Failure of Walleye Recruitment in a Lake with Little Suitable Spawning Habitat Is Probably Exacerbated by Restricted Home Ranges

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over eight million walleye (Sander vitreus) fry are stocked annually in Honeoye Lake, a small lake in the Finger Lakes region of west-central New York. The objectives of our study were to find and describe the spawning locations and habitats of walleye and to assess natural production of fry. Twenty-three adult walleye were radio-tagged and tracked for up to 2.5 years. They established relatively small home ranges (24–188 ha) and moved more during the three-week spawning season (149 m/d) than the rest of the year (37 m/d). No naturally produced walleye eggs were collected in the Honeoye Lake inlet channel where adults congregated during the 2002 and 2003 spawning seasons, nor were fry collected in the lake until after 8.7 million were stocked in 2003. Radio-tagged walleye exhibited homing and site fidelity in Honeoye Lake but not to the few known areas with suitable spawning substrates (no eggs were collected at these locations).