There's one week until the walleye season opens for Lake Nipissing.

And with any luck, anglers can chew the cud with new information about the health of the fishery.

The Ministry of Natural Resources biologist for Lake Nipissing has written a report reviewing data gathered over the past five years. It includes the fall walleye index netting results, Nipissing First Nation's commercial harvest reports and creel surveys reflecting angling harvest.

The report has been sent out for peer review, so it's not clear when it will be ready to be presented publicly. My fingers are crossed it comes out soon.

Based on what I recall being reported during the past several years, I suspect the report will say there's truck loads of little walleye and still quite a few lunkers, just not a lot of one and two pounders for the skillet.

If anglers have some patience, the fishing will once again be fantastic in two to three years.

But there's something people really have to get their heads wrapped around when it comes to Lake Nipissing — and the same goes for most lakes with an ecosystem suited for particular species.

Nature dictates the strength of a year class more than anything humans do — short of complete destruction of spawning habitat or massive over harvesting.

A strong spawn followed by a warm spring, doubled up with a warm summer in the year to follow, will produce boat loads of keepers about three years later.