Each year Kendall Kamke, Fisheries Biologist of the Wisconsin DNR, shares his assessments and findings on the Winnebago system during the late winter and early spring’s fishing seminars.  The information has become known as “The State of the Lake Address” by many sportsmen.    Much of the information gathered by the WI DNR is collected during the Spring spawning runs in the rivers and again collected in the Fall of the year (to determine the current years hatch and growth rates) on the main lake.

The following information has come from Kendall’s presentation at the World of walleye seminar held in mid February 2010 at Fox Valley Tech in Oshkosh.   

walleyes
On the Winnebago system, the average size ranges of spawning walleye males is 14-16 inches with the average for females in 17-22” ranges.  Of course there are fish which exceed these norms, but the typically spawning walleye falls within these ranges.  

A normal walleye has growth rates as follows on this system:
1 year = 6”
2 years = 11”
3 years = 15”
6 years = 20”
8 years = 25”

Kendall has never held a live 30” walleye from the Winnebago system.  He acknowledges that 30 inch walleyes exist, but states that the nature of the system (shallow and warm) can hinder the ability of the fish to reach and surpass the 30 inch barrier.  The current population, with a strong year class from 2001, is at the stage where 30” fish could start to show up in the near future.  

Unfortunately, the 2009 class of walleye amounted to be a small class.  As a matter of fact, it was the 3rd lowest hatch rate in the last 10 years.  Worry not!  The 2008 class was a near record class, so there should be good fishing for a long time on the system.  During the spring spawning assessments, it was determined that 60% of the spawning walleyes came from the 2001 class of fish.  The estimated population of walleyes over 15” is believed to be at 600,000 to 800,000 fish.  

Forage
As most anglers are aware, the Lake has seen an explosion in the shad numbers over the last year.  The DNR’s stats support what we already know—there was a huge class of shad in 2009.   Specifically, the emerald shiners had the 2nd largest year class in the last 25 years.  Additionally, the gizzard shad had the largest class in 18 years.  The trout perch hatch was only slightly above average.  Some of the other year classes included Sheepheads with a 15 year low hatch, white bass with an average hatch, and a huge class of Crappies was also recorded.  No mention of the hatch rates for perch or bluegill was given.  

Tournaments
Love tournaments or hate tournaments, here are the numbers:  
There were 62 tournament permits issued in 2009 ---  40 walleye, 12 bass, 5 rough fish and 5 miscellaneous.  7,456 anglers took part in these tournaments and spent 76,317.5 hours fishing the system.  A total of $729,057 was awarded.  

This amounts to each acre of water being fished for less than a half hour for the entire year from tournament pressure.  The average tournament fisherman caught .215 walleye for every hour on the water, or about one fish every 4-5 man hours.  Of all the fish caught and weighed in at the tournament, 6,744 were live released or 54.8%.  FLW had the best live release rate at about 85%+.  

Tournament fishermen account for 5-7% of the total walleyes caught with in the year.  93-95% of the walleyes taken from the system came from sportsmen whom were not competing in any event.  However, fishing is the largest single factor in the mortality of the adult walleyes on the system.  

Sauger
The reestablishment of the sauger has gone well.  We are entering into the final year of a 9 million dollar project which has lasted almost 10 years.  Currently the average male sauger is 14.5 inches, and the female is 16.8”.  Kendall attributes the success to many factors, but an 83.7% success rate on the fry hatch has helped considerably for those fish planted into the system.  Many of the 1,000 foot long artificial spawning reefs have helped maintain the sauger population naturally.  On the Winnebago system, the majority of the sauger remain in the main lake to spawn (50-52 degrees Is optimal).  

Musky
From 2002-2007, 613,424 musky have been stocked into the system.  Many of these fish are advancing into the low 40 inch range as of the fall of 2009.  The best areas to target these fish are in Sunset Bay or Boom Bay.   Lake Winnebago has a 50 inch minimum musky regulation currently.  The expectation is that these fish will continue to flourish in the years to come.

 
American White Pelicans
Currently there are approximately 1,101 pairs of nesting pelicans on the system during the summer months.