SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was able to successfully stock Sullivan Lake with a species that doesn’t reproduce naturally in most of Indiana.
During the Spring, Indiana DNR completed its yearly stocking of Indiana waterways with walleye and saugeye. These two fish species are not only known for good food but also for the skill it takes to catch them. Due to the two species not reproducing naturally in most parts of the state, the DNR spawns and stocks the fish in waterways annually. Additional walleye fingerlings are currently being grown in Indiana hatcheries for the fall stocking season.
Spawning operations at Brookville Lake began in late March and ran until early April, resulting in 32.2 million fertilized walleye eggs. The eggs then created 18.9 million newly hatched walleye, 487,304 walleye fingerlings (which are an average of 1.4 inches), and 156,725 saugeye fingerlings. The freshly hatched fish were taken to Indiana waterways in late April, while the fingerlings were distributed at the end of May.
Saugeye fingerlings were used this year to stock Lake Sullivan. Fish were also stocked in several other Indiana counties including:
- Starke
- Franklin
- Union
- Brown
- Monroe
- Orange
- Dubois
- Crawford
- White
- Owen
- Putnam
- LaGrange
- Howard
- Marshall
- Kosciusko
- Delaware
- Henry
- Carroll
- Lake
- Huntington
- Putnam
- Hamilton
The Indiana bag limit on walleye, sauger, and saugeye is six per day among the three species. Walleye must be at least 14 inches for waters south of State Road 26 and 16 inches for waters north of State Road 26. The only exceptions to this rule are in Lake, Starke, Steuben, and LaGrange counties. There is no size limit on sauger or saugeye except for Dubois, Putnam, Sullivan counties, and the Ohio River, which must be 14 inches. Walleye and saugeye will generally reach 14 inches after two years and 16 inches after three.
To learn more about fishing for these species, you can visit this link, or to learn more about fish stocking in Indiana, you can click here.
