Iowa Department of Natural Resources' fisheries biologists made their requests to the Spirit Lake Hatchery and Lake Rathbun Hatchery for their walleye fry allocation prior to the recent gillnetting. So, going into the gillnetting process, Kim Hawkins, Spirit Lake Hatchery manager, knew exactly what she needed.

A total of 51 million fry were requested, which meant 85 million eggs were needed with 650-700 ripe females and 250 males that needed to be brought in to the hatchery.