Results of the 2006 Fall Walleye Index Netting (FWIN) Surveys

This report documents the results of the 2006 fall walleye index netting (FWIN) surveys in six eastern Washington waters (Figure 1). For more information on Washington walleye biology and distribution and the FWIN sampling protocol, please see the 2005 report.

The results from our 2006 surveys are shown in the form of graphs followed by a brief explanation of each. The relative abundance graph (the geometric average number of walleye per net) compares values from all lakes for all years sampled, on a single graph. After that, there are four individual graphs for each lake: size distribution (the percentage of walleye in each size group), age distribution (the percentage of walleye in each age group), species composition pie chart for 2006, (the percentage of each different species captured in our survey, for each lake) and species composition bar graph over time, which shows the general species composition from 2002 â€" 2006 for each lake. Please bear in mind that since we sample exclusively with gill nets for the FWIN surveys, the species composition graphs may or may not accurately represent the fish communities from each lake. These graphs will only provide a general picture of the fish community make-up. Like any single capture technique, gill nets have particular biases for and against certain species and sizes of fish. They are however, the best single technique for capturing a representative sample of the walleye populations in the fall.