# Walleye size limit at Hoover?



## CrappieNymph (Apr 21, 2010)

Can anyone tell me what the minimum size limit is for walleye on Hoover? Thanks in advance for your help.


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## Bimmer (Aug 12, 2011)

ODNR does not list any size limit on Hoover for Saugeye.

I don't believe there are walleye in Hoover.


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## CrappieNymph (Apr 21, 2010)

It looks to be a walleye to me but I also heard before there weren't walleye in Hoover. If it's a saugeye, it's 21 inches and I believe a fish ohio. Caught yesterday along with a 15 inch one.


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## Insco (Apr 9, 2008)

I always judged by the white tips on the bottom of the fins. Looks like a Saugeye in my non-professional opinion.


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## Wishiniwasfishing (Apr 1, 2012)

I'm pretty sure its 15" statewide for both saugeye and walleye


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Daily bag limit is 6. No minimum length.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Officially no length limit!


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## onthewater (May 20, 2005)

Alum Creek Res. is the only body of water in Delaware or Franklin Counties that has the 15" size limit for eyes. Hoover and the Scioto watershed have no length limit.


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## blynd fishin (Feb 26, 2011)

There are walleye in Hoover and it looks like one to me...nice catch!


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## dfry16 (Mar 23, 2011)

hoover doesnt have walleye, if it is in fact a walleye id say it was released by someone in there because walleye have not been stocked in that lake for YEARS.. looks like a saug to me and a nice one to boot!


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## Had a Bite (Apr 15, 2012)

Looks like a Saugeye to me. Its a lighter color that a Walleye.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

dfry16 said:


> hoover doesnt have walleye, if it is in fact a walleye id say it was released by someone in there because walleye have not been stocked in that lake for YEARS.. looks like a saug to me and a nice one to boot!


I would say from your avatar pic that you are way too young to remember the large walleye population in Hoover that was at some level self sustaining with natural reproduction.

I would not be surprised if there is not still some level of a natural walleye population in Hoover unless every spawn failed to where there were eventually none left to spawn. 

Of course I remember the big walleye spawning on the rocks at Alum many a year ago also and I haven't heard of a walleye in Alum for a long time. I used to catch walleye in the spillway below Deer Creek and I'm sure those have been gone for at least 3 decades.

I would never say never to a walleye being in Hoover, just don't know.


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## CrappieTacos (Jun 22, 2010)

That's a saugeye thats been dead and on ice for awhile. I have a pic of a saugeye I caught in Buckeye that by the time I got it home it looked exactly like this.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

Lundy said:


> I would say from your avatar pic that you are way too young to remember the large walleye population in Hoover that was at some level self sustaining with natural reproduction.
> 
> I would not be surprised if there is not still some level of a natural walleye population in Hoover unless every spawn failed to where there were eventually none left to spawn.
> 
> ...


+1.... I can only agree


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## CrappieNymph (Apr 21, 2010)

CrappieTacos said:


> That's a saugeye thats been dead and on ice for awhile. I have a pic of a saugeye I caught in Buckeye that by the time I got it home it looked exactly like this.


I caught the walleye/saugeye around 4:00 pm on Sunday and was home and took this picture by 6:00 pm. Was never on ice, just in the livewell. However, Sunday was extremely hot so it could have been like an oven in the livewell for those couple of hours.


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## CrappieNymph (Apr 21, 2010)

I still think it's a walleye but honestly don't know.


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## dfry16 (Mar 23, 2011)

i would never say never either, my dad and grandpa used to catch walleye there all the time.. i caught a big saug there sunday had it in the livewell along with several others and they were almost white by the time i got them home. no matter what it is its a nice eater fish


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## BBO Ohio (May 7, 2012)

Walleye. Gold color and stripes give it away. If it was a saugeye it would have black spots on it looking like a sauger in some ways


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I personally think it is a saugeye but in both pics the dorsal fin is laying flat. I can't count the spines or see if there are black spots.

Either way nice fish.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Saugeye do occur naturally in waters with saugers, saugeyes and walleyes. The rate isn't high but it does occur. 

Some kids look more like the mom some more like the dad, You can normally be pretty confident with a visual identification along with the help of knowing what body of water it was caught from. DNA is the only 100% true way to know for sure.

For ME, if it has splotches on the dorsal it is enough of a saugeye for me to call it one everyday. No splotches, a walleye. I don't fish where there are sauger often so I don't have to fight the saugeye sauger indentification battle.

Jim Corey was our resident expert on saugeye. There were many a discussion about identification and spawning, etc, etc. You can do a search and find a lot of those old discussions. Unfortunately some of it was way back in the GFO days and is lost forever.

Here is a one article Jim wrote on saugeyes and another from a DNR

http://www.walleyesinc.com/walleyeinc2/corey20021.html


_Saugeye Distribution and Identification
Saugeye are a naturally occurring hybrid in water bodies that have reproducing populations of both walleye and sauger. Trautman (1981) suggested that in water bodies with walleye and sauger a hybridization rate of about 2-3% could be expected. Billington et al. (1997) found that 4.1% of all Stizostedion (walleye, sauger, and saugeye) sampled in the Illinois river were saugeye. The sites sampled in the study were not stocked and were sustained through natural reproduction.

In the 1980s, state DNRs around the Midwest began experimenting with stocking saugeye as a sport fish in reservoirs and rivers. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, walleye were stocked with little success in turbid, structure-deficient reservoirs. In the late 70s, it was discovered that saugeye not only survive better than walleye in reservoir habitats, they also grow faster and are more easily caught by anglers. A phenomenon known as &#8220;hybrid vigor&#8221; can most likely explain the hybrid&#8217;s aggressive feeding behaviors. Saugeye were immediately popular with anglers, and states such as Ohio began replacing walleye with yearly stockings of saugeye.

Saugeye look similar to both parental species. They are best identified by the &#8220;blotchy&#8221; saddle markings on their side and back similar to sauger, but they usually have white pigment on the lower portion of their tail along with dark blotches on their dorsal fin membrane. Identification of saugeye can be difficult in water bodies that have all three Stizostedion species, such as the Ohio River, but if it is possible to compare the three species directly at one time, identification is much easier. Ohio, along with most other states that stock saugeye, does not stock both saugeye and walleye in any reservoir._


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## seethe303 (Dec 12, 2006)

Lundy (or anyone who might know), do you know when Ohio stopped stocking walleye in Hoover?


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Back in the 80s...maybe someone has a closer date.

As far as it being a walleye, it's possible but the fisheries folk i've talked to say it's highly unlikely. Take it as you will, but we'll never know if the fish in question is a pure strain walleye or not....unless someone wants to submit the DNA to Maury's show


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## Saugeyeaddict (Oct 22, 2011)

I'd say that's a walleye- vertical stripes and no blotches- probably one of a few leftover from 80's that still sustain a small annual reproduction.


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## Bigfisherman (Sep 10, 2011)

CrappieNymph said:


> Can anyone tell me what the minimum size limit is for walleye on Hoover? Thanks in advance for your help.


There is no size limit on Hoover for walleye/Saugeye read your 2012-2013 fishing regs open it up read upper left corner and under "specific waters Hoover isn't listed


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## CaptJoe (Jan 20, 2009)

Hoover has Saugeye, lol? Wish I knew where to find some. Nice work at any rate.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Thompson240 said:


> Hoover has Saugeye, lol? Wish I knew where to find some. Nice work at any rate.


+1  If we could just dial in a warm water saugeye pattern at Hoover they could call them tuna for all we care.

As has been mentioned here numerous times when discussing stocked hybrids, a small percentage can and do exhibit the dominant traits of only one parent. In a lake that previously held pure strain walleye even a fish biologist would have a hard time telling for sure without doing a DNA test. 

Statistically speaking, I don't see how there can still be any pure strain walleye in Hoover after all these years. If there is, then the state needs to capture a male & female and try to propogate their awesome genetics.


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