During the spring of 2000, 10 walleye were radio-tagged and tracked in Delta Marsh. Compared to 1999 numbers, (22 walleye, six carp), fewer fish were tagged in 2000 so we could spend more time tracking individual fish. Fish were captured between April 24 and May 15 at three different sites (Clandeboye Channel, the south side of Clandeboye Bay at Waterhen Creek, and Waterhen Bay). All fish tagged were female. Although we were particularly interested in tagging ripe females, we had difficulty finding female walleye in the marsh. The majority of walleye captured early in the spring were males. We did tag 2 ripe (containing eggs) females, the remainder had already released their eggs when captured. Number of days individual fish were tracked in the marsh ranged from 1 day to 28 days. As was found in 1999, fish moved during the daylight hours in the marsh, but only returned to the lake through Clandeboye Channel during the night. The last of our tagged fish left the marsh on June 14.

     One walleye (149.010) moved farther into the marsh than any other walleye we have tracked. Three days after it was released in Clandeboye Bay, it had moved about 7km into East Bluebill Bay. This fish then spent the next 2 weeks moving back through the marsh and out into Lake Manitoba. This year we observed considerable use of Waterhen Creek (between Clandeboye Bay and Waterhen Bay) and also much greater use of Waterhen Bay. There were also more sightings throughout Clandeboye Bay as well. Also, two fish (149.040 and 149.100) entered Clandeboye Channel as though they were leaving the marsh, but returned to the marsh and left at a later date.

Tracking Data of Walleye

• 2000 summary of walleye positions. (Acrobat^® PDF: 130K/1 page)
  
  In 2000 we found much greater use of Waterhen Bay than the previous year. There was also much greater use of the rest Clandeboye Bay. One fish (149.010) moved further into the marsh (East Bluebill Bay) than any other walleye we have tracked.
  
  
• Walleye 149.010 (Acrobat^® PDF: 187K/2 pages)
  
  Our first fish tagged was a ripe female still full of eggs. This fish moved more than any other walleye we tagged. Three days after being tagged it had moved about 7km into the marsh.
  
  
• Walleye 149.020 (Acrobat^® PDF: 115K/1 page)
  
  This fish was also a ripe female full of eggs. It remained in Clandeboye Bay for 2 days following release, but then disappeared. Extensive searches of the east side of Delta Marsh failed to find it. Three days after it disappeared it was found in Waterhen Creek heading towards Clandeboye Bay. Two and a half hours later it was in Clandeboye Channel and it swam back out into Lake Manitoba.
  
  
• Walleye 149.030 (Acrobat^® PDF: 114K/1 page)
  
  A spent female, this fish was caught at the Clandeboye side of Waterhen Creek. It spent the next few days at the Waterhen Bay side of the creek before returning to Lake Manitoba, 4 days after it was tagged.
  
  
• Walleye 149.040 (Acrobat^® PDF: 117K/1 page)
  
  Another spent female that was caught at Waterhen Creek. This fish spent about 15 days in Waterhen Bay. It then entered Clandeboye Channel on 18 May at 4am, but returned to Clandeboye Bay for the remainder of the day before finally leaving the marsh at 11:30pm.
  
  
• Walleye 149.050 (Acrobat^® PDF: 115K/1 page)
  
  A third spent female caught at Waterhen Creek. This fish spent the next 5 days in Waterhen Bay before leaving the marsh on the 8 May at 1am.
  
  
• Walleye 149.060 (Acrobat^® PDF: 115K/1 page)
  
  This fish as also caught at Waterhen Creek and followed a similar movement pattern as seen in the other 3 fish caught at the same time. Following release it moved down Waterhen Creek into Waterhen Bay. It remained there for 3 days before returning to Clandeboye Bay and then back out into Lake Manitoba.
  
  
• Walleye 149.070 (Acrobat^® PDF: 113K/1 page)
  
  This female was caught at Clandeboye Channel and was only tracked for one full day in the marsh before it returned to Lake Manitoba.
  
  
• Walleye 149.080 (Acrobat^® PDF: 114K/1 page)
  
  This female was also caught in Clandeboye Channel. It spent most of its time in the southeast corner of Clandeboye Bay. This fish had a movement pattern that was very similar to fish tracked in 1999. We tracked this fish for 14 days in the marsh before it returned to Lake Manitoba on 22 May.
  
  
• Walleye 149.090 (Acrobat^® PDF: 114K/1 page)
  
  This fish was caught and released in Waterhen Bay. Following release it spent about six days in Waterhen Bay and then moved up into Clandeboye Bay, where it spent about 10 days before returning to Lake Manitoba on 31 May.
  
  
• Walleye 149.100 (Acrobat^® PDF: 117K/1 page)
  
  This fish was also caught and released in Waterhen Bay. It spent the first two weeks after release in this bay. On the night of 3 June it was picked up by our fixed monitoring station in Clandeboye Channel. It did not move into Lake Manitoba but instead returned to Delta Marsh. It made several trips between Clandeboye and Waterhen Bays over the next two weeks before returning to Lake Manitoba on 14 June.