More Than 4,000 Walleyes Released at Pine Lake in LaPorte

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Published: 17 October 2013

(Provided by Indiana DNR)

Fishing at LaPorte’s Pine Lake received a boost this month as the DNR stocked 4,018 walleye advanced fingerlings there.

The walleyes were reared by inmates at Terre Haute’s Federal Correctional Complex as part of a partnership between the DNR and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The same facility grows catfish for the Go FishIN in the City program, a program to enhance fishing opportunities in Indiana’s urban areas.

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MWA/DNR Walleye Stockings Paying Off

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Published: 14 October 2013

By Louie Stout

Fingerlings in netWhen Barry Ukele and a handful of others started the Michiana Walleye Association in 1993, they shared a dream of consistently catching keeper walleyes from the St. Joseph River.

They launched a stocking program with help from the DNR, and while the river has produced decent walleye fishing, keeper-size fish have been scarce.

Until this year.

“We’ve always been able to catch 6 or 8 sub-legal and maybe one legal fish (15-plus inches),” noted Ukele. “But this season has been different. One week this summer, I was catching 8 to 10 keepers and 6 non-keepers. It’s been fantastic all year.”

The difference? River biologist Neil Ledet credits the cooperative efforts with the club to stock larger fish in fewer numbers. The survival is much better as the bigger walleyes survive the winter better and grow faster.

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