Results from the 2025 Lake Erie trawl surveys, released by ODNR on December 15, 2025, put the western basin walleye hatch index at 128 fish per hectare, well above the long-term average of 57 and the sixth largest in 38 years of surveys. Central basin walleye production was also strong at 26 young-of-year per hectare against a long-term average of 8, ranking fourth of 36 years. The west zone yellow perch hatch was 733 young-of-year per hectare, above the average of 467 and seventh largest of 38 years, while the central and east zones came in below average at 10 and 5 per hectare. ODNR said walleye from the strong 2025 hatches should reach catchable size, surpassing the 15-inch minimum length, as early as spring 2027.
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ODNR trawl surveys rank 2025 Lake Erie walleye hatch sixth largest in 38 years
It is the clearest official signal of how many fish will be available out of Sandusky over the next several seasons, and it lines up with why west zone perch limits stayed high while the eastern zones did not.
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Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Publisher date: .
Evidence checked August 10, 2026.
This is an original summary written for Cedar Point Marina; follow the source link for the publisher's full context.
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