Two-thousand walleyes have found a new home in Clark Lake. This morning, the lake was stocked with 6 to 7 inch walleye that had been spawned in April, and delivered by a company from Imlay City. By stocking the lake with walleye that are closer to maturity, a feeding frenzy is avoided. Fry (or very small walleye) become a mid-morning snack for larger fish, and the whole point of a stocking project can be lost.
When the lake’s new residents grow to be 15-inches or longer, they are a legal catch. It’s hoped that some of the fish will find their way to hard bottom where they, in turn, will spawn and build the lakes population of this desirable game fish.
The walleye arrived at the lake via a tank truck. Volunteers John Deming and John Calhoun took the fish, bucket by bucket into the lake at the Eagle Point Marina boat launch. The stocking took about 45 minutes. But in 45-degree weather, light rain, and stiff wind out of the west, anyone who has taken a dock out of the lake under these conditions knows how it can seem a lot longer.
Each fish came at a price–$2.10 each. The project is funded by donations to the Walleye Association through the Clark Lake Spirit Foundation.