“The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”
From “The Art of War”, by Sun Tzu, 5th Century B.C.
WALLEYE IN SOUTH CAROLINA
In this study I was able to identify 3 examples of the walleye in South Carolina from 1994 to 2022: 1 in Lake Russell in 1994, 1 in Lake Tugalo in 2014, and 1 in Lake Tugalo in 2022.
As of 8/29/2023, as a direct result of my scientific study on the walleye, the USGS dropped all of their Non-indigenous Aquatic Species web pages, so I’m proceeding quite ably with this study using other sources.
From 1962 to 1976, dnr.sc.gov says “Walleye were stocked as fry in lakes Greenwood, Hartwell, Murray and Thurmond from 1962 to 1972 by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. However, only Lake Hartwell has a viable, reproducing population.”
If the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources stocked some indeterminate number of walleye fry in lakes Greenwood, Hartwell, Murray and Thurmond from 1962 to 1976, and, further, if only Lake Hartwell has a viable, reproducing walleye population at this writing in 2023, then why are there no examples of the walleye in Lakes Greenwood, Hartwell, Murray and Thurmond from 1962 to this writing in 2023?
Either those stockings did not take place, or those stockings all suffered 100% mortality rates for some unexplained reason.
The absence of any examples of the walleye in Lake Hartwell proves that the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources claim that Lake Hartwell has a viable, reproducing walleye population is false.
The USGS map for the walleye shows it to be indigenous to South Carolina.
If the walleye is indigenous to South Carolina, then why did the South Carolina DNR stock it there from 1962 to 1976?
From 1994 to 2022, the South Carolina state record walleye increased in size by .9%, from 10 pounds to 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces.
In 1994, in the absence of any walleye stocking there, the walleye winked into existence in Lake Russell in South Carolina at a state-record weight of 10 pounds. It would remain in existence there only briefly. In 1994, or soon after, after less than a year in existence there, the walleye disappeared from Lake Russell in South Carolina, and remains absent to this day.
In 1994, Robert Huskins caught the South Carolina state record walleye in Lake Russell. It weighed 10 pounds.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says that they stocked walleye fry in lakes Greenwood, Hartwell, Murray and Thurmond from 1962 to 1972, and averred that, as of 2023, only Lake Hartwell had a viable, reproducing population.
Yet, here, the 1994 South Carolina state record walleye is from Lake Russell, which was not stocked.
Thus, the South Carolina DNR’s claim that stocking is the source of the walleye in South Carolina is false.
If the South Carolina DNR stocked walleye fry in lakes Greenwood, Hartwell, Murray and Thurmond from 1962 to 1972, then why isn’t there a South Carolina state record walleye until 1994?
If Lake Hartwell is the only location in South Carolina with a viable, reproducing population of walleye, as alleged by the South Carolina DNR, then why are the examples of the walleye in this study from Lake Russell and Lake Tugalo, which have both, as a bonus, never been stocked?
The South Carolina DNR’s claim that there is a viable, reproducing population of walleye in Lake Hartwell is false.
The USGS map for the walleye shows the walleye as indigenous to South Carolina.
If the walleye is indigenous to South Carolina, then why are there no South Carolina state record walleye prior to 1994?
From 2014 to 2022, the Lake Tugalo, South Carolina record walleye increased in size by 1.5%, from 9 pounds, 15.02 ounces to 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces.
In 2022, after an absence of eight years, the walleye winked back into existence on Lake Tugalo in South Carolina at a state-record 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces, which was 1.5% larger than the 9 pounds, 15.02 ounces at which it had last manifested there in 2014. It would remain in existence there only briefly. In 2022, or soon after, the walleye disappeared from Lake Tugalo, and remains absent to this day.
It is also possible that the walleye has been present in Lake Tugalo throughout this time period, albeit at weights lower than 9 pounds, 15.02 ounces.
On June 8, 2022, outdoorlife.com said “South Carolina Anglers Catch Record-Breaking Walleye”.
Where author Dac Collins omitted the word “state” from “state record”, to make the subject far less searchable. That’s an example of the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization”.
He used the words “angler” and “catch” to reinforce the false meme that far-larger walleye had been out there in South Carolina, all along, only nobody had looked for them with the proper skill or assiduousness, previously.
The subhead goes on to say “Due to a technicality, the 10-pound, 1.44-ounce fish tied the previous South Carolina walleye record, even though it’s more than an ounce heavier”.
Here we can see the steadfast pattern of the blocking of fish records demonstrated regardless of species or locality.
The article goes on to say “The fish weighed 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces, which topped the previous lake record of 9 pounds, 15.02 ounces set in 2014.”
Can you see how author Dac Collins has shaken the doll of the less-significant Lake record to take your attention away from the state record? And how he used the word “topped” to imply that the new Lake Tugalo record walleye was just slightly larger than the old?
I had to do the math to learn that, from 2014 to 2022, the Lake Tugalo, South Carolina record walleye increased in size by 1.5%, from 9 pounds, 15.02 ounces to 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces.
The article goes on to say “Because of Lake Tugalo’s unique location on the South Carolina-Georgia border, the fish was eligible as a record in both states. It wasn’t heavy enough to compete with the Georgia state record—a 14-plus pound fish that was caught from Lake Rabun in 2016—but it was more than a pound heavier than the current South Carolina state record of 10 pounds.”
Can you see how Dac led with the larger Georgia state record, to do what little he could to hedge against the largest walleye in the history of the state of South Carolina? As a bonus, he omitted mention of when the previous South Carolina record was set, or who set it? The general “more than a pound heavier” was used to obfuscate the specific margin between the old record and the new which I was forced to do the math to learn.
These are all examples of the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization”.
From 1994 to 2022, the South Carolina state record walleye increased in size by .9%, from 10 pounds to 10 pounds, 1.44 ounces.
In 1994, Robert Huskins caught the South Carolina state record walleye in Lake Russell. It weighed 10 pounds.
In 2022, or soon after, the walleye disappeared from Lake Tugalo, and remains absent to this day.
Jeff Miller, Libertyville, Illinois, August 30, 2023
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