Save Our Native Species Inc.
S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie Fishing Club
(A 501 C (3) not for profit organization)

Hatchery operations 2023-24

Hatchery Season Opens-- 1000 Brown Trout Arrive

On Friday November 17, 2023 a truck from the PFBC Linesville Hatchery arrived at The SONS of Lake Erie Hatchery which is located at the foot of Chestnut St. on Presque Isle Bay. The truck was met by 20 SONS volunteers who carried into the hatchery 1000 Brown Trout by the bucketful where the 5-6" long fish were placed into tanks where they will be fed and cared for until April when the fish will be stocked into Presque Isle Bay. Hopefully they will grow to around ten inches by that time. This event marks the beginning of our annual hatchery season which runs until early May when our allotment of walleye will hatch and also stocked into the Bay. We have a permanent hatchery crew of volunteers. Our hatchery manager is Jack Bock and other members of the team are Joe Springer, John Krupinski, Ron Morrow, Don Tombaugh and Mary Runser. They will be assisted by a host of other volunteers who will feed the fish daily and assist in the hatchery operation. Our hatchery has been in operation since 1985 during which time millions of fish including walleye, perch, steelhead and brown trout have been produced.

Brown Trout Stocked 2024

On Wednesday March 27, 2024 the SONS of Lake Erie Hatchery Crew and seven volunteers stocked approx. 800 legal size brown trout in to the waters of Presque Isle Bay which are adjacent to the SONS hatchery. The trout were carried by volunteers by the bucketful out of the hatchery. The browns were brought to the facility on Nov. 17, 2023 where they were fed and cared for by the volunteer crew. Approx. 100 fish were held behind so that they could be held for display for visitors to our upcoming open house.

Walleye Eggs Arrive at hatchery

Our Hatchery’s Allotment of Walleye Eggs was picked at PFBC’s Linesville hatchery by members of our hatchery team on Wednesday April 3. The walleye began spawning earlier than usual due to the mild winter. Our allotment this year was 1,600,000 eggs, they were packed into large plastic bags of water which are given a shot of oxygen and sealed. When they arrived at our hatchery the bags were kept closed and floated in one of our holding tanks until the temperatures match the water flowing into our tanks. The eggs were then gently transferred from the bags into our hatching jars using a ladle. They eggs were already eyed up and even some were already hatching.