MARQUETTE — Michigan Department of Natural Resources personnel will be conducting nighttime walleye recruitment surveys from late September to mid-October.

These surveys are an important tool for fisheries managers to determine whether walleye that hatched in the spring — known as young-of-year — hatched in the wild or were stocked, as well as how many of those fish are present in an area. This information about the status of young walleye in lakes helps the DNR make informed management decisions.

Using electrofishing boats, crews will survey shallow areas near the shoreline of lakes at night with the goal of capturing young-of-year walleye. Walleye prefer cooler, deeper areas of lakes during the day but move into shallow, nearshore areas at night, making nighttime surveys more efficient

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