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Fisheries staff report stable walleye factory at Lake Sharpe, paddlefish study and zebra‑mussel spread
Summary
Fisheries biologist Bob Hton told the commission that Lake Sharpe remains a productive walleye fishery with average catch rates above the national mean, ongoing tagging studies, a new 2026 SDSU study to estimate paddlefish, and detection of zebra mussels moving reservoir‑wide.
Fisheries biologist Bob Hton presented the commission with survey results for Lake Sharpe, summarizing walleye indices, angler pressure, paddlefish stocking and a recent zebra‑mussel detection.
Hton said gill‑net surveys and diver (scuba) tailrace counts together provide a fuller picture of the reservoir’s adult fish distribution; in high runoff years fish redistribute toward the tailrace and scuba counts can spike while lower‑reservoir gill‑net catches fall. "Without having that survey, we would have been thinking that our gill net, our walleye population was going down... when in reality it was just redistributed," he said.
On walleye metrics, Hton reported that Lake Sharpe is dominated by 10–20 inch fish and that 25% of walleyes caught in September were 15 inches or larger; long‑term average catch rates are about 1.2 walleyes per hour (the national average is roughly 0.35 per hour). The department’s tagging work (started 2017) showed exploitation estimates within sustainable ranges and the agency plans a new walleye tagging study in 2026.
On paddlefish, staff have stocked juveniles since 2015 with assistance from the Gavin's Point National Fish Hatchery and have tag‑and‑capture data beginning in 2022; increased tagging effort did not yield proportionally more captures, so the department will begin a 2026 study with South Dakota State University to try new collection and estimation methods for paddlefish abundance, age and distribution.
Hton also reported zebra mussels were first detected in Lake Sharpe in 2019 and juvenile and adult specimens were found in the upper reservoir in July 2025; staff advised continued "clean, drain and dry" precautions for watercraft to slow spread.
Commissioners asked about the public reporting process for tagged fish and Hton said anglers can report tagged walleyes via an online form on the Game, Fish and Parks website and that some tags carry $100 reward incentives to improve reporting rates.
The report was informational; no commission action was taken.
