FONTANA — Geneva Lake is a popular place to catch walleye, but they are not born in the lake. A volunteer group is incubating millions of eggs so the walleye population in Geneva Lake remains high.
Walleyes For Tomorrow restarted its Walworth County chapter, including its portable fish hatchery, last year after a long break. Chapter chairman Justin Woods believes their conservation work is needed now more than ever.
WATCH: Volunteers restart Walworth County fish hatchery to keep Geneva Lake stocked with walleye
"Fishing's tough right now because there was that gap," Woods said. "The fishing really died off. A lot of those fish were harvested from the system."
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is also not stocking walleye in Geneva Lake how they used to. According to their fish stocking summary, the DNR stocked about 100,000 large fingerling walleye every other year between 2015 and 2021. The amount decreased to about 50,000 in both 2023 and 2025.
"There's no natural reproduction," Woods said. "The fish that are in the lake were put there by the DNR or ourselves."
Walleyes For Tomorrow scraped eggs from female walleye in Geneva Lake last month, fertilized them with milt, and spent the past few weeks incubating them. The fish are now hatching, and millions of frys will soon be introduced to the lake.
Woods estimates only one percent of the hatched walleye will make it to full maturity, which happens about five years after they are born.
Anglers such as Rich De Angelo are consistently bringing their boats and rods to Geneva Lake in pursuit of walleye.
"I've caught a lot of walleyes in my day and really enjoyed it," De Angelo said. "I'm learning the walleyes on the lake here, but I know they have their secrets."
De Angelo did not catch any fish on his latest venture on the water, but he said he's grateful for the volunteers' work to give him a chance at reeling in a walleye.
"There's this saying fishermen have: 'The worst day fishing is better than the best day at work,'" De Angelo said.
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