The question of whether the walleye population at Yough Reservoir is big enough to sustain a fishery without the help of supplemental stocking may finally be answered once and for all. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission stocked the lake with 10,000 walleye fingerlings this year, and will stock more fish over each of the next five years. It’s the fish that will be stocked in 2003, 2004 and 2005, though — 28,000 each year — that will be most important. They will all be marked with a substance that shows up on their bones under ultraviolet light. The PF&BC will conduct walleye population surveys on the lake beginning in 2006 to see how many fish have that tag. If walleye numbers are up, and a lot of the fish have that tag, the PF&BC will know that supplemental stockings of walleye are making a difference, said Rick Hoopes, director of the PF&BC’s bureau of fisheries. If walleye numbers remain the same as they are now, though, the agency will know that the stockings aren’t worth the cost. “We will know whether there is a viable population of walleye in the lake, or whether we should supplement it with stocked fish,” Hoopes said. “This is what we need to do to answer that question.” Some of the lake’s most dedicated walleye anglers believe they already know the answer. The members of the Yough Walleye Association have long asked the PF&BC to stock Yough Dam with walleyes, arguing that the walleye population seems to be in decline, despite a wealth of bait fish. The fact that the agency has finally conceded is welcome news, said Joe Daveler, who was president of the association for years. He credited state Sen. Richard Kasunic (D-Dunbar) with convincing the PF&BC to undertake the stocking effort. Daveler said club members — there are 265 — agree that walleye reproduce naturally in the lake, despite its low fertility. Where they disagree with the PF&BC, he said, is in believing that that reproduction is enough to sustain a viable fishery, given the number of people who use the lake. “If I’m a walleye fisherman, and I catch a just-legal bass, I throw it back. But if I’m a bass fisherman, and I catch a just-legal walleye, I take it home and eat it because it’s the best eating fish,” Daveler said. “I don’t think the Fish Commission realizes how much pressure there is on that lake.” The PF&BC plans to study that issue, too. Hoopes said the agency will conduct an angler use survey at the Yough to count the number of anglers and the number of fish they harvest. Results of that survey, and the fish population monitoring, should be available by 2007, he said. The PF&BC will continue to manage the lake with supplemental walleye stockings until those results show it should do otherwise, Hoopes said. In the meantime, the walleye association will continue to do what it can to boost fishing at the lake, Daveler said. Club members have planted rye grass for cover in the past, added limestone to some of the lake’s tributaries and built fish structure. They’ll be doing that again on Nov. 24, when they gather at the lake to build fish cribs, Daveler said. The club also plans to continue stocking the lake with walleyes on its own. Members have already stocked $60,000 worth of walleyes since 1994. “Every penny we take in goes back into fish for the lake for the benefit of everyone,” Daveler said. “That’s our home lake. We try to do what we can down there.”

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