ROCK RIVER STATUS REPORT SUMMARY
CHANNEL CATFISH: The Rock River is well known as one of the State’s best catfish rivers. Although abundant throughout the river, our best channel catfish samples are taken near Grand Detour. An assessment of flathead catfish in the Rock River was initiated in October 1999. Hoop net sampling that year resulted in the collection of 232 flatheads, with an average length of 30 inches and average weight slightly above 16 pounds. In 2001, an additional 365 flatheads were collected of similar size. The 2003 collection resulted in 355 flatheads. Of these, 130 fish were over 36 inches in length with an average weight of 37.6 pounds. All fish were marked with metal opercle tags to obtain information on exploitation rates, growth, and movement. A nominal reward of $5 per tag has been offered for angler recapture by Rock River Resource Partners.
WALLEYE AND SAUGER: As a result of successful stocking programs, the Rock River has become known as a good walleye fishery in recent years. Fall 2000 sampling from Oregon to Prophetstown produced 23 to 37 walleye per hour. In addition, quite a few sauger over 14 inches were seen below the dams in Oregon and Sterling. Despite low water levels, a fall survey in 2002 at Dixon resulted in the collection of 103 walleye and 14 sauger per hour. All samples included walleye over 20 inches long, the largest being a 26.6 inch, 8.2 pound fish at Prophetstown. Several walleye and sauger in the 1 to 5 pound range were collected during the smallmouth survey in 2003 indicating good fishing prospects. The 2004 survey resulted in huge numbers of walleye at Dixon, Oregon, and Rockton with CPUE’s at 82 walleye/hour, 112 walleye/hour, and 73 walleye/hour respectively. The largest fish were over 4 pounds and the collections included 12 sauger in the 1- 3.2 pound range. Two strong classes of walleye were present in these samples, one in the 7-9" range, and the other in the 12-16" range, with fair to good numbers of walleye above 16". With these numbers, fishing prospects for walleye in the Rock River should remain excellent.
