50 Nebraskaland • June 2023
ake McConaughy is one of the
best fi sheries in Nebraska for
many fi sh, including wiper,
smallmouth bass, channel catfi sh
and, especially, walleye. For the latter,
it is considered one of the best in the
Midwest. Maintaining the walleye
fi shery, however, is complicated.
Recruitment is cyclical in most
walleye waters, with strong
production years often followed by
poor ones, and McConaughy is no
exception. In Big Mac, anglers have as
good of a chance at catching a trophy
walleye as anywhere, but in recent
years have found fewer 15- to 20-inch
fi sh.
Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission is investigating
this, and since 2015, fi sheries
biologists have been working with
University of Nebraska at Kearney
researchers to fi nd the reason behind
low recruitment.
Researchers collected young-of-
the-year walleyes between 2015 and
2018 and found that in each of those
years, 10 percent or less of the total
population was produced naturally.
Knowing increasing survival of
stocked fi sh was critical to improving
recruitment, the researchers also
collected baseline information on
predators, zooplankton and water
clarity. Combining this information
could then be used to develop a map
of locations where stocked fi sh would
L
Promise of
Walleye
Lake Mac Study Fuels Changes to
Fisheries Managment
Story by Julie Geiser
Steve Frederick of Scottsbluff holds a trophy walleye he caught while fi shing along
Kingsley Dam at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala.
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
