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Dave J Offline OP
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I just got my pond dug for the walleyes. It is a little over 1/2 acre being 20 foot at one end and 10 ft at the other with a 5 foot shelf in between and 5 foot shelf around the edge of the 10 foot side. I have hit a spring and already have close to 7 foot of water in it. Keep in mind this was just finished yesterday-it is filling up with water at an unbelievable rate. My question is since I am putting the walleye in in oct. Do I still have time to put fatheads in or perch to help get the walleyes through until next year?? Or is there some other type of fish that I can put in (knowing that they are walleye food).

Also, How much should I put in-I am putting in 50 walleye.
Thanks!

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I see no problem with putting in fatheads now. I'm pretty sure you fatheads will reproduce and you will have even more in no time. The perch may put a dent in them, however, although in my perch only bluegill pond they don't seem to keep up with them if the perch are fed pellets. In fact it seems the perch prefer the pellets over the fatheads -- at least this time of year.

Are you sure 50 walleye is not to many for a pond that size? They are quite the predators and need a lot of forage.


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Dave J Offline OP
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Cecil-Heck thats what I thought originally also but the guy who sells me my fish (been very good in the past and in businness for a long time) said that I should put 100 in. I definitely thought that was too many. How many fatheads do you recommend right now??

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Dave J. I don't have an answer for you, but I put 10# of FHM in my 1 3/4 ac pond towards the end of April that has LMB, CC, BG in it and I don't see any now. I'm guessing that they have all been eaten. That's why I'm trying to build up a population of GSH, hopefully they will last longer, although for my pond, a good population of BG would serve as a forage base as well, I just like some diversity.

For Walleye, I don't know how much forage it takes to put on a pound of weight, but for LMB, it's 10# of forage per pound increase in weight.

10 LMB @ 1# each needs 100# of forage to get them all to 2# each.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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Dave, is there are reason you're in such a rush to get the walleye in your pond this fall? Why not wait a year? Then you can get a beefier forage population started. If you stock only FHM and YP and then WE this fall, your results are most likely going to be less than desirable.

Wait a year longer to stock your WE... You'll be a year behind in the beginning, but in the end the growths rates of your WE stocked a year later will catch up and exceed those of ones stocked this fall. I would stocked 10 lbs of FHM and 10 lbs of GSH now. This fall stock the YP. Then next fall stock your WE. That extra year of predator free growing will allow your FHM and GSH to get a healthy population built up. Then your WE will be much better off in the long run. I know it can be tough to wait, but in the long run it'll be worth it IMO.

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Dave J Offline OP
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I guess I am just impatient by nature-I have had such good success with my other pond I am anxious to get this one going-on a bigger level-my dad is getting older and with the passing of my mom last summer he seems to be not as exicted about things (naturally) and this is one thing that he is really geeked about and so I am hoping this helps him stay interested....sorry for the long answer but that is why I am in more of a hurry than probably wise....

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Understandable, but like I said, the patience will be worth it IMO. It's your pond, in the end it's your call... Just remember, WE are voracious predators!

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Yeah WE are eating machines. I was born and raised in northern Wisconsin and we fished for WE all the time. You better have plenty of bait fish for 50 WE in that small of an area. I don't see those WE getting very big in a 1/2 acre pond with 50 of them. You may get some good eating 18 - 20 inchers though??

Good Luck,
RC


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Don't fret about stocking now, Dave. There are people who have had some success waiting a year after stocking forage to stock the predators, but you're just as likely to still have the predators eat all of the FHM within a year or two. I don't know of a pond that has bass in any numbers and also has a sustaining FHM population, and walleye are a more aggressive predator than bass, so the odds are pretty high that they would eat all of the FHM even if you wait a year.

On the other hand, if you stock bluegill now with the walleye, the bluegill will establish successfully and provide a great forage base for your walleye for as long as the pond holds water. You could stock as few as 250 bluegill, or as many as 500 if you want fast walleye growth and don't care if the bluegill don't get big.

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Dave J Offline OP
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Thanks to all for the answers-I guess this is part of the fun...making the decisions and seeing how they turn out. I will report back on what I decided and then let everyone know down the road how it turned out.
Dave

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How big are the (50) walleye that you are going to stock?

If they are fingerlings or even very small juvies, I would go for it now.

On a side note, hitting a spring, many times, is not that great news.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

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Dave,

There are still many options here. I dont know all of your goals or your budget, but based on what I have gathered so far is that you would like to set up a walleye fishing pond for your dad as fast as you can and you want to use FHM and YP as forage. You talked about 50 walleye, but didnt mention how many FHM and YP you were thinking about?

Here are some more suggestions to consider:

Stock 30 walleye this fall that are the standard 5-7 inchers commercially available.
Then try to find 20 of the biggest walleye you can find this fall as well.
Also you can simply stock 50 lbs of FHM ASAP and you just gained that year that was mentioned earlier. I would also stock 20 lbs of golden shiners as well. They wont likely reproduce like the fatheads, but they will be much bigger than the FHM to hold off the walleye until your Yellow Perch spawn. I would stock 25 lbs of BIG yellow perch this fall, but they will likely be mostly females so you will need to get ahold of some Males as well in order to get off a good spawn in the spring. Typically if you order the 5-7's there will be mixed sex, but it all depends on your suppliers, probably shoot for 30-50 of the 5-7's. Also to get off a good spawn in the spring you will need to make sure the Perch have something to lay their eggs on. You most likely will not have adequate vegetation built up by next spring so you will need artificial stuff.

I would also plan on ordering a box of Anderson Minnows golden shiner fry for next May. That will give you tons of forage to get your WE off to a good start as well.

Next I would install a BOJO fishlight down over the water next spring as well. That will knock tons of bugs into the water all night long and your walleye will actually feed on the bugs on the surface at night as well as feed on the minnows feeding around the light too. I have quite a few walleyes feeding at night and it is just sweet to see them! we also throw injured minnows out and the walleyes will train to eat your offerings. just dont fish for them where you feed them.

Now if growing the walleyes big and fast is your main goal, then I would keep BG out of this pond and use Gizzard Shad as your forage. BG are not a preferred forage for walleyes, and they will just take up precious biomass or PPA. I dont recommend stocking gizzards very often, but your not looking for a natural balanced pond, but rather a walleye pond to grow some big walleyes for your dad!! You probably wont be able to find a fish dealer with gizzard shad up in MI, so you will have to get them from a local body of water. They are tough to transport so you need to be very careful with them and just move a handful at a time. You probably will only need a dozen or so to get them established.

My suggestions are not the most efficient or budget friendly, but it gets the job done much quicker than waiting around and is a ton of fun throughout the whole process. You can start enjoying the pond immediately and will grow walleyes at a much faster rate than standard natural balanced walleyes.

You can also supplementally feed the walleyes with a constant gut pile board that hangs over the edge of the water. The maggots will drop in the water and the walleyes will eat them up all day long. Someone will chime in with the proper name and better instructions for the road kill/gut pile board.

Last edited by n8ly; 07/08/09 10:42 PM.

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Dave J Offline OP
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Thanks for the info. Help me on a couple of things....Are golden shiners sold at most fish farms like other fish are? Do you recommomend putting those FH and GS in right now? I got about 7 foot of water already?
Thanks again for the info.

Dave

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You know what's interesting? I put only a hand full of fatheads in a .62 acre pond last spring. By the middle of summer I had literally thousands and thousands of fatheads. Granted there were no bass in the pond (yellow perch and bluegills) but the return was astronomical.


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Dave J Offline OP
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Cecil-Do you think since I am having a hard time finding fatheads that I can go down to the local bait shop and buy some minnows and throw them in now and have success??

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 Originally Posted By: Dave J
Cecil-Do you think since I am having a hard time finding fatheads that I can go down to the local bait shop and buy some minnows and throw them in now and have success??


Absolutely. Just take a good look at them before you throw them in. Sometimes there are green sunfish mixed in (Sorry Jeff!LOL) and sticklebacks. (Actually even from a supplier you should look the fatheads over and make sure there are no greenies in with them.

One thing you may want to consider. Find out who supplies your local bait store and then call the supplier. You should be able to get a better price.


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Dave J Offline OP
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Great idea-thanks!

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You can even work out a deal with your local bait shop guy to buy them by the pound and pick them up when the bait truck gets there so he doesnt have to hold the extra fish.


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Dave J Offline OP
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How many should I be getting in a lb??

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What size of walleyes are you able to get, Dave J?


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

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Here is some info on #s from Aquanic (forage numbers) -


















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Dave J Offline OP
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the size that he qouted me on was 6 inches and that would be in oct. when I pick them up

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OK, so they sure would be FHM eating machines.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."


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