Spirit Lake, Iowa — April 9th crews with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources placed fyke nets in the outlet of the soughs that flow into Big Spirit, to start collecting northern pike, which spawn in the sloughs and shallow vegetated areas around the Iowa Great Lakes prior to ice thaw.
The DNR collected a total of 257 adult northern pike in one night, which were transported to the Spirit Lake Hatchery. Over 2.4 million eggs were produced by the broodstock, and are currently being incubated in special jars, allowing fresh water to flow over the eggs. In less than two weeks, the fry will hatch and be stocked into Iowa’s shallow lakes.
Elsewhere in Iowa, walleye collection has begun at Clear Lake, Rathbun Resevoir, and Storm lake, with collection efforts soon at the Iowa Great Lakes.
Crews with the DNR will set gillnets at night looking for walleyes that are ready to spawn.
It is normal this time of year for hatcheries operating into the early morning hours as local staff bring in nightly hauls well past midnight. The fish “ripen” and the eggs are removed from the walleyes, and the fish are then returned to the lake that they were caught, making room for the next night’s catch.
The goal to collect enough fish to hatch 162 million walleye fry to supply Iowa lakes and fish hatcheries.
The Clear Lake, Rathburn, Spirit Lake, and Storm lake fish hatcheries are open, and are ready for visitors. The DNR encourages potential visitors to contact the individual hatchery that is intended to visit for visitor hours.
