Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations walleye update

Hello everyone. Havent posted in awhile but wanted to let everyone know that two years ago I stocked walleyes in my pond and told everyone that I would keep them updated. Lots of people gave me good information and I appreciated it. Was a little sceptical of the possible success because of the size of the pond (3/4 acre & 20 ft and 15 ft deep) but with a spring and lots of fat heads and perch I thought I would give it a try. Put 100 4 inch walleye in and they survived the first winter and last summer. Just shoveled off the snow (live by lake michigan) and spudded a 6 x 4 ft chunk of ice about 2 inches think off by the spring. Immediately saw about 8 walleye 7-9 inches long swim by. Very excited

How far beneath the ice were they?

It was in about 2-3 feet of water-they just swam by and went back under the ice....is there a reason?? should I be concerned?? I also had a big catfish-about 3 lbs swim by also

IMO the fish are concentrated in that area due to higher DO and slightly higher temperatures from the incoming water from the spring. My experience indicates that the WE (walleye) at 125/ac will not grow very fast and will not get very large for you even if you have abundant minnow forage. At this density expect them to 'top out' at 19"-20" after about 6-8 yrs. At about 2 yrs old under normal conditions the WE should be around 12"-14" long. I think the 3 lb CC (catfish) has/have been consuming some or a significant number of your WE which could be a benefit. IMO maintaining smaller WE in a pond with YP is benefit since the WE are 'forced" to eat mostly the smaller fish and YP - 2"-4.5" long. In the years ahead, I predict you will see larger perch as common and WE in the 15-19" range; a good eating size.

How many CC do you have in the pond?
How are the YP (perch) doing? How many did you stock. Did you see evidence of a perch hatch in 2010?
Keep up the good work and keep us advised. We are always learning on this forum.
Thanks.

Bill,

I put about 50 perch in last year-transplanted from my other pond-I saw lots of eggs on the branches I put out so I know they spawned. I put 5 catfish in last year. I did not mention it but I did see a little bluegill in the pond as well-although I didnt stock any-could have been from eggs from a bird?!?! or I did have a muskrat problem earlier in the year and the dug from one pond to the other-the only problem with that was I only had Hybrid bluegill in the other pond so I dont know if I would have had any offspring... I would be very happy with 19-20 inch walley-tickled pink as a matter of fact. Hoping that he perch and I am stocking reg bluegill this year will keep the walley fed.....I do have a question for you. Would I be better off with the reg bluegill or put some crappie in to help feed the walleye???
Thanks

DaveJ - NO crappie at this time. Since you think you may already have BG, You could try the BG first and see how that affects the balance and the fishery. The 5 CC will be eating sizable fish as they continue to grow. A good number of those fish will probably be 6"+ YP. You might want to remove a few CC if you see a low number of the 5"-6" YP size group. Those fish are important to fill the void of harvested YP.

If you can, I would pellet feed the BG so their average size is larger. BG will tend to become over abundant before the YP. You may have to help the predators thin out the BG of the size group 3.5"-5" long. You should be able to keep the BG numbers 'reasonable' by just doing some shallow water, worm-bobber fishing (8-20 hrs/yr) and trapping with larger fish traps. Your catch records during worm angling will tell a lot about the current and long term status of the fishery. Keep good catch records. Larger YP of 10"-12" will consume fair numbers of 0.7"-1.5" BG, IMO mostly during late fall upto and after spawning season while water is still cold-cool (less than 60F). You might want to implement a slot harvest size for the YP of 8"-10" and those hooked deeply. Release larger YP for future trophy angling and their predation benefits.