by AnglersAtlas
How old is the wallyeye I caught in Charlie Lake? The only reliable way to determine the age of a walleye, or any other fish species, is to examine one of the many suitable body parts. Scales have been used traditionally and can be reasonably accurate for some species in certain environments, such as fast-growing fish in warm waters. For most species in norther latitudes, it is preferable to sue bony structures or fin rays. One of the preferred structures is the otolith, which is a tiny bone located in the inner ear of the fish. Growth annuli, much like tree rings, are interpreted to assess the age of the fish.
In Charlie Lake, walleye appear to reach a maximum fork length of approximately 40 cm around age eight, beyond which they grow very little. Each of the small dots in the graph indicates the length and age of each single walleye in a sample, and it also shows a large variation in length or each age. For example, walleye at age four vary in length from about 20 to 35 cm. The larger dots along the curved line indicate the predicted length at each age. The yellow band shows that walleye 40 cm and larger can be as young as five and as old as 19 years of age.
This information from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, was posted Aug. 6 by the North Peace Rod and Gun Club: