The collection had two objectives: determine the size distribution of the population and collect brood for spawning at the Cedarville Warmwater Hatchery. A third of the walleye collected during the survey had already spawned, a bit earlier than normal. The current Potomac walleye population is largely made up of older age fish from the record 2001 yearclass, now measuring between 18 and 25 inches in length. Although natural reproduction has occurred most years since, none of the yearclasses have been close to the magnitude of the 2001 yearclass, and the 2008 and 2009 yearclasses were very low. Fishing for large walleye is great right now, but anglers can expect lower catch rates in the coming years. To supplement natural reproduction, Fisheries will resume stocking using fry/fingerlings produced from the Potomac River brood collected during the spring surveys. Once spawned at the hatchery, the brood fish are returned to the river.

Spring is always a time of change, and the weather has been no exception. Hot one day, snow flurries the next, windy nearly every day. As a result, fishing can also be hot and cold as well. This past weekend I had to fish and decided to tough out the high flows and cold weather and, hopefully, catch a few smallies. River temperatures have dropped from 51�F down to 46�F. The action was pretty slow, but I did manage to catch a few good ones, including a beautiful 21 incher. All of the bass were caught on tubes and jigs worked slowly on the bottom. As water levels drop and river temperatures begin to rise again, bass fishing should improve significantly.