Saginaw Bay Walleye Explosion
Unbelievable is how anglers at Saginaw Bay boat launches are describing the walleye fishery. The remarkable spawn of spring 2003 have now grown into 12 to 14 inch eating machines. I fished the In-Fisherman event at the end of June and figured I would go right to the deep basin. That is the 30-foot contour line that defines the deepest portion of the inner bay. Big water means big fish right? Wrong. We actually caught a 7 inch walleye out there. We couldn’t believe that fry had made it through the gauntlet, but the reason he was still swimming was crystal clear. There are millions of young walleye in Saginaw Bay. So many in fact that the schools are much less defined by size as in past years. The only way we could try to keep from catching dozens of these crawler picking, swimming behind the planer board pint-sized walleyes was to either increase the size of spinners by jumping the blade size up to a size 6 or 8, (which still did not insure a 14 incher was going to need a quick lesson in water skiing), or utilize big cranks. We actually got a good bite going on number 12 deep diving Husky Jerks ran 30 to 50 feet back. Since they were about the same size as those little walleyes, we kept most of them off, plus they ran better in the big chop.
So what does this mean for the future of walleye fishing on Saginaw Bay? I have no idea. But a few worries have crossed my mind. Since the Alewife crash, there are many less baitfish. But there is a positive component to this. Alewifes eat the same thing as walleye fry. That probably allows more survival of those fry. That leaves the next question, what are they going to eat in the next stage of their life cycle? The perch recruitment was also good on the bay in 2003, but will it be enough to sustain the millions of walleye in the bay? Only time will tell. We also know there is a good population of spot tale shiners and smelt. But they don’t hang around in the inner bay when the weather heats up. That’s why the basin and outer bay comes into play in relation to the big girls. Many follow the smelt out to the salmon grounds. That area is now producing great catches of big walleyes as there aren’t many salmon to compete with.
There have been suggestions of some out-of-state anglers that the MDNR should consider lowering the size limit for a season of two. Thinning a few out certainly would help the fishery just like it helps our ponds to get those little bluegills out. I just don’t see our fisheries department rolling with the changes. From all indications, the Ohio DNR is already going back to their old size limits of 13 inches and 10 fish per angler in 2006 due to the same year class explosion in 2003 on Lake Erie. Hopefully, the powers that be will have the answers to successfully manage this outstanding resource. There are certainly many things anglers do not understand and dynamics that the fisheries biologist had been studying for years.
By the way, one more tidbit of great news for Saginaw Bay anglers. The pike fishery has also exploded. We took more pike in the ten days I fished the bay than the previous 15 years I have fished there. Big pike as well. Our biggest was about 35 inches and one day we landed 6. They are eating small walleyes, as well as Husky Jerks, stinger spoons and spinners. A few other things that I have already put on my calendar are fall fishing on the Saginaw River and ice fishing the bay this winter. By then, all those little guys will be prime time eaters. Hope to see you out on the bay.
